Sheffield Wednesday could be facing a point deduction amid this new revelation of a £2million HMRC debt, warns football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
This week, Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has revealed that the club owes HMRC £2million, and the controversial Wednesday figure has told the fans to cough up this £2million in another explosive outburst aims at the Wednesday faithful.
And the Owls could face some stern sanctions if the debt isn’t paid, and isn’t paid in the required timeframe.
The Star previously wrote that clubs who ‘accrue 30 days of persistent default in any 12-month period from July 1 to June 30 are liable to a three-window embargo’.
Wednesday are already under a registration embargo, though fans online are fearing worse; the possiblity of administration.
And speaking to Yorkshire Live about what might happen to Sheffield Wednesday should they surpass this 30-day timeframe, football finance expert Maguire said:
“If we look at Reading Football Club as a precedence, there’s a range of sanctions from extending the embargo – which I don’t think would be much of an issue – to the one that fans fear most of all which is points deductions. We’ve seen that happen to Reading a number of times over the last few years. I think there is a similar relationship between the fans and the owner there that we are seeing at Hillsborough at present.”
Should Sheffield Wednesday be fearing the worst?
It’s certainly a slippery slope that Wednesday are on, and without proper management, they could quickly find themsleves dropping down the Football League pyramid.
Reading are the obvious example given their numerous points deduction and the fact that they’re now battling to stay in League One.
And given how poor Chansiri’s management of the club has been, many Owls fans will be fearing that their club could face a similar fate to the Royals.
But Maguire’s comments don’t suggest that Wednesday are definitely facing a points deduction. There’s still time for the club to fix this issue and there’s other penalties they could be given instead.
Though it’s certainly a worrying time for everyone involved with the club.