WEDNESDAY WOES
Back in the 1880s, when Sheffield Wednesday were known simply as The Wednesday, the staunchly amateur club had a little problem. Having just won the FA Cup for the first time in 1896, the club then forgot to apply for the following season’s competition, missing the deadline entirely, which meant that most of their cup-winning side were rather cheesed off, threatened to leave and start their own professional club, Sheffield Rovers, where players would be paid for their performances. The next few months for Wednesday were something of a shambles and in scenes that will be familiar to anyone that has played Sunday League, the club struggled to find enough players to put out a proper side, culminating in a 16-0 defeat to Bolton-based Halliwell FC in January 1887, a match in which Wednesday could only field 10 players. A few months later, an emergency meeting was held between players and president John Holmes, after which the club turned professional. The players were paid and The Wednesday were saved.
It won’t be the tiniest crumb of comfort to Sheffield Wednesday fans that the hat-trick of suffering existential crises due to poor admin, not paying players and staff properly and failing to have enough players for a full team is well ingrained into the club’s history. In case you hadn’t seen, the Owls are again in trouble. After a chaotic summer dominated by financial issues (failing to pay all the squad’s wages for the third time in four months in June) manager Danny Röhl has now left the club by mutual consent, 12 days before the start of the Championship season, with first-team coaches Sascha Lense, Chris Powell, Neil Thompson and Sal Bibbo all following through the door marked Doing One. They aren’t the only departures. While Djeidi Gassama was sold for actual money to Rangers, Josh Windass, Michael Smith and Callum Paterson have all departed for free, with the club unable to bring in any new senior arrivals owing to their transfer ban until January 2027, enforced after the repeated failure to pay players’ wages. Wednesday could face further disciplinary action from the EFL, a possible player walkout, longer transfer embargo, plus a fine and a points deduction if the situation continues.
Despite his exit, Röhl had been generally beloved by Wednesday supporters, having rescued the club from relegation to League One in his first campaign and leading Wednesday on an unlikely playoff push last season. “This summer has been difficult and, in the end, the club and I came to the mutual decision to part ways,” posted Röhl on various Social Media Disgraces. “Even during the difficult moments and setbacks, I have always continued to feel the support from everyone. We achieved a miracle together and that will always be something truly exceptional. I wish everyone associated with Wednesday my very best. I will never forget you.”
Wednesday currently have just 16 first-team players listed on their website, although to what extent those players are actually contracted to the club, including captain Barry Bannan, remains unclear. Wednesday’s owner, Dejphon Chansiri, is willing to sell and has received offers from at least two US consortiums, but neither has met his valuation. The Thai businessman’s tenure has been littered with problems: from the late payment of tax bills to points deductions, to a broken boiler unable to provide hot showers for the players at Hillsborough and even a threat to ban anyone who attended the stadium in a fake shirt. It’s fair to say Chansiri is not flavour of the month. With pay day for July due this week, it remains to be seen if any of the remaining players and staff will stick around for the opener against Leicester City, recently relegated from the Premier League of course – a match which now feels as daunting as Wednesday’s 10-man trip to Halliwell in 1887. Just like they did nearly 140 years ago, here hoping one of England’s grand old clubs can somehow navigate this latest mess and spread their wings again.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Sarina’s got rhythm. She absolutely loves Burna Boy. I can’t believe it. Her face when they brought him out was a picture. She was busting out some moves and singing away so that was a special moment” – England defender Esme Morgan on Sarina Wiegman’s unlikely duet, one of many magic moments from the Lionesses’ Euro 2025 homecoming party in central London.
I was intrigued by Lucy Bronze’s quote in yesterday’s Football Daily – ‘I’ve been through a lot of pain, but that’s what it takes to play for England.’ Does this mean that all us fans who have watched the England men’s team play in a tournament are therefore eligible to be capped?” – John Kyle.
I was interested to hear that Morgan Gibbs-White’s contract extension ‘underlines the ambition of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, whose vision for European success and sustained Premier League progress continues to shape the club’s future’ (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). Presumably this is a different Evangelos Marinakis from the one who gave up a controlling interest in Nottingham Forest?” – Guy Stephenson.
I agree with Mick Beeby: no more drums in football grounds (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). Do something useful at tea-time, start a petition” – Arthur McAra.
The best response to the infuriating drummer is contempt. Brentford fans’ immediate reaction to an opposition drummer is to chant: ‘We don’t need a drum. We don’t need a drum. We’re Brentford FC, we don’t need a drum’” – Russell Wallman.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … John Kyle. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
