There is hope for Wednesday

The withdrawal of the preferred bidders for Sheffield Wednesday is not a great surprise as rumours about  the crisis ridden historic club had been circulating for weeks.   There were doubts about where their money was coming from.

The shock is that the group has walked away claiming that it has only just discovered that a League One club with very few players under contract, a dilapidated stadium and a threadbare academy is not worth the £40 million it bid for Sheffield Wednesday two months ago.

The good news is that Sheffield Wednesday are still one of the biggest and most famous clubs in the land. Investors will still want to take on the huge and very expensive challenge of turning the club’s fortunes around. They just will not want to do it having paid more than maybe £15m to buy the stadium and settle the tax and football creditor bills.

That, of course, will mean Chansiri and any other unsecured creditor is not getting 25 per cent of what they are owed. The Thai businessman may well try to sue the administrators for failing to get someone to pay enough for the club to ensure he gets his £15million-plus but Begbies Traynor will be able to say it tried that and the potential buyer pulled out, saying the club was not worth that much.

What could happen next is that Mike Ashley, the Storch family and whoever else has been waiting in the wings, and there is at least one other party, will now come back with bids that secure the stadium and ensure the club’s right to start next season, but on -15 points.

There is enough money to get the club to end of the season (partly thanks to Bord) but a new owner must be in place — or very, very close to being approved — by the start of next season or the administrators will not be able to guarantee Wednesday can complete their fixtures. 

The clock is ticking, then, and Wednesday’s return to the Championship has been postponed at least one season. The goal now is to ensure they do not get relegated again or even worse…but let’s not go there just yet. There is still hope and time to stabilise this great club and get it back moving in the right direction.   However, fans will have to show a lot of patience and tolerance before the good times return and the club emerges from the wreckage left by its former owner.