James Bord, a former professional poker player, has emerged as the preferred bidder to take over Sheffield Wednesday, although a deal is unlikely to be completed before the transfer window closes at the end of January.
The Championship’s bottom club have been in administration since October, when owner Dejphon Chansiri’s damaging decade of ownership came to an end.
Bord is well known in Sheffield after his AI-based data company Short Circuit Science assisted neighbours Sheffield United in recruiting players and a manager.
Ashley, the former Newcastle United owner, had been in the running to take over the Championship club
LUCY NORTH/PA
Wednesday confirmed in a statement that preferred-bidder status had been granted, although did not cite Bord and his consortium by name.
However, it emerged that Bord, who has stakes in Dunfermline Athletic, Spanish side Cordoba and Septemvri Sofia in Bulgaria, has won a contest that also featured former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and American former aviation CEO David Storch.
“The consortium brings existing experience in football ownership, including majority and minority interests in clubs operating within regulated league systems,” read the statement.
“Any proposed acquisition remains fully subject to the agreement of appropriate legal documentation and EFL approval, including the owners’ and directors’ test. The administrators will not complete a sale unless and until those requirements are satisfied.”
Chasiri’s contentious ownership has left Wednesday’s players looking destined for the drop on -9 points
ALAMY
That process is likely to take well into 2026 and prevent Wednesday conducting any business in the January window, hardly an ideal state of affairs for a team 30 points from safety at the foot of the Championship, due to their 18-point deduction for breaches of financial regulations.
While the requirement to raise money via sales has eased with this development, manager Henrik Pedersen desperately needs to strengthen his squad, with Wednesday having used 36 players already in a turbulent season.
Bord has styled himself as a transfer specialist and recently acted in an advisory capacity to Sheffield United’s owners COH Sports, who were keen to use AI in their talent-identification process.
Among those recommendations were, reportedly, the decision to make a number of summer signings, which have proved unsuccessful, and the appointment of Rubén Sellés as manager, in place of Chris Wilder, although he lasted only five games before Wilder’s return.
Chansiri’s departure was met with much jubilation at Hillsborough in October
CAMERON SMITH/GETTY IMAGES
“James has a data and AI model around identifying talent that we think is maybe slightly different to anybody else but still along the same lines,” Sheffield United chief executive Stephen Bettis told the BBC in October.
“He heavily influenced some of the young, emerging talent we signed and the owners were willing to take that risk on the basis that they were relatively small transfer fees and contracts. We’ve done four, potentially five, and probably if one of them works we’re in front from a financial perspective.
“With the ‘normal’ recruitment it’s an additional help. We identify a number of players in each position, then we send them to James and his team to run them through their AI and data machines to assist in the process. It’s a kind of sense-check.”
Wilder confirmed recently that Bord would have no part to play in Sheffield United’s moves in the forthcoming transfer window.
London-born Bord is now based in Las Vegas and has recorded career earnings of more than $4.3million (£3.18m) as a professional poker player.