Thai businessman’s tenure as owner of English football club has been an unhappy one

PUBLISHED : 6 Aug 2025 at 14:47

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Dejphon Chansiri, whose family controls the seafood giant Thai Union Plc, is looking to sell Sheffield Wednesday, which he bought a decade ago, for £100 million.

Dejphon Chansiri, whose family controls the seafood giant Thai Union Plc, is looking to sell Sheffield Wednesday, which he bought a decade ago, for £100 million.

Dejphon Chansiri has come under increasing scrutiny due to the recent decline of Sheffield Wednesday. Whether it’s been stadium safety issues, questionable management decisions or financial problems, these issues have prompted the Thai businessman to announce his intention to sell the English football team for £100 million.

Sheffield Wednesday’s heritage

Sheffield Wednesday, founded in 1867, is one of England’s oldest professional football clubs with a rich early history including FA Cup wins and League titles.

The club experienced a notable resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the League Cup in 1991 and becoming a founding member of the Premier League in 1992.

However, the club’s fortunes declined leading to relegation from the Premier League in 2000, followed by years of financial instability and fluctuation between the Championship and League One.

Milan Mandaric’s ownership from 2010 brought stability, addressing considerable debt and securing the club’s return to the Championship in 2012.

The Dejphon Era

In 2015, Thai businessman Dejphon acquired a 100% stake in the Championship club. His family are the major shareholders in Thai Union Group, a global leader in seafood production and the world’s largest canned tuna manufacturer.

With a clear goal of bringing the team back to the Premier League by 2017, Mr Dejphon invested in buying talent for the team and paid high salaries of £25,000 to £30,000 per week for players in hope of improving the team, compared to other Championship clubs that paid less than £10,000 per week.

The team came close to its goal during the 2015-16 season, finishing sixth in the Championship, which gave them a berth the playoffs to determine which sides would be promoted. The following season, spending around £15 million, the team again made it only to the playoffs.

Money troubles mount

Since Mr Dejphon’s arrival, there have been some positive trends, but the club has remained stuck in the Championship.

Things took a sharply downward turn in Mr Dejphon’s sixth season (2020-21) when the club was docked 12 points, later reduced to 6 points, before the season started as a season started as a penalty for breaching the Football League’s Financial Fair Play rules by selling Hillsborough Stadium to a company owned by Mr Dejphon to artificially inflate profits in the financial accounts.

Beyond the points deduction, Mr Dejphon also faced cash flow problems. The Covid-19 crisis meant there were months when he failed to pay wages on time. While players eventually received their full payments, this created an atmosphere of job insecurity and unrest.

The management problems eventually led to relegation to League One. The team took two years to return to the Championship, but the situation remains grim. 

Mr Dejphon faced intensified protests from fans in 2023 when he controversially suggested that supporters should contribute to help raise £2 million needed to settle the club’s outstanding tax bills and wages.

Despite the mounting opposition, Mr Dejphon initially stated clearly that he would not sell the team.

Sheffield Wednesday up for sale

The financial crisis deepened during 2024 and 2025, with rising debt and multiple failures to pay wages in March, May and June of 2025.

The EFL charged the club with breaching its rules at the beginning of June because of non-payment of wages, raising the possibility of a second points deduction.

Many players have gradually left the club, some have been sold at bargain prices while others cancelled their contracts and moved to rival clubs on free transfers, leaving only 15 players in the first-team squad. 

Sheffield Wednesday players were left uncertain and concerned about the direction they were heading. Supporters fear that Wednesday could face a relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship table in the upcoming season.

This summer, Mr Dejphon, 57, eventually offered to sell The Owls for £100 million, which was considered a high price for a club deep in financial crisis.

Despite the positive outlook during his first two years with Wednesday, the only way the club can move forward, as fans suggest, is for Mr Dejphon to step aside.