Fans rally round Wednesday as bidders line up

The final battle to secure ownership of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday is set to feature six bidders, as administrators prepare to name their preferred option in the next two weeks.

Wednesday have been in administration since October 24, when former owner Dejphon Chansiri, a Thai businessman, marked the end of a 10-year reign with an ignominious exit from Hillsborough.

Five formal bids have now been tabled in the last week, with the expectation of another still to come. Among those still in the running are U.S. businessman John McEvoy and former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley. The latter’s opening bid, in the region of £20million, has not met the administrators’ desired threshold of £30m, but at least two of those other suitors’ bids have.

Multiple sources, granted anonymity by the New York Times to protect working relations, do not currently consider there to be a clear frontrunner in a process that is now likely to go beyond the initial target date of next Friday.

The interest shown in Wednesday over the past five weeks points tentatively towards an outcome that will see the club in new hands early in the new year.

McEvoy, a minority shareholder in NHL team Nashville Predators and MLB side Colorado Rockies, is known to have visited South Yorkshire and has now moved with an offer he believes can see him take ownership, after previously considering a bid to buy Coventry City in 2022.

Another U.S.-based group is also around the table, along with at least one from the UK. Anders Holch Povlsen, owner of Danish club Midtjylland, is also believed to have shown an interest in Wednesday, but it is unclear if that has led to a firm offer.

Not among those under consideration to be Wednesday’s next owners are COH Sports, a U.S.-based consortium led by Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy that currently owns city rivals Sheffield United.

It has been widely reported this week that COH Sport sent an email to Wednesday’s administrators early in the process, declaring an interest that could see the two historic clubs merge.

The correspondence, purporting to have been sent from Ohio, has not been verified, and, as yet, it is unclear whether United’s owners were behind it. No direct denial has so far been forthcoming from COH Sport, who only arrived at Bramall Lane last December.

Wednesday will almost certainly be a League One club next summer, but the undoubted potential of the club has meant the financial requirements of a takeover have not dimmed interest. At least £30m will be needed to cover outstanding taxes, secured football creditors and other creditors, who must be paid 25p in the £1 if Wednesday are to satisfy the EFL’s insolvency rules and escape a further 15-point penalty in 2026-27. Chansiri, whose loans ran close to £60m, will be due payment in the region of £15m.

One supporter has handed over £1m in an interest-free loan to cover funding shortfalls, ensuring all players and staff were paid their November salaries a day early yesterday.

Other fans have also done their bit. Average attendances in the Championship have stood at 29,385 since entering administration last month, up from the average of 22,172 that had been at the opening five league games of the season.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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