'Wrong people punished over Sheffield Wednesday problems', says former Home Secretary

Former Government minister and Sheffield Wednesday fan Lord Blunkett says the wrong people have been punished by football authorities over the Owls’ recent problems.

The former Home Secretary welcomed the announcement that David Storch and his Arise Capital partnership would be able to move forward to take over Sheffield Wednesday Football Club from the beginning of May and to start rebuilding the club .

He said: “This has been a terrible saga. The 18-point deduction, the block on the purchase of new players, the cap on pay, plus the sale by the administrators of key members of the squad have devastated the team, the non-playing staff, local businesses and, above all, the fans.

“This has been punishment meted out to entirely the wrong people. The former owner and sole director of Sheffield Wednesday, Dejphon Chansiri – who refused to sell the club 12 months ago even though it was clear that he'd run out of money and the fans had run out of patience – has taken a financial hit of his own making.

“But it is everyone who loves the Club and cares about football who have felt the damage, the sheer unfairness, the disregard for competition within the Championship, and the inevitable relegation last February down into League One.”

He described the situation as is a sorry tale of rules put together to deal with an entirely different scenario, bringing a once great club to its knees.

Now he says the fans, the community that surrounds Hillsborough, and those sympathetic in the city, will support the fightback in the rebuilding of what he describes as a great club.

He added: “Fans of football across the country have been wonderful and they will rejoice with us, long-standing supporters of the Owls, in the intervention of David Storch and his Partners in their clear commitment to running the Club on fair and transparent lines; to involve the fans Trust and to behave with probity and respect.

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“All of us owe Henrik Pedersen, the manager throughout this season, a debt of gratitude for the way he's been able to continually motivate the small squad of players to get out in the field and to give their all.

“Those players deserve a medal for retaining their morale and self-respect, and whilst losing game after game, keeping their heads held high and giving the always committed and large group of supporters something to be proud of. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the non-playing staff, who have worked tirelessly against the odds.”

Lord Blunkett also paid tribute to long standing Sheffield MP Clive Betts also an Owls fan, who he said acted as an honest broker with the fans, administrators, the EFL and with David Storch to help in keep the bid in play and, adding he deserved full credit for the part he had played.