{"id":341460,"date":"2025-08-13T15:20:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/341460\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:20:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:20:22","slug":"inside-sheffield-wednesdays-spiral-out-of-control-and-how-fans-are-fighting-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/341460\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Sheffield Wednesday’s spiral out of control \u2013 and how fans are fighting back"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE Sheffield Wednesday won’t stop protesting against their ongoing ownership troubles with more protests planned for the weekend against Stoke<\/p>\n

15:37, 13 Aug 2025Updated 15:52, 13 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"SheffieldSheffield Wednesday fans have protested against the club’s ownership(Image: Manjit Narotra\/ProSports\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship season was already five minutes old when supporters started to shuffle into the away end<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Owls had kicked off their 25\/26 season in front of an empty away end<\/a> at the King Power Stadium as Wednesday fans united against their ongoing ownership – enough is enough was their message as a plane flew overhead: “Dejphon Chansiri Out.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Former loanee Shea Charles, with his brother turning out between the sticks for the Owls, was one of those outside. When the supporters finally entered, they were met with applause from Leicester fans.<\/p>\n

“The protest on Sunday was absolutely fantastic, especially in the fifth minute when you saw the fans coming back in, and they were applauded by the Leicester fans,” Matt Harris, a passionate Sheffield Wednesday fan, told Daily Star Sport <\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“It sort of choked you up a bit, really, to see that solidarity.”<\/p>\n

\"SheffieldSheffield Wednesday missed the start of the Championship season(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Financial problems started at the famous old club in 2020, when Wednesday were given a 12-point penalty – which was reduced to six on appeal – for breaching the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules.<\/p>\n

They were relegated from the Championship in 2021, returned in 2023, but were slapped with a transfer embargo later that year due to unpaid taxes to HMRC.<\/p>\n

And that was just the start – Hillsborough’s North Stand has been closed, amid concerns of its structural integrity while players and staff have been paid late.<\/p>\n

\"SheffieldSheffield Wednesday want their owner Dejphon Chansiri to sell up(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

There had been early optimism when Chansiri purchased the club from Milan Mandaric and immediately investing heavily in the playing squad.<\/p>\n

However, looking back, Harris admitted: “He shot for the moon and didn\u2019t think about falling…We\u2019ve barely sold any players for profit in 10 years.”<\/p>\n

He continued: “We didn’t pay people on time in March and yet we\u2019d had the Sheffield derby at Hillsborough and the early bird season ticket money…Our shirt is the most expensive in the division. Our season tickets are among the highest. What is the product we get for that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SheffieldSheffield Wednesday have more protests planned(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Calls for Chansiri to sell have grown louder. \u201cWe don\u2019t need a perfect owner,” Harris said. “You just need to be a competent owner.”<\/p>\n

Fans say there is no long-term strategy, despite repeatedly asking what the plan is. \u201cHe says he doesn\u2019t need one, and we don\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The protests are aimed at hitting Chansiri in the pocket. The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust has urged boycotts of matchday food, drink, and merchandise.<\/p>\n

\"SheffieldSheffield Wednesday are back in action during the Carabao Cup(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Another demonstration is planned for Saturday\u2019s match against Stoke City, featuring a \u201cfuneral procession\u201d through Hillsborough Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want someone normal who can steady the ship and put a proper plan in place. We are the bedrock of this club. At the moment, he\u2019s driving fans away,” Harris continued.<\/p>\n

The mood in South Yorkshire is one of determination as they hope to protect the club’s future – and alongside all the financial problems there have been small signs of hope.<\/p>\n

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Barry Bannan, who was without a contract, turned back up to help the club. “For him to stick around through all this…I can’t praise him highly enough.”<\/p>\n

Wednesday are back in action on Wednesday evening (13 August) in the Carabao Cup before they play their first home game of the Championship season over the weekend.<\/p>\n

And with it comes another chance for Wednesday fans to get their voices heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE Sheffield Wednesday won’t stop protesting against their ongoing ownership troubles with more protests planned for the weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,9030,393,560,4884,1620,10381,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-341460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-championship","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-exclusives","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-sheffield","14":"tag-sheffield-wednesday-fc","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115022137089009527","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341460","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=341460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}