Watching the Club I love slowly die
Life-long Sheffield Wednesday fan Matt Stamper gives his view on the shenanigans at Hillsborough
“The fact is, without better, truly independent regulation that prioritises the voices and interests of fans, bad owners can happen to any club, no matter the size or history. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
Sheffield Wednesday fan Matt Stamper
WAGES not being paid at Sheffield Wednesday should be a shock. This is a second tier English club that has won four top division titles, three FA Cups, competed in Europe, and boasts a stadium that's hosted European Championships and FA Cup semi-finals.
Yet, the depressing reality is that non-payment of players and staff, along with money owed to HMRC, has become par for the course at Hillsborough under Delphon Chansiri.
What started 10 years ago with the promise of a glorious return to the Premier League followed by a couple of promotion tilts in the Championship, has devolved into a succession of bad decisions and woeful financial mismanagement. For the fans, despite one or two bits of relative success, the ownership has been a constant knot in the stomach.
This isn't just a story of one owner's failings; it's a stark illustration of systemic vulnerabilities within English football, vulnerabilities that leave the most passionate stakeholders utterly powerless.
For a decade, Wednesday fans have been completely helpless, watching on as the owner makes all the decisions - ranging from the serious (selling off the ground) to the silly (making a reserve goalkeeper wear the No 2 shirt).
This slow, painful decline, unhindered by any meaningful oversight, echoes the struggles faced by far too many clubs across the English football pyramid. Every bad decision, every piece of unsettling news, chips away at the hope that keeps loyal fans coming back, week after week.
This summer does at least have the feeling of the end of Chansiri's reign, mainly because it seems like he has no other way out but to sell.
A takeover, should it happen, will solve things in the short-term. But where there should be hope, there's anxiety, with little trust that the next person to take stewardship will be any better.
The checks and guarantees that saw Chansiri deemed fit and proper clearly weren’t fit for purpose and need to be significantly tightened up ahead of the introduction of the next prospective owner.
The current framework offers no real avenue for fans to influence who owns their club, nor does it provide sufficient safeguards against a repeat of such destructive ownership.
All of this demonstrates just how important the new Football Governance Bill will be and the crucial role that the Regulator will have to play.
The fans are the ones who suffer. At Wednesday, their voices, their concerns, their loyalty, their profound emotional investment in this club, have counted for nothing in the face of an owner seemingly beyond reproach from any meaningful authority.
It’s a feeling of being trapped, forced to watch the slow destruction of something they love, with no say in its fate.
The fact is, without better, truly independent regulation that prioritises the voices and interests of fans, bad owners can happen to any club, no matter the size or history.