A billionaire is reportedly ‘waiting in the wings’ to pounce if the James Bord-led consortium fails with their takeover of Sheffield Wednesday.
Wednesday relegated to League One after Sheffield derby defeat
It was always going to end this way. Not necessarily on Sunday, not necessarily at Bramall Lane, and certainly not in February, but Wednesday’s fate had been sealed long before the Steel City derby.
A 12-point deduction in October when the club entered administration. Another six taken off in December for repeated breaches of EFL payment rules. One Championship win all season, back in September.
By the time Henrik Pedersen’s battered squad walked out at their fiercest rivals on Sunday afternoon, they needed nothing short of a miracle to stay up.
Instead, they became the first club in English Football League history to be relegated in February.
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Patrick Bamford’s early opener set the tone, then Harrison Burrows made it two before the half-hour mark and, despite Kalvin Phillips being sent off shortly after the break and pulling a goal back, Wednesday could never find the second they desperately needed.
When Gabriel Otegbayo received his second yellow card in the final minute, any last trace of hope disappeared with him down the tunnel.
“It’s painful that a club like Sheffield Wednesday is relegated in February,” Pedersen said afterward.
“But the boys we have in the squad and coaches have done everything we could.”
He is right that the writing had been on the wall for months, but being dumped into League One by your greatest rivals, in front of their own supporters, carries a particular sting that no manager’s words can fully soften.
And off the pitch, the picture is no clearer.
Mike Ashley ‘waiting in the wings’ amid Sheffield Wednesday takeover delay
Wednesday remain stuck in administration, their ownership saga dragging on with no end yet in sight.
Bord, the sports analytics businessman who was named as the preferred bidder on Christmas Eve, is still waiting for EFL approval on his £32.5m offer.
Sources close to his camp have suggested he hopes to complete the takeover by early April. But with the Independent Football Regulator set to take over the vetting process from the EFL by May, any further delays could open Bord up to an entirely new round of scrutiny.
And if that bid were to collapse entirely? According to talkSPORT, Mike Ashley is ‘waiting in the wings’.
The former Newcastle United owner and billionaire had previously been in the running before Bord emerged as the preferred candidate. Now, sources close to the situation suggest Ashley is still be very open to stepping in at Wednesday, dependent on what happens with the Bord bid.
For a fanbase already processing the trauma of a historic relegation delivered by their biggest rivals, the prospect of Ashley — a divisive figure at best — arriving as a white knight will feel like cold comfort.
But at Hillsborough right now, beggars cannot afford to be choosers.
League One football awaits. The only question left is who will be running the club when they get there.
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