2 August 2025, 10:55 | Updated: 2 August 2025, 10:59
Sheffield Wednesday fans hold up poster in a protest to Dejphon Chansir during the Sky Bet Championship match Leeds United vs Sheffield Wednesday.
Picture:
Alamy
I never wanted to write this article. But after a summer of silence, crisis, and chaos, I no longer have a choice.
The football club I love—have followed all my life—is imploding. Every day brings more bad news about Sheffield Wednesday, and honestly, I can’t say where this ends.
We’ve been dragged into freefall because of the intransigence and negligence of one man.
More on Dejphon Chansiri later.
I’ve been a Wednesday fan all my life. Unlike some, I can’t recall my first match at Hillsborough, but I do remember a promotion clash with Chelsea in the early ’80s.
I fell in love instantly. There’s an old saying among Wednesday fans: “You don’t choose Wednesday. The club chooses you.”
And The Owls certainly got their talons into me. Over the past 40 years, I’ve spent a small fortune and clocked up thousands of miles watching this team. Along the way, I’ve met brilliant, funny, and loyal people—friends for life.
Just before COVID, I took my son to his first game. He’s ten now. We both have season tickets. We should be excited for the season ahead.
Because football isn’t just about what happens on the pitch.
It’s about the memories—those long train rides full of laughs, the goosebumps as you climb the steps to your seat, the joy of buying your kid a pre-match hot dog from your favourite stand. And that spine-tingling moment when 30,000 voices join in for “Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday.”
But this summer has been nothing short of disastrous.
The club is under multiple transfer embargoes for breaching financial regulations. Players and staff have walked out after not being paid. Hillsborough’s North Stand is closed due to safety concerns.
And through it all, we’ve heard nothing meaningful from Chansiri. Instead, he appears to have been enjoying a family holiday in Venice.
He claims he’s willing to sell—but turned down a £40 million offer earlier this summer. Meanwhile, the damage keeps piling up.
Chansiri—whose family controls Thai Union Group, which owns seafood brands like John West—has been widely criticised for his mismanagement of the club.
Local MP Clive Betts put it plainly: “This is just the most recent issue in a host of problems he has brought and failed to recognise and address. Chansiri clearly has no idea what he is doing with the club and should just move on and sell to an owner that will actually care about the club and its fans.”
So what now? And why should anyone who doesn’t support Sheffield Wednesday care?
Because this is bigger than one club.
This is about right and wrong. About people, communities, jobs, and a passion passed down through generations.
A football club isn’t just the toy of a careless, out-of-his-depth owner. And yet, during the worst crisis of his tenure, Chansiri has mostly remained silent—except for a single public statement in which he lashed out at a potential buyer.
So what’s next for this proud old club, founded in 1867?
The football authorities haven’t helped. Only today did the EFL finally acknowledge that Wednesday may not be able to fulfil its fixtures.
The newly formed football regulator remains underpowered and inexperienced. We fans are left to fend for ourselves.
We’ve been hammered. We’ve been ignored. And no one understands why Chansiri hasn’t sold, especially when he clearly can’t afford to keep the club running.
So who will step in?
Who will help the local businesses that depend on matchdays to stay afloat?
It’s become clear that no cavalry is coming. It’s down to us, the fans. We’ve become a case study in how easily a club can be driven into the ground by a negligent owner.
We are fighting for our club.
And if Wednesday is to have a future, we’ll need to live up to the club’s own motto: “Wisdom and Courage.”
We’re going to need both in the months ahead.
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