‘Four or five serious bids’ for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday’s joint administrator says they have received “four or five” serious bids and the club could have new owners by the end of the year.
Sheffield Wednesday’s joint administrator says they have “four or five” serious bidders and the club could have new owners by the end of the year.
Kris Wigfield is leading the search for new ownership after Dejphon Chansiri put the Championship club into administration on Friday.
Wigfield says the Owls have to remain on the market for 28 days under EFL rules and claims they have already received concrete interest.
He told BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money programme he hopes the new owners are in place to sign new players in the January transfer window.
Wigfield said: “As always, you get a lot of interested parties that probably aren’t going to meet the criteria, but within the numerous inquiries we’ve had, we certainly think that there are already four or five interested parties that look like the real deal.
“There are two criteria that new owners basically need to satisfy to then open dialogue and there to be an opportunity where they can make an offer.
“The first thing is they need to show the administrators that they could make the football club viable. So they’ve got to show that they’ve got sufficient funds to be able to fund it for the next few years.
“And secondly, we have to be satisfied that they will pass the EFL fit and proper persons test, and if they can satisfy both of those, then we’ll start talking to them seriously.”
With Wednesday already 16 points adrift of safety after being hit by an automatic 12-point deduction for entering administration, any potential new owners will be aware they might well be buying a club heading back to League One.
Indeed, further deductions could follow, with Wednesday still to face a independent disciplinary hearing over non-payment of wages dating back to last season.
But, barring an unexpected delay in any such hearings, further deductions are likely to be implemented this campaign, rather than being carried into next season and deterring potential buyers.
Fans have raised £500K since Friday
Wigfield hopes the sale process will move quickly and a group could have preferred-bidder status next month, with a view to completing the purchase of Wednesday before the end of the year.
“Due to EFL rules, we have to market the club for 28 days,” he said. “So it’ll be at least 28 days before we’re getting close to a preferred-bidder status.
“So I’m hopeful that by the end of November, if things go well, we might know who’s going to buy the football club.
“Then hopefully a deal can be concluded this calendar year, so that the new owner is in for… the January transfer window, if the EFL allows the new owner to buy players.”
Wednesday fans returned in their thousands on Saturday after their previous boycott and a season’s best crowd of 27,261 witnessed the 2-1 loss to Oxford at Hillsborough.
Wigfield says supporters have already spent more than £500,000 on tickets and in the club shop to keep the Owls going.
“We had no money to start with, but the fans have already put in over half a million pounds since Friday through buying tickets and merchandise,” he added.
“So the response has been incredible, but we need to keep raising money to be able to pay the wages next Friday.
“So more tickets are going on sale for the next home games today and we need the fans to keep purchasing stuff. It’s quite a difficult circumstance, but that’s what we need.”
