Wednesday to miss wage payments again

Sheffield Wednesday’s financial crisis is deepening with the club on track to miss monthly wage payments to multiple players and staff today.

Wednesday are enduring a turbulent summer under owner Dejphon Chansiri, who faces mounting pressure from fans to sell the club he has owned since 2015.

One EFL charge, relating to the late payment of player salaries last season, has already seen Wednesday punished with a transfer window ban for three windows.  The decision has been appealed by the club but, if unsuccessful, will leave the club unable to spend money on either loans or permanent transfers until January 2027.

That disciplinary measure came after a number of players went without pay through all of last month but the mounting problems have yet to be resolved.

The Athletic has been told that numerous senior players and staff have so far not been paid their June salaries today, despite Chansiri last week saying he was spending “every minute of every day” attempting to resolve an alarming situation. A small number of players, typically those with a resale value, were eventually paid last month’s wages but some have now gone without payment since the end of April.

The new Championship season is now less than six weeks away but Wednesday’s opening preparations have faced enormous distractions.  Head coach Danny Rohl did not return to work when players reported back for pre-season testing last Thursday as discussions continue over the exit he has made clear he wishes to make. The majority of Rohl’s coaching staff also formally see their contracts expire on Monday.

Wednesday are yet to announce any details of pre-season games for their senior squad and have also encountered problems with renovation work, yet to be completed, at their Middlewood Road training ground.

This is the third time in four months that all Wednesday players have not been paid on time and the seventh time since March 2021. Problems in the 2020-21 season saw another EFL charge when failing to pay players on time on four occasions but that only brought a suspended six-point deduction after leniency was given owing to the challenges of playing the season without fans in attendance.

Chansiri has made it clear he is willing to sell Wednesday but two talks with two consortiums in recent weeks have failed to bring an agreement.