{"id":308784,"date":"2025-08-01T08:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/308784\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T08:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T08:35:19","slug":"sheffield-wednesday-crisis-growing-efl-fear-that-first-game-of-new-season-wont-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/308784\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Wednesday crisis: Growing EFL fear that first game of new season &#8216;won&#8217;t happen&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sheffield Wednesday are in chaos as fears grow over whether their opening match of the season will take place after players were not paid on time for a third month in a row<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2194686070.jpg\" alt=\"Sheffield Wednesday have already seen a friendly cancelled\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Sheffield Wednesday have already seen a friendly cancelled(Image: George Wood\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The English Football League is growing concerned that Sheffield Wednesday&#8217;s first fixture of the Championship season is under threat. The Owls have already seen their friendly with <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/burnley-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Burnley<\/a> cancelled this coming weekend after the club <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/sheffield-wednesday-dejphon-chansiri-owls-35479067\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">failed to pay its players for the third month in a row<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Yorkshire side found its <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/sheffield-wednesday-burnley-fixture-cancelled-35653600\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">stars unwilling to play their final pre-season friendly against the Clarets<\/a> as the game was cancelled on the same day new manager Henrik Pederson took over after <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/sheffield-wednesday-danny-rohl-exit-35635891\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">the departure of Danny Rohl<\/a>. Wednesday are just nine days out from their first competitive match of the season against <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/leicester-city-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Leicester<\/a> City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The EFL are in contact with club officials and are &#8216;increasingly alarmed&#8217; by developments at Hillsborough. The side have already been charged by the EFL with multiple breaches of its financial regulations. It comes as <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/breaking-sheffield-wednesday-efl-embargo-35343983\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Wednesday are already under a transfer embargo and they face a points deduction.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/itv-efl-fixtures-wrexham-leicester-35649952\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ITV announce first SIX EFL fixtures it will show &#8211; including huge Wrexham clash<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/morecambe-suspended-national-league-whittingham-35633338\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crisis club Morecambe SUSPENDED from matches as National League release damning statement<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Owner Dejphon Chansiri has come under fire from fans and local politicians in Sheffield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The latest uncertainty follows a summer that has already seen a number of players depart Josh Windass and Michael Smith ended their contracts by mutual consent earlier this month with Pederson leading just a small selection of senior players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Wednesday were meant to play against Burnley on Saturday in a behind closed doors match. It was to be their final friendly fixture before the new season as the club last faced Mansfield Town in a training exercise last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Owner Chansiri has faced persistent calls to sell up and the Thai tuna magnate has seen a number of interested parties. They are being directed to a group who specialise in the sale of football clubs, with NDAs being signed and proper process followed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Two bids have been rejected from a Florida-based consortium made up of business and professional sportspeople. That has included Sheffield-born Adam Shaw who has made his money Stateside.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_GettyImages-2211279644.jpg\" alt=\"Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Sheffield Wednesday players have reportedly refused to play their friendly clash against Burnley after they were not paid on time for the third straight month<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">There is also believed to be interest from numerous other parties, including former <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/crystal-palace-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Crystal Palace<\/a> part-owner John Textor and potential bids from the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">On Tuesday, Sheffield city council issued the club with a prohibition notice in order to prevent them from housing spectators in Hillsborough&#8217;s North Stand. Councillor Joe Otten noted the decision was made after they consulted with engineering speecialists who could not &#8216;reconfirm that the North Stand is safe for spectator use&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Chansiri&#8217;s leadership has been slammed. Sheffield South MP Clive Betts recently hit out his &#8220;abject failure&#8221; at Hillsborough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cThis is yet another abject failure of Chansiri who is unable to competently run Sheffield Wednesday,&#8221; said Betts. &#8220;This is just the most recent issue in a host of problems he has brought and failing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/KpLVIG1AXsd0FvfduhjjzO\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Join our new WhatsApp community<\/a> and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don&#8217;t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you&#8217;re curious, you can read our <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package<\/p>\n<p>This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1744106962_61_0_Sky-Factbox.jpg\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a343<\/p>\n<p>\u00a335<\/p>\n<p>Sky<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=11005&amp;awinaffid=213635&amp;platform=dl&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fdeals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Get the deal here<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Sky has slashed the price of its <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=11005&amp;awinaffid=213635&amp;platform=dl&amp;ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fdeals\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Essential TV and Sky Sports<\/a><\/strong> bundle ahead of the 2025\/26 season, saving members \u00a3192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sheffield Wednesday are in chaos as fears grow over whether their opening match of the season will take&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,16924,113076,99695,1620,10381,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-308784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leicester-city-fc","12":"tag-michael-smith","13":"tag-pre-season-friendlies","14":"tag-sheffield","15":"tag-sheffield-wednesday-fc","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114952596916028022","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}