Sheffield Wednesday: David Prutton fears the EFL may try to make an example of his old club

Prutton has spoken out after the Owls issued an explosive statement in response to misconduct charges brought against them by the EFL – claiming the authority is in breach of ‘binding expectation’ and that they are ‘unlawful’.

The charges relate to the sale of Hillsborough Stadium as the club went about balancing their books to fill in-line with Profitability and Sustainability regulations.

The sale of the stadium was included in the accounts for the 2017/18 season.

Hillsborough was sold to another company registered in the name of chairman Dejphon Chansiri for £60m, leaving a profit of £3.5m for the three-year cycle.

But the footballer-turned-TV pundit is worried the EFL may decide to make Wednesday the ‘sacrificial lamb’ amid reports the club could face a 21-point deduction.

Speaking to the Athletic, Prutton said: “The EFL have got to show they are not all the things they got accused of being before — indecisive, incoherent, being a bit willy-nilly when it comes to fines or bans

“It might just be bad timing if they do decide to make Wednesday the sacrificial lamb to show what happens if you do this kind of thing.

“The legislation is there for a reason and needs to be implemented when something like this happens. The fans are the ones that are going to bear the brunt of this emotionally.

“Whatever is going to happen needs to happen very quickly. If that is the gut-punch of docked points, then that needs addressing sooner rather than later.

“The fans won’t want that looming for the rest of the season, so they will want the bad news now. After that it will be about adjusting the aims and expectations for the season, because Wednesday fans will be there through thick and thin, and Wednesday are too big of an institution to go belly up, I truly believe that.”

Wednesday’s statement, released this evening, claims the club is ‘bringing its own claim against the EFL to establish that it is acting unlawfully, as well as standing ready, if necessary, to vigorously defend the charges.’