Who is John McEvoy and everything we know so far about Sheffield Wednesday takeover
John McEvoy is the latest name to have been known to step up an interest in taking on Sheffield Wednesday, with The Star having revealed that he undertook a tour of the club’s facilities this week.
Not a great deal is publicly known about the American Businessman, who leads one of several highly motivated parties said to be deep into the process to takeover the club as it navigates the administration process. At least two other visits to Hillsborough stadium have been undertaken by interested parties, with an understanding that 11 have reached the stage of providing £50m proof of funds to date.
Who is John McEvoy?
McEvoy is a successful entrepreneur that holds a diverse portfolio of business interests, including his role as the founder of a San Diego-based mobile device distribution company, Mobile Solution.
He is known to be a sports fan, reportedly holding ownership stakes in Denver-based MLB franchise Colorado Rockies and NHL side Nashville Predators. In 2022 he was reported by the BBC to have had an interest in acquiring Coventry City and its stadium - though it ultimately came to nothing amid public frustration from the bidding team.
It was reported by The Telegraph last month that McEvoy had emerged as a candidate to buy Wednesday and that he had consulted lifelong Owls fan Jon McClure on enquiries about the club. McClure is the lead singer of Reverend and the Makers, one of the acts signed to the Various Records management company of which McEvoy became a minority shareholder of in 2019. The agency have acts as well-known as The Libertines, Supergrass, Tom Grennan and former Spice Girl Mel C on their roster.
Does the Hillsborough visit make him the most likely candidate?
In a word, no. McEvoy is one of at least three interested parties known to have visited Hillsborough and Middlewood Road in recent weeks, with The Star aware of a mystery US group that visited the facilities the day after Wednesday’s home draw with Norwich City, a game they are believed to have attended.
A visit to S6 merely clearly indicates a level of interest in taking on the club. With at least 11 interested parties having provided proof of £50m in liquid assets to administrators, the vast majority have managed to keep their identities under wraps.
The administration process will go through two bidding processes from here - firstly a round of indicative offers before two weeks of negotiation discussions and a final bid process - from which a ‘preferred bidder’ will be chosen. This bidder will be the party who ultimately offers the best deal for the club’s creditors and subject to further vetting checks and the ratification of a deal, they will likely become the next owners of Sheffield Wednesday.
Who else is interested?
Beyond the mystery US group who toured the stadium earlier this month, The Star is aware of at least one further well-funded US party interested in taking the club on. As previously reported, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is known to have an interest in acquiring the club among others, though it is not known what stage of the process he is at.
The sale of the club has been marketed globally and there is believed to have been interest from the UK and abroad. Rumours of further interested parties are abound within the fan base, some of which are believed to be wide of the mark as things stand. Despite widespread rumours, administrators have confirmed that the Walton Penner family is not among those to have entered the process.
What stage are we at?
Wednesday were only placed in administration by Dejphon Chansiri towards the end of last month and the club is still subject to a 28-marketing period ruling put in place by football authorities. Deadlines have been set on both bidding stages; a ‘soft deadline’ on indicative offers for November 21 and a December 5 for final offers.
When will we know who Sheffield Wednesday’s next owners are?
Once a preferred bidder is selected, that party will have the option of making their identities known to the public, though the process of ratifying them into ownership can take a few weeks. It’s believed the EFL have the ability to expediate the process should the preferred bidder satisfy their owners and directors test easily enough.
Administrators are confident the club can be well-funded well into the new year and it is seen to be likely at this stage that a new ownership will be in place soon enough, at the very least sometime around the new year.