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The costs of a promotion push

Championship clubs often spend heavily in an attempt to obtain access to the riches of the Premier League. Sheffield Wednesday faltered in the play offs in 2016/17 and lost £21m in the process.

Kieran Maguire provides a forensic analysis of the club's accounts which shows once again how important (and distorting) parachute payments can be in a de facto Premiership 2. However, he points out that the owning family are very wealthy so they can spend more if they wish to. There is little risk of the club going into administration: Play to win

Wednesday appointed Belgian lawyer Katrien Meire as chief executive. She was deeply unpopular at Charlton, but maybe she has learnt enough to do a better job for the Owls.

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