Exclusive:Long-serving Sheffield Wednesday figure set to leave club after 15 years
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A long-serving Sheffield Wednesday figure is set to leave the club after 15 years of service, The Star understands.
Alastair Wilson, who became general manager of the club in 2023, will leave his role at Hillsborough this week in what has been unanimously described as an amicable separation of ways. Wilson was brought to the club by Milan Mandaric in 2011 and has served in a number of roles.
A popular figure within the workforce and among supporters that he had regular contact with, Wilson was one of the senior staff that kept the club running in brutally difficult circumstances towards the end of Dejphon Chansiri’s time as chairman, calling on long-developed relationships with suppliers and contractors to ensure Wednesday were able to continue operating.
His work alongside others in securing the future of the North Stand roof - which for a time looked likely to be closed for an extended period - was seminal in allowing the Owls to move towards new ownership. The Star has reason to believe that despite extended payment issues and various, well-documented professional difficulties, Wilson was among the staff to reject approaches from other employers as he sought to see the job through in those final absent months of Chansiri’s doomed ownership.
Wilson has been at the club since 2011 having previously been employed at Sheffield United. Between the two clubs he has provided nearly 30 years of work to Sheffield football. Last year he received an EFL award for his long service to the sport.
He took over as Owls general manager in October 2023 when chief operating officer Liam Dooley left to join Shrewsbury Town. In a club statement at the time, it was announced that Wilson, who had ‘worked side-by-side’ with Dooley, would take on the ‘leadership of the commercial and operational arm of the club.’
Wilson’s departure comes in the months after Wednesday were taken over by US consortium Arise Capital Partners, led by David Storch. A new leadership team has since been installed, with former Sunderland chief business officer David Bruce appointed chief executive officer, while ex-Stockport County chief executive officer Simon Wilson has come in as sporting director. Working alongside them is brand director Oscar Chamberlain. It expected that the workforce will be further expanded upon in the coming weeks and months.