The race to rescue Sheffield Wednesday has come down to three potential saviours: Dunfermline Athletic owner James Bord, a group led by American investor John McEvoy and the Chicago-based Storch family, and former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.
Of those three bids, Bord’s is the most recent to be made public after his name was revealed by the Daily Mail on Sunday. But the 44-year-old Londoner is not a new name to Scottish football fans, after he bought Dunfermline in January.
In an interview published in May, Bord explained how he wants to use his expertise in AI and data analytics to build a multi-club group that will finance itself from on-field success and player-trading profits.
He is hardly the first to come up with this plan but Bord has previously worked for two men who have done it well — Brentford owner Matthew Benham and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Tony Bloom — so he has had good mentors.
In 2016, the former professional poker player set up his own consultancy called Short Circuit Science, which focuses on climate change, pharmaceuticals and sport. By coincidence, one of its football clients are Sheffield United but their American owners are not involved in his bid for their cross-town rivals. Tottenham Hotspur are another English club Short Circuit has advised.
Ashley, the former Newcastle owner, in 2019 (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Last year, Bord was part of a group of U.S.-based investors who bought a 37 per cent stake in Spanish second-tier team Cordoba and then he purchased 25 per cent of Septemvri Sofia, who play in Bulgaria’s top division.
The investment in Dunfermline was done via Park Bench SFC LLC, an ownership vehicle he set up with fellow Las Vegas-based tech investor Evan Sofer.
Since taking over, they have installed former Celtic boss Neil Lennon as manager, signed former Celtic, Southampton and Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama on a short-term deal and dished out multi-year contracts to younger players. Dunfermline even paid a transfer fee this summer, which is almost unheard of in Scotland’s second tier.
“I bought Dunfermline because I love the underdog,” Bord told The Athletic.
“The ambition is to bring back some of their history but also to change the atmosphere at the club. Optimism. They are a very passionate fanbase that has suffered enough pain and we’d like to bring them some joy.”
Asked about his ambitions for Dunfermline, Bord said a return to the Scottish Premiership within two years, followed by European football every third season.
Wednesday, one of the oldest clubs in global football, have not played in the English Premier League since 2000 and their last taste of European action came in 1995.
They are currently bottom of the Championship on minus nine points, having been docked 18 points for going into administration and failing to pay their wage bill on time. Administration, however, has given them a chance to start again under new ownership.
Finding that owner is the responsibility of Begbies Traynor, the insolvency firm that has been in charge at Hillsborough since former owner Dejphon Chansiri was forced to seek court protection from a HM Revenue & Customs winding-up petition in October.
Unable or unwilling to pay a £1.7m ($2.27m) tax bill, the Thai businessman appointed Begbies Traynor and joined the queue of creditors now waiting to see if the administrators can find someone willing to pay off all of the club’s secured debt and a quarter of its unsecured debt.
Failure to do the latter would trigger a 15-point penalty next season, damaging the South Yorkshire club’s chances of an immediate return to the Championship, as well as leaving dozens of local suppliers even more out of pocket.
Over the last seven weeks, the administrators have stabilised the club’s finances, paid the bills on time and spoken to dozens of potential buyers. Those conversations have only produced three formal bids for Wednesday but, as any auctioneer would attest, you only need two.
Wednesday have only won one of their Championship matches this season (George Wood/Getty Images)
Ashley, the British retail entrepreneur, is the spare as he has not met the administrator’s reserve price of £30m. That is comprised of £27m to cover the debts, including £15million for Chansiri, and around £3m in fees for Begbies Traynor and legal firm Wiggin and other costs incurred during the administration period.
Ashley, who sold Newcastle to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021, appears to be hoping that both Bord and the McEvoy/Storch bids falter, leaving him as the administrators’ only option.
Having already been approved by the football authorities in three countries, Bord would appear to have no issues from a regulatory point of view. Less, though, is known about McEvoy and the Storch family.
McEvoy made his money in a mobile phone business in California but that ceased to operate over a decade ago. Since then, it has been reported that he has invested in property, restaurants and Various Artists, a record label based in London and Los Angeles. He has also bought small stakes in Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies and the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators.
But it was with the UK-based managing director of Various Artists, John Dawkins, that McEvoy’s name was first linked with an English team. That was in 2022 and the club was Coventry City, now top of the Championship.
Their bid was trumped by British businessman Doug King but McEvoy’s interest in English football seems to have been rekindled by Jon McClure, the lead singer of one of Various Artists’ bands, Sheffield’s Reverend and The Makers.
The Storchs are father-and-son duo David and Michael, and they have been looking at English clubs for well over a year. During that time, they have almost bought a minority share of Plymouth Argyle, pulled out of a plan to join Rob Couhig’s Reading takeover, seen a Gareth Bale-fronted bid for Cardiff City evaporate and not progressed with plans to invest in Blackpool.
David Storch retired as chief executive of AAR Corp, an NYSE-listed aviation services provider based near Chicago, in 2018 after 39 years with the company. Michael is the football fan but they are being advised on this deal by former Leeds United chairman Andrew Umbers.
In their last statement, the administrators said their initial deadline for bids of December 5 would slip by about a week, after which time they said they hoped to name a preferred bidder who could be sent to the English Football League for approval. As of Monday, that stage has not been reached but a decision is believed to be imminent.
The Athletic has contacted or attempted to contact all of the bidders for Wednesday but none have chosen to comment.