{"id":530023,"date":"2025-10-26T23:03:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T23:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/530023\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T23:03:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T23:03:35","slug":"sheffield-wednesdays-day-of-defiance-its-been-soul-destroying-but-at-least-we-have-a-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/530023\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Wednesday\u2019s day of defiance: \u2018It\u2019s been soul-destroying\u2026 but at least we have a club\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Penistone Road, the queues started to form before 9am. It was a chilly autumn morning, and Sheffield Wednesday fans, some returning to their Hillsborough stadium for the first time this season, wanted to get into the club\u2019s megastore.<\/p>\n

Around the corner by the Spion Kop end, programme sellers were doing brisk business and inside this historic old ground the Wednesday faithful were back in full voice ahead of their match against Oxford United.<\/p>\n

The painful boycott of home games, aimed at forcing change at the top of their ailing club, was over.<\/p>\n

The chants and songs began long before kick-off of this 2-1 defeat, just over 24 hours after it emerged that owner Dejphon Chansiri\u2019s disastrous reign had ended as Wednesday entered administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Such is the enmity that had coalesced around the Thai businessman\u2019s time at the club, even an automatic 12-point deduction and enhanced chance of relegation could not puncture the mood of relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact we are celebrating going into administration says it all,\u201d season-ticket holder Paul Radford tells The Athletic, on his first visit this season to the club he has supported all his life.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, a club steward \u2014 who asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to talk \u2014 said that after being told the news on administration face to face at hastily convened meetings on Friday morning, he and many colleagues were smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s unusual but you\u2019d have to understand how bad it has been to realise why,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Only hours after the news broke on Friday, volunteers arrived at Hillsborough to replace 2,000 white seats in the North Stand that spelt out the now former owner\u2019s name with blue ones. More than 290,000 people watched a live stream of them doing it.<\/p>\n

Then, before kick-off on Saturday, the digital screen in the corner of the ground assumed the appearance of a computer loading page.<\/p>\n

Having identified a problem with \u2018Chansiri.exe\u2019, the words \u2018Attempting to Remove\u2019 appeared before it changed to \u2018Removal successful\u2019, and then \u2014 as fans cheered \u2014 \u2018Rebooting\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n

This was the video played on the big screen before kick-off at Hillsborough today\u2026 Chansiri.exe#SWFC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AAOaVGfHxZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Staton (@robstaton) October 25, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was followed by a montage of significant moments in Wednesday\u2019s storied history set to stirring music. It is 25 years since Wednesday were in the top flight, but they were once established in the upper echelons of the English game, with four top-flight titles and three FA Cups to their name, and were founder members of the Premier League in 1992.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve been excited for a game since last season,\u201d says Paul, reflecting on the startling decline since finishing 12th in the EFL Championship last season.<\/p>\n

The summer saw the departure of talented head coach Danny Rohl amidst off-field chaos that included players and staff going unpaid and the imposition of two English Football League (EFL) transfer embargoes \u2014 one for the non-payment of players, the other for taxes owed to HM Revenue and Customs.<\/p>\n

It meant the squad was stunted and results have been unsurprisingly dismal. Now bottom of the table, Hillsborough had been largely deserted last Tuesday for the visit of Middlesbrough as fans staged a boycott in protest at Chansiri\u2019s ownership<\/a>. Yesterday, 27,261 turned out, just 7,000 short of capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been soul-destroying with what\u2019s been going on,\u201d says Paul. \u201cIt felt like watching a family member being ill. At least in this moment, we\u2019ve reached a sort of conclusion. The guy (Chansiri) is gone. It\u2019s nice to be here in blue and white and not the black and gold protest colours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made peace with the fact that we are down after the points deduction and the threat of another one on the horizon. We just hope the EFL don\u2019t roll that deduction into next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is far from over and there\u2019s still the issue of signing players even next summer. But at least there\u2019s relief in knowing we have a club.\u201d<\/p>\n

His sentiment was shared by the supporters who serenaded the players with chants of \u201cWe\u2019ve got our Wednesday back\u201d during the warm-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understood why we had the boycott but at the same time I felt bad for the players, especially the younger ones,\u201d says Jo Snowden, who was at the game with her husband Andy. \u201cWe wanted to be here to support them but it was such a difficult situation. We\u2019re happy now that we can be together as fans and connect with the team again because they\u2019ve had to carry on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jo and Andy Snowden outside Hillsborough (Greg O\u2019Keeffe\/The Athletic)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was especially difficult when people weren\u2019t getting paid. Players can maybe cope for a while but the staff rely on their wages. Chanisiri just seemed to be in a world of his own, making bad decisions and not listening to advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Andy, the release of Friday\u2019s bittersweet news was more important than the result against Oxford United, a 2-1 defeat, their sixth loss from their last seven matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone just wants to move on now,\u201d he adds. \u201cIn the grand scheme of things, even the points deduction doesn\u2019t matter that much. If it takes us going down to have the full reset we need, then so be it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d just like someone sensible to come in and someone local would be nice. Other teams of our stature in the Championship have come into money so that\u2019d be nice but not at the expense of stability again.\u201d<\/p>\n

An hour before kick-off, Darren Frost and his grandson Jack Matthews had just been into the club megastore to buy some scarves and woolly hats.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt right to go in and buy something,\u201d says Darren. \u201cWe haven\u2019t been here all season. We were both excited last night buying our tickets for the game. They were stripping the shelves bare in the store. Stuff was flying out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a state but there is light at the end of the tunnel now. The club deserves that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Darren Frost (left) and his grandson Jack Matthews at the Wednesday megastore (Greg O\u2019Keeffe\/The Athletic)<\/p>\n

The cautious sense of optimism was not lost on Wednesday\u2019s players.<\/p>\n

\u201cDriving in today and seeing cars parked up on the road at 10.30am on my way in felt like a proper match day,\u201d said defender Liam Palmer, who has spent the majority of his career at the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat optimism of a new era. It\u2019s great to see because for me, the players and the staff, it\u2019s been a mad 24 hours. Coming in Friday and you\u2019re in the physio room and then it comes on the TV, it was a bit surreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to the administrators and there are a lot of things they say but ultimately they\u2019re out of our control and it\u2019s been the same in that respect since the start of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer said he and fellow long-serving player Barry Bannan had requested a Zoom call with Chansiri during the summer after wages had not been paid on time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just maintained he was doing his best,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cIt was difficult because we were asking questions he didn\u2019t have the answers for, but we felt we had to ask them on behalf of the players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult as a player because it\u2019s someone who hasn\u2019t paid your wages in a long time. You didn\u2019t want to cross the line; it\u2019s more asking on behalf of the changing room.\u201d<\/p>\n

You might expect Palmer to be angry at how things have played out. Instead, he seems remarkably forgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings happen in business and in life and people come across difficulty,\u201d he continued. \u201cWho are we to judge? It would have been lovely to have been paid at the right time but he didn\u2019t have the answers. He didn\u2019t have to speak to us but because we\u2019ve been here a longer time, he afforded us that courtesy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, the last few years have been difficult but there have been some good times there. The intention was there, he spent a lot of money but it\u2019s a difficult way for him to go out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Wednesday fell to another defeat against Oxford (Cameron Smith\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There were also no recriminations aimed at Wednesday\u2019s players by fans, who seemed cheered by a second-half revival after they had trailed 2-0 at the interval. Ultimately, however, Sean Fusire\u2019s strike was the only time they could pierce Oxford\u2019s defence.<\/p>\n

It is not a great surprise that there are patchwork elements to Wednesday\u2019s play. They were only able to field a senior goalkeeper courtesy of an emergency loan last week, and Henrik Pedersen, formerly Rohl\u2019s deputy before succeeding him in the summer and who has been widely praised for his handling of an almost impossible situation, is working with a squad that lost last season\u2019s top goalscorer Josh Windass and talented winger Djeidi Gassama in the summer.<\/p>\n

Yet he has not given up hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows it\u2019s a difficult situation and there will be some tough months (ahead) but I still think we can compete with anyone,\u201d Pedersen said. \u201cI\u2019m 100 per cent convinced there\u2019ll be a bright future for Sheffield Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, where we are, the future doesn\u2019t help but it gives us hope we can go on every day. I\u2019m confident that with this special group of players we have, we will keep going in the right direction. There are still a lot of points to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Fans show their support for Wednesday (Cameron Smith\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Relegation feels inevitable, but that \u2014 for now \u2014 is of secondary concern. More important is the path which must be plotted by Manchester-based administrators Begbies Traynor, who did a similar job for Wigan Athletic in 2020.<\/p>\n

For James Silverwood, Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust, there is reason to trust the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administrators are experienced and I know Wednesday fans will rally round with the same solidarity as they took into defunding Chansiri and bringing the financial realities home to him,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat Sheffield Wednesday needs now more than ever is consistent income and a period of calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, every penny (not spent via boycotts) contributed towards him leaving Sheffield Wednesday. We now need every penny spent in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thoughts inevitably turn to the wish list for a new custodian. For Radford, it is not simply another super-wealthy businessman sensing opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want someone who will run it properly and almost build from the bottom. Just throwing money at things isn\u2019t necessarily going to fix it,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve grown up with this club. It\u2019s a special part of the city and our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Fans queue to get into Hillsborough (Cameron Smith\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Many hope a club of Wednesday\u2019s stature and potential will quickly attract a saviour, or the fans themselves could step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there will be significant interest with several prospective buyers making themselves known to the administrator,\u201d adds Silverwood. \u201cWe will put forward a fan-led takeover option on the table in the future so we will absolutely make sure that liquidation is not a possibility that comes out of this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

As those long-suffering supporters headed for the exits on Saturday, whoever selects the stadium\u2019s playlist found the perfect final note.<\/p>\n

As Elton John\u2019s \u2018I\u2019m Still Standing\u2019 blasted, there was a sense that everyone is determined to rebuild. Wednesday may have ended defeated, but their defiance is what matters now.<\/p>\n