Chris Waddle has slammed the ‘utterly disrespectful’ former owner of Sheffield Wednesday, Dejphon Chansiri, after the club’s administration.
The Owls, whose financial difficulties have been well documented, have been docked 12 points immediately by the English Football League (EFL).
Sheffield Wednesday, currently in the second tier of English football, have issued a statement announcing the appointment of administrators, with Chansiri’s controversial ownership of the club now officially over.
With Sheffield Wednesday bottom of the Championship on minus six points, former Sheffield Wednesday star Waddle has ripped into Chansiri.
Chris Waddle: It’s the fans who truly suffer
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‘The issue is the owner isn’t communicating,’ Waddle, who played 138 games for Sheffield Wednesday from 1992 to 1996, told Boyle Sports.
‘This is what truly bothers me. As professional footballers, players come and go.
‘But for supporters, their football club is their life. You can’t just switch allegiance.
‘Fans are brought up supporting a club, attending games, buying season tickets, and merchandise. This owner shows no respect for them.
‘Sheffield Wednesday is a massive club that could collapse. Pundits and former players offer sympathy, but it’s the fans who truly suffer.
‘They work hard, and a significant portion of their wages goes towards supporting the club, often with their children who will also grow up as fans.’
The EFL said the process of administration ‘presents Sheffield Wednesday with the opportunity to move matters towards a successful sale and secure future under new ownership’.
Sheffield Wednesday are now 13 points adrift at the foot of the Championship before Saturday’s game against Oxford at Hillsborough.
The club said appointing administrators had followed ‘significant efforts to agree a sale to a credible future custodian in recent weeks which unfortunately could not be concluded and amid rising pressure from creditors’.
Waddle added: ‘The club endures – players and staff can move on. But for those who have supported Sheffield Wednesday for 50 or 80 years, he shows a lack of respect.
‘I hope something is done to resolve the situation, even if it’s liquidation. As long as someone comes in and wants to make the club stable and ambitious, takes over.
‘What truly annoys me is his utter disrespect for these supporters who have paid wages, invested money, and bought season tickets, even when they were offered cheaply in January, just to inject funds into the club.
‘He has little respect for the club’s history or its supporters. It’s not about the players; they play for wages and can cope with a missed month’s pay. It’s the supporters who are getting a raw deal.
‘There’s talk of winding them up over a tax bill. Good or bad news, I hope this gets us closer to a solution.
‘If it means relegation, so be it. Sheffield Wednesday is a big club with massive support and will bounce back.
‘We just need to pray that the next owner isn’t looking for a quick buck but has genuine plans for the club.’
Joint administrator Kris Wigfield, meanwhile, said: ‘Like many football clubs, (Sheffield Wednesday) have been trading at a significant loss for several years, with those losses historically funded by the former owner Mr Chansiri.
‘Due to increased financial pressure on the club, the owner has chosen to place the club and the stadium company into administration which will enable us to market the club and the stadium as a whole, which is great news for supporters of the club.’
The club statement highlighted the drop in matchday revenue prompted by the supporter boycott against Chansiri, with attendances dropping from an average of over 26,000 last season to just over 17,000 currently.
Wigfield added: ‘Supporters are the backbone of any football club. The money they spend at the gate and in the ground is vital. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 1984 and know first-hand the passion of this fanbase.
‘Now, more than ever, we need fans back in the ground – buying tickets, merchandise, pies and pints. Every penny spent will go directly to supporting the day-to-day running of this club, not to the former owner or professional costs.
‘This will help stabilise the club and support the loyal players and staff while we secure a suitable buyer.’
Paul Stanley, another of the three joint administrators, said there should be no interruption to Sheffield Wednesday’s fixture schedule as a result of entering administration.
‘If more fans return to Hillsborough, the club can cover its day-to-day costs and move towards a viable sale to a new ownership capable of restoring long-term stability,’ Stanley said.
‘With the right ownership structure, we are confident that the club has a bright future and will meet all EFL regulatory obligations.’
Fans have held protests calling on Chansiri to sell throughout the season, including during Wednesday night’s clash against Middlesbrough at Hillsborough.
Supporters boycotted the game in their thousands in a bid to force Chansiri out.
Sheffield Wednesday have been placed under various embargoes amid tax debts and after failing to pay players and staff on time on five separate occasions this year, including in September.
Images on social media showed seats spelling out Chansiri’s name in the North Stand at Hillsborough being ripped out, while there were also reports of queues already forming outside the stadium of fans looking to buy tickets for Saturday’s match.
Even Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had called on Chansiri to sell and on Friday she said: ‘Having been in this position with my own team, Wigan Athletic, I know everyone who loves the club will be hoping for a resolution as soon as possible.
‘Situations like this are exactly why this Government set up the new Independent Football Regulator. Owners should be good custodians who act with their club’s best interests in mind and clearly, in this instance, that has not been the case.
‘We are working quickly to give the Regulator the powers it needs so it can better secure the future of football clubs and ensure they remain at the heart of their communities.’
The EFL said it would now engage with the administrators to work towards ‘an early resolution, and end the ongoing uncertainty faced by Sheffield Wednesday staff, management, players, supporters and all those associated with the club and their local community’.
Owls manager Henrik Pedersen said: ‘It’s a sad situation that a club with our history has to go into administration.
‘But this is one side of the bread, the other side is this is also the beginning of a new era, we can get a fresh restart and we can start to look into the future and create something positive again.’