The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust have issued details of their next planned protest against club owner Dejphon Chansiri, for their upcoming EFL Cup match against Leeds United.
Sheffield Wednesday’s summer of crisis continues unabated, with the squad beginning the new season with two defeats that have dropped them to the bottom of the Championship standings.
New manager Henrik Pedersen is facing one uphill struggle after another, the most recent being continued challenges with registering new players to play for them, despite being lifted from a transfer embargo on the eve of the new season.
Beyond a not-completely-discouraging performance against Leicester in their opening match, despite losing 2-1, the only truly positive news to have come from the pitch thus far came in the First Round of the EFL Cup, when Wednesday defeated Bolton Wanderers 4-2 on penalty kicks after a 3-3 draw at The Toughsheet Community Stadium.
However, after being drawn against Premier League Leeds United in the following round, the Owls’ chances of a big payoff have been hampered by a statement from the Trust, which calls for action against Chansiri to continue.
Trust statement urges a fan boycott of Leeds United match
The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust posted a message on the social media platform X on Tuesday afternoon, urging Wednesday fans to boycott their next EFL Cup fixture against Leeds United.
The Trust’s rationale for supporting the boycott was straightforward: “Every ticket puts money in the hands of an owner who has shown nothing but contempt for the fanbase and disregard for our club’s long-term survival. We understand how terrible it is to miss a game against a prominent rival, but sometimes sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.”
Wednesday fans are also asked to contribute the money they would have spent on tickets to charity: “Instead of contributing to a regime that has forced Sheffield Wednesday into trouble, we are asking supporters to consider donating the cost of their match ticket to charity. By doing so, we may transform what might otherwise be a negative act for our club into something positive for our community.” The tweet also includes a link to a GoFundMe page for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
This boycott is intended to financially flush Chansiri out of Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday fans who are short on cash may not have many arguments to boycotting this game. Cup matches are not included in the price of a season ticket at Hillsborough, and match-day tickets are notoriously among the most costly in the Championship, as they have been for many years.
However, the motive behind the boycott is obvious. If Dejphon Chansiri is unwilling to leave Hillsborough by any other means, he must be financially starved.
His earlier assessments of the club are entirely out of sync with modern thinking about the worth of a football club, and his apparent reluctance to sell the club has already turned away potential buyers.
The EFL has no mechanism to force an owner to sell until they fail the Owners & Directors Test, which Chansiri has not done. As a result, the demonstrations at Sheffield Wednesday appear to be ongoing until either Chansiri leaves or Sheffield Wednesday ceases to exist, and it is now unclear to predict which of these two outcomes is most likely.
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