Long-term planning and strong relationships - insight into likely new Sheffield Wednesday sporting director
The Owls are ploughing on with plans under new ownership
Sheffield Wednesday are closing in on their next big appointment.
As we reported last night, former Stockport County CEO, Simon Wilson, is set to arrive as the new sporting director at Hillsborough. The 43-year-old is believed to have spent time in the city this week and the outline terms of a deal have been agreed, although not rubber-stamped just yet.
Wilson’s career has taken him to Southampton, Manchester City, Sunderland, Ajax and UEFA, but he has spent the last six seasons at Stockport County, with the Hatters rising from the National League to the cusp of the Championship. County owner, Mark Stott, has gone on record saying that he would not have bought the club if it wasn’t for Wilson, who left his role at Edgeley Park at the end of April.
A club statement announcing his departure glowingly praised Wilson, acknowledging that he leaves behind a squad built with significant assets, a maturing academy, record attendance levels and revenues, increased community impact and a strong pipeline of talented staff across the organisation.
Under Dejphon Chansiri, especially after the first two years, Wednesday did not have a long-term plan. Managerial appointments and player recruitment were random. There was no forward-thinking, no philosophy, and no bright ideas. But, if confirmed in the post, Wilson will be well-positioned to change that.
“He basically wrote a seven-year plan at Stockport when he came into the club with Mark Scott in 2020,” journalist Sam Byrne, who covers the Hatters for the Manchester Evening News, explained. “The seven-year plan was to get to the Championship by 2027. We are six years into that now and Stockport are potentially on the verge of achieving that.”
With regards to what Wilson will be remembered most for, Byrne believes his strong working relationship with manager Dave Challinor has been pivotal to the club’s success.
“Dave Challinor is not the kind of manager that would come out and say that he delighted to have a director of football if he doesn't want one,” Byrne said. “He has always been really positive about Simon and the way they work together. He has always been consistent in crediting Simon for the relationship that they've had. I think seeing the success the club has had, some of the recruitment, and they have kind of bounced off each other, I think that has kind of led to this point now where what we are seeing is that kind of real disappointment that Simon is leaving. I think that relationship between the two, I think that's kind of what his legacy will be. I think people will look back and think we had a really strong director of football and manager relationship.”
Wilson’s main focus at Stockport was first-team matters, mainly recruitment. When they were in the National League, their approach was seemingly to do whatever was necessary to get back into the English Football League. They signed players from higher divisions who were comfortably too good for the level and brought lots of know-how. But as they have climbed the ladder, their recruitment strategy has altered.
“I think the recruitment at that point wasn't probably as considered in terms of long-term,” Byrne told The Star. “It was about getting more experienced, maybe older players in, just to get you out of the league. And then when they got into League Two and into League One, that is where they have tried to go a bit more sustainable. They have still spent money, but on younger players who have a resale value. You look at the captain, Lewis Bate, 21 at the time, on a free transfer, on a three-year deal. I think the plan with him has always been, if he impresses and shows the form he's capable of, that they can sell him on for a decent amount. Defender Brad Hills signed for a million pounds from Norwich last summer. He is out with a cruciate injury the minute but before that, there was talk of bids from top end Championship clubs for five, six and seven million. And there is Ethan Pye, who they pounced on with Simon Wilson, again a player that we are talking about potentially selling on for millions of pounds.”
Finally, improving fan engagement is high on the agenda of new Wednesday owners Arise Capital Partners, with David Storch saying they bought club to return it to the supporters. And although Wilson is not someone who will seek the limelight, he will not hide away either.
“Simon would be that public face,” Byrne added. “That's not to say that he's in the papers every five minutes, but he would do regular interviews with the club and with local media, just updating fans from the club’s side of things on developments. He was happy to go out there. “