Sheffield Wednesday: Dejphon Chansiri's ‘Sheffield 3’ company releases accounts - what it means explained

Sheffield 3, the company set up by Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri which owns Hillsborough Stadium, has released its first set of accounts. But what does it all mean?
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To help make sense of the numbers, The Star spoke to Dr Dan Plumley, a football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, who also happens to be a Wednesdayite.

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Firstly, what is Sheffield 3?

Dejphon Chansiri, chairman of Sheffield Wednesday (photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images).Dejphon Chansiri, chairman of Sheffield Wednesday (photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images).
Dejphon Chansiri, chairman of Sheffield Wednesday (photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images).

"Sheffield 3 is a company that was set up by Chansiri in 2019. It’s the company that holds the registration of the ground (Hillsborough).

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"These are its first set of accounts for the year ending July 2020.

"This company is now what owns the football stadium. It was transferred to Sheffield 3, they own Hillsborough and are leasing it back to Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, but the person with significant control is Dejphon Chansiri.

"If the Championship’s profit and sustainability rules didn’t exist, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

What is the difference between Sheffield 3 and the other shell companies connected to Sheffield Wednesday?

“In legal terms and business terms there is not much difference.

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"They are all companies registered in the same way, their main purpose is slightly different depending on which one you are looking at.

"In terms of set-up, they are very much the same kind of companies. The overall registration of the stadium is the difference with this one."

Looking at the numbers, what do they tell us?

"Nothing we weren’t expecting. It shows Hillsborough as an investment property, but it’s a fixed asset to the value of £60 million (at the point of sale).”

A fixed asset is defined as a long-term tangible asset that a business owns and uses to produce income. They are not expected to be sold in the short term.

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"The other most important point is that during the year Sheffield 3 received rent from the football club which totalled £2.8 million.

"There’s not a lot more to go off. It's a very small set of accounts, they can be filed in that way because it’s a small company.”

So there’s nothing to worry about?

"There’s nothing untoward from a business point of view. This is just the first set of accounts from Sheffield 3.

"There’s nothing that’s anything to worry about at this point in time.”