Sheffield Wednesday face a 12-point deduction in the Championship and are reportedly set to be placed into administration. The former Premier League club is said to have filed a notice with the Insolvency and Companies Court to appoint an administrator.
Wednesday has faced a number of financial problems recently and reportedly owes HMRC around £1m in unpaid tax. The German has been in charge since taking over at Rangers in July, when former manager Danny Rohr left the crisis-hit club. Hillsborough are currently managed by Henrik Pedersen, but the club’s problems off the pitch seem to be taking their toll, with the team only winning one of their first 11 league games this season and currently sitting at the bottom of the Championship table.
Wednesday’s players have not been paid on time for the fifth time in the past seven months due to the club’s financial problems.
Supporters are increasingly frustrated with Owls owner Digiphone Chansiri, and this season has shown their feelings in numerous fan protests.
The Championship game against Coventry in early October was temporarily stopped after just 10 minutes after a large number of angry fans stormed the pitch. And thousands of fans boycotted the team’s game against Middlesbrough earlier this week.
Only 7,081 fans were in the stadium to watch Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat, of which 3,699 were reportedly seated in the away section. In contrast, 22,224 supporters attended the Coventry match.
Coventry manager Frank Lampard expressed sympathy for Hillsborough’s situation and led his team to a comprehensive 5-0 win against the struggling side.
“The first thing I’d like to say is that I have a lot of sympathy for Sheffield Wednesday fans, because I grew up in a time when Sheffield Wednesday was always a big football club and that’s still the case,” the former England midfielder explained.
“I don’t fully understand the story, but I understand how they feel.”
Wednesday will soon go into administration, according to talkSPORT.
And former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan told the media on Thursday: “If we had to run this football club, we would probably need £10 million to run it for the rest of the season. I think there are solutions, but I think they will be difficult.”
“The fans have no qualms and are very clear about their opinions. And they are not ready to go into a football stadium and hand over a little bit of money to them.”
