Dejphon Chansiri admits Sheffield Wednesday are days from three-window embargo - can't guarantee payment

Sheffield Wednesday are within days of a being hit with a stringent EFL sanction that would leave them unable to buy players for the next three transfer windows, club chairman Dejphon Chansiri has admitted to The Star.

The Owls announced early this week that they had been unable to pay player wages for the month of March, with the later understanding arriving that some backroom and non-footballing staff had also not been paid in full. Chansiri revealed that a total of 10 senior staff had been subject to in-part payments and that that all lower-paid staff across the club had been paid in full, including some players on lower wages.

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The Star understands backroom staff and non-footballing staff were paid the remainder of their outstanding wages on Friday but that senior players remain unpaid at the time of writing.

On a rolling period from July 1 until June 30 each year, EFL clubs are punished by way of fine after a 20-day deliquency on debts owed to HMRC and on player wages. That punishment extends to a far more serious three-window registration ban after a 30-day tally is reached.

After the club’s failure to satisfy a HMRC bill in November it was believed that Wednesday had reached somewhere in the region of two weeks’ deliquency on that payment. But Chansiri confirmed the 20-day tally had been surpassed and that the club will have to pay player wages in full this coming Monday (April 7) latest to avoid a three-window embargo.

A statement released by the Owls on Monday claimed the late payment of wages was down to cashflow issues and the debts owed to Chansiri in his outside business interests.

Speaking just days out from the reality of a three-window embargo, the Wednesday chairman admitted he did not know when he expected to receive the money owed to him.

"I cannot tell you when, but of course I want to pay. Friday is what I want, but if it is not Friday then I cannot do more. It could be Monday. It can come any minute,” he said. "I spoke with them (those who owe him money), they said they are trying to do it. It is normal. It is a domino effect or something like this. When you do business, you understand any company is short on cashflow or they do not get paid, it is normal is business. I do my best to solve everything.

"It is mainly the players, it may impact them less, but other people we pay. Our more senior (non-football staff), we pay some, but it is just a few senior people who we paid some.

"I am never going to make any excuse. I am wrong. I am sorry for that. I have not paid them and I am wrong. But it is never my intention, I try. Even in the situation with no revenue, in Covid, I tried. People know me. They know I do not like to owe anyone money. I do not like to create trouble for anybody. I tried everything my best to do it."

The news comes in the months after the club put on sale their early bird season tickets, a figure amounting to millions of pounds, as well as not insignificant windfalls from a sold-out Sheffield derby and sales in the club shop. The Owls owner categorically denied rumours that they had suffered any payment issues with kit supplier Macron.

Chansiri said that the season ticket money had been spent and was unable to reference any unexpected costs when asked. That windfall has been spent on running costs alone, he claimed.

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"We spend £2m every month on average,” he said. “Some months maybe I don't need to inject, some months I have to inject. The season ticket money has gone on costs. Our expenditure is high, the season tickets are a few million – it does not last months and months. It is not like that. The money has been spent on costs. The majority is always the player wages. These are not unexpected costs, we know what we need.

"You may ask why I don't have money on hand, but I don't keep money on hand, I need it to invest. I need to use the money, not everyone in business is going to have a lot of money on hand except those who do not invest for example. After 10 years of course my money is less. If I do not invest, then how are we going to generate money to invest in the club?

"The money we get from the fans helps of course. It does not mean fans' money does not help. We are managed on loss, the majority of clubs run on a loss, even in the Premier League. We lost millions last year, even when the fan money comes in, it still needs to come out. Most clubs rely on the club owner.”

He was unable to provide a guarantee that Wednesday wouldn’t find themselves in a similar position during his ownership in the future. He said: "The club relies on my money. The expenditure for the club is very big, it is not easy. I can just say I will do my best.”

Chansiri spoke to The Star from Thailand via video conferencing platform. Throughout the call he maintained a desire to continue his ownership of Sheffield Wednesday - though as ever he indicated a willingness to listen to potential buyers, surmising as an example that if a 'Prince from the Middle East' was to launch an offer that he felt would take Wednesday to the Premier League, he would accept it if the deal was right. He said it would not be a deal just based on money, that he would only sell to the right people - and would be happy to talk on that basis.

He claimed the club had not received any concrete approaches for the club in recent weeks. He spoke in a matter-of-fact manner for much of the interview, firing back at a suggestion he appeared relaxed about the wider situation.

"How do you know I am relaxed?” he said. “I am the leader. I am not the kind of person to cry or something. When we played in Peterborough and lost 4-0 people asked me; 'You don't feel anything?' Because I looked normal. I put it inside. It does not mean I relax, I do not need to show you I am serious, I am not an actor. I am straight-forward. Inside it is more hurt than I show. Unless you know me, you not understand."

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Questioned on whether he shared The Star’s view that a three-window embargo would prove ‘catastrophic’ for the future of the club, Chansiri indicated his belief that while ‘it would be better’ to retain the ability to sign players for transfer and loan fees, the fortunes of the club would be dependent on the recruitment they were able to complete alongside the squad in the summer. The terms of an EFL embargo do allow clubs to register free agent players to fulfil a squad and on the same basis loan players can be signed if there is no loan fee involved.

Chansiri said: "You can see even Reading for example, they have had a problem with embargos but they could get promoted. Sometimes I do not understand the mindset that outside of buying players it is not good. Actually; buy, loan or free, it doesn't matter. It matters that a player fits to your squad or not. It doesn't mean free or loan is always cheaper than to buy, sometimes they are more expensive.

"Of course, some players we maybe need to sell, but whatever happens must happen. Even if we get an embargo, it does not mean we cannot bring in players. You may say we could only bring lesser players but it depends on the way we recruit. Of course it would not be good as if you're not under embargo, but it's not going to be the last day of your life.

"When we recruited in the summer, my coach said he wanted five or six players, then 11 and I supported that. He said we could be in the play-offs. This means our players are good enough, right? This is not me saying it, the coach said this. The fans say I do not invest in January, it is not true. At the end, it is the decision of the coach.”

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