Sheffield Wednesday: Talks over player wage deferrals continue

The unprecedented situation, brought about because of the suspension of football in the continuing coronavirus crisis, has left clubs up and down the football pyramid counting the cost of a sudden loss in matchday revenue.

Wednesday are one of several clubs to have placed non-football staff on furlough, with owner Dejphon Chansiri praised for pledging to ‘top-up’ the 20 per cent difference left by the Government’s ‘coronavirus job retention scheme’ payment of wages.

Question marks remain over the vast payment of player wages, which with no money coming in threatens to seriously impact many clubs. Wednesday announced earlier this week that they are one of the clubs seeking to defer wages.

Discussions are ongoing between the PFA, Premier League, EFL and LMA as to decide the best possible way forward in what has been described by one legal commentator as a ‘legal minefield’.

Wednesday are among the clubs most heavily reliant on matchday income, with some 37 per cent of their income arriving via matchday revenue at last publically-available count.

Last available figures from the club, from 2017/18, suggest that Wednesday spent £29.3m on wages, with only £23.4m incoming across the year – though this overspend is believed to have been narrowed in recent seasons.

It’s an overspend far from unusual in the Championship, however, with clubs on average spending £103 on wages alone from every £100 brought in.

Discussions between the relevant authorities continue.