Unease behind the scenes at how Sheffield Wednesday wage payment failure has been handled
Sheffield Wednesday confirmed on Monday evening that they had failed to pay their players on time for the month of March.
Concern around the financial situation at Sheffield Wednesday continues after the club confirmed this week that player wages for the month of March had not been made on time, with The Star also of the understanding that at least some backroom staff and non-footballing staff have also seen their wage payments missed. It’s believed many staff have received their March wages, with payments going through as normal.
Conversations had by The Star with sources with knowledge of the situation have revealed that many of those impacted received no prior warning given ahead of the payment failure and ahead of the statement released to the public on Monday evening, with some describing an ongoing feeling of major dissatisfaction not only at the situation, but around a lack of communication and how it has been handled in-house.
As of lunchtime on Wednesday, payments are not believed to have been made, with the Owls facing a two-day grace period to correct the situation before being named as under a registration embargo via the EFL’s Embargo Reporting service. The club had a two-day deadline in which to report the payment failure to the EFL.
It is not the first time Wednesday have had issues over the payment of wages, with the last known payment debacle coming in October 2023 when Chansiri asked supporters to contribute to the £2m required to pay off a HMRC debt and cover player wages. Those payments were made later than usual, but within hours of his public, early morning request being made via an interview with The Star. On that occasion it is believed that non-footballing staff were paid on time. That has not been the case this time around.
The issue comes in the months after an influx of financial contribution from supporters via early bird season ticket sales, the uptick in matchday ticket sales in the Steel City derby and two clothing sales. The late payment has been put down to money owed to chairman Dejphon Chansiri’s outside business interests.
Their Monday statement read: “Sheffield Wednesday can confirm a temporary issue with the payment of player salaries for the month of March. This has occurred as a result of significant sums of money owed to the chairman’s businesses which has in turn impacted on the club’s immediate cashflow.
“The chairman is working hard to resolve this situation at the earliest possible opportunity and in the meantime thanks everyone for their patience and understanding.”
Further sanctions that could be imposed upon Wednesday if they are not able to satisfy the money owed to players include a fine and the imposition of a three-window transfer embargo should they tally a 20 or 30-day default on payments between July last year and June this year. The club are believed to have already incurred a tally somewhere in the region of two weeks after failing to pay a HMRC bill on time in November last year. The tally is reset on July 1.