Dejphon Chansiri chants display growing fan unrest at Sheffield Wednesday

With their side 1-0 down at Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon, an audible percentage of the travelling Sheffield Wednesday support sang in protest against their owner Dejphon Chansiri for the first time of note since he took ownership of the club in 2015.

A bubbling unease has been clear for some time, but the chant took some by surprise. Debate over the balance of good and bad in Chansiri’s colourful reign has been fierce for several years, from the sale of Hillsborough stadium and the points deduction that came with it to the subsequent relegation to League One and the success of promotion back to the second tier.

Saturday was the first instance of clearly audible unrest during a match as fans sang ‘Dejphon Chansiri, get out of our club’.

At a recent fan forum hosted by Chansiri, opinion seemed split somewhere near the middle in terms of approval ratings, with passion expressed both by supporters and detractors. The balance of opinion is ever-shifting but remains divided.

The Star has heard reports of heated arguments at the Cardiff City Stadium and has been told of a near-breakout in violence between two fans in the Cardiff away end as the Chansiri debate boiled over.

On the basis of several minutes of intermittent chants growing in volume in South Wales, unrest certainly seems to be growing among some of the club’s most loyal and travel-hardy fans.

It comes after a joyful end to the 2022/23 promotion season was interrupted by weeks of summer turbulence. The departure of Darren Moore is a much-debated point that comes too with its divide among supporters - not least with regard to the whys and wherefores of a departure both men have now given their side of the story on.

The cost of Wednesday replica kit prompted division before a largely angry response to latter-stage season ticket prices - and particularly the cost of matchday tickets that have had a knock-on effect on away day costs.

This all adds up to unease that has been further shaken by fortunes on the pitch. Recruitment has been vast but has been seen by many as unspectacular and unproven, nervousness exacerbated with four defeats in their opening four Championship matches. The transfer window closes on Friday and it is hoped the club will strengthen between now and then.

An upturn in fortunes on the pitch would, you’d think, go some way to turning down the heat. But for some, disapproval of Chansiri’s governance of the club goes back years. We’ll never know what may or may not have been sung during a period of points deductions and relegation when the Covid-19 pandemic left terraces bare.

With only four matches gone in the season and unknown fortunes ahead both on and off the pitch, a first round of chants does not represent a groundswell of unanimous feeling towards the Sheffield Wednesday owner from its fanbase. Chansiri provides vital financial backing to the club and has his supporters.

But it does represent a notable, public display of anger and a shift towards stronger feeling among some of the club’s most hardened fans.

It felt like a significant moment.