For Sheffield Wednesday, it’s been another turbulent year, albeit a very memorable one.
Though 2023 may not be remember entirely for all the right reasons.
It’s certainly been a year of ups and downs at Hillsborough with that astonishing play-off comeback vs Peterborough United and eventual promotion, followed by Darren Moore‘s exit and the saga that unfolded after.
There’s been three permanent managers in the Wednesday hotseat with Xisco Munoz replacing Moore and Danny Rohl replacing the Spaniard.
Rohl has brought the good times back to Sheffield Wednesday but the Owls still remain in a relatively perilous league position, though 2024 looks set to be a much more positive year for the club.
With 2023 nearly at an end, we look at the three most controversial moments of the year at Sheffield Wednesday…
Darren Moore’s sacking
This season’s controversy and calamities was kick-started by the sudden and surprise exit of Moore back in June.
There was just three weeks between Wednesday’s Wembley heroics and Moore’s exit from the club, with a rather bitter feud ensuing.
Owner Dejphon Chansiri released multiple statements explaining the reasoning behind Moore’s exit, claiming that Moore wanted a huge salary increase which Chansiri simply couldn’t afford.
Moore spoke out, saying that it wasn’t about the money, but instead about him and Chansiri having different visions for the club.
Munoz came in and was obviously a disaster, failing to win any of his 12 games in charge, and Moore now finds himself at Huddersfield Town who are in a similar predicament to Sheffield Wednesday right now; the Terriers are in 21st place of the table and just six points ahead of the Owls.
Dejphon Chansiri’s £2million HMRC plea
Another somewhat barbaric move from Chansiri this season came at the end of October.
Chansiri issues a bizarre plea to the fans, asking them to all chip in £100 and raise the money to pay their £2million HMRC bill, which threatened the financial security of the club.
The news made national headlines before, a few days later, Chansiri released another statement explaining that he had paid the bill himself and that all the players and staff had been paid accordingly.
It appeared to be a publicity move from Chansiri, possibly in order to regain some popularity after Sheffield Wednesday’s horrendous start to the season which saw them go winless in their first 13 league games.
Chansiri rumoured to be in the dressing room after Barnsley
Given how controversial the Wednesday owner is and has been this year, it was difficult for him not to feature twice on this list.
A second of a handful of controversies from him this year came back in April when widespread rumours online claimed that Chansiri went into the Sheffield Wednesday dressing room after a 4-2 defeat away at Barnsley, and gave the players a bit of a talking to.
The game was played in March and at the time, Wednesday hadn’t lost since October. But in April, the rumour emerged online and it of course divided opinion, because Sheffield Wednesday then won just one of their next six after that defeat vs Barnsley.
The rumour was never certified, though, so this one remains just that.