Sheffield Wednesday’s next manager will be Dave Challinor.

A face spotted in the director’s box at Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday would suggest a coaching hire as Dave Challinor goes through the last stages of becoming the club’s new manager.

Ex-Stockport County boss Challinor joins up with his old sporting director Simon Wilson in steering the early stages of Wednesday’s major rebuild and was present at the Owls’ 1-1 draw with Blackpool on Sunday afternoon. Wednesday confirmed on Sunday morning that a deal had been agreed to make the 51-year-old their new boss, with details of the appointment set for Monday.

Challinor arrived to the director’s box and posed for photographs with supporters ahead of the game, which saw Wednesday start brightly and take the lead through Davis Keillor-Dunn before Sil Swinkels’ red card turned the momentum of a feisty match-up. Former Owls loanee Jerry Yates scored late to claim a point for the League One strugglers.

As reported by The Star, it is expected that he will be joined by his long-time assistant Clint Hill, a former Premier League defender. The make-up of any other coaching hires is not yet known.

One figure that was spotted alongside him at the Blackpool match was Antony Sweeney, who acted as one of his first team coaches in the latter stages of his time at Stockport, from August 2025 until they departed the club in June. He also worked with Challinor at Hartlepool where Sweeney was a legendary player of over 400 appearances - including in the 2005 League One play-off final in which he came up short against the Owls. Sweeney also played in the EFL for Carlisle United and had a short stint at Gateshead.

A UEFA A-license holder, the 43-year-old started his coaching career with Hartlepool in a eight-year stint that saw him rise from the youth ranks to assistant manager and four times as interim manager. His second temporary spell in charge saw a 3-0 EFL Trophy win over Wednesday at Hillsborough in December 2021. He since undertook coaching roles under Rob Elliot at Gateshead and Crawley Town before joining Challinor at Stockport.

The departure of Hill and Sweeney from Edgeley Park followed that of Challinor’s in June this year and included confirmation that Dave Conlon would also be moving on. Conlon was appointed as Pete Wild’s assistant manager at Hartlepool last month.