Sheffield Wednesday owner asks fans for $2.4 million to pay debt

Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has asked fans to pitch in to help ease the club’s financial issues. In an interview with the Sheffield Star, Chansiri called on supporters to each pay the team £100 (about $121). The Thai businessman claims that the fans could raise around $2.4 million if enough people participate.

The club currently owes substantial fees to the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) department. HMRC is the British equivalent of the IRS here in the United States. Along with tax problems, Chansiri also apparently has issues paying players their wages at the club. English Football League (EFL) officials recently placed a registration ban on the team late last week.

“With HMRC, if we don’t pay until, say, the fifth of November, then that means it’s been 14 days, but if we don’t pay wages as well then that’s five days – that means a total of 19 days. Each issue counts separately,” Chansiri told the aforementioned news outlet.

“If 20,000 people gave £100 ($121) then it’s £2 million ($2.4 million) and it’d be clear – so we can finish it. That would cover everything, HMRC and the wages. That would need to be done before November 10th if they don’t want to pass the 30 days, but that means that there can be no next time. It’d need to be before to make it safe – if it was on the fifth then there would be 10 days left… If we were to hit 30 days, then we’ll get a ban for three windows.”

Local government official set to schedule meeting with Owls

Fans have not taken Chansiri’s comments well. After all, Chansiri himself stated that the current global economy is affecting people “all over the world.” A multimillionaire demanding that citizens fork up over $100 during hard times is quite off-putting. Gill Furniss, MP for Sheffield, labeled the move by Chansiri as “very concerning.”

Sheffield Wednesday’s home arena, Hillsborough Stadium, has a capacity of just over 39,000 fans. However, the team has averaged around 26,000 fans for each home game of the current campaign. The fall-off in fan attendance is attributed to the team’s poor display during the 2023/24 season. The Owls currently sit bottom of the Championship with just six points in 14 matches.

Tensions between fans and Chansiri came to a head back in September during a league fixture with Middlesborough. Select home Owls fans threw tennis balls onto the Hillsborough Stadium pitch in protest of Chansiri. The owner followed up the move by criticizing the fans and saying that he was done putting money into the club.

Owls players are scheduled to receive next round of wages on Tuesday

Sheffield Wednesday is currently facing a lengthy transfer ban should they not soon pay off their debts. The aforementioned registration ban by the EFL is just the beginning of penalties within the team. The second step of action could come within the next few days. Players at the club are scheduled to be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. If these payments are not submitted in time, the Owls would then trigger a second default.

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