Sheffield Wednesday enter the 2025‑26 Championship season in crisis. Owner Dejphon Chansiri faces multiple EFL charges related to unpaid wages and late payments, with the squad not receiving salaries for four of the past five months. As a result, the club is under a transfer and registration embargo until 2027, unable to sign or officially register new players.
In protest over payroll issues, the team withdrew from a pre‑season friendly against Burnley, and players have released an open letter expressing "extreme concern." While they pledged continued commitment to training, they warned of further action if the situation doesn’t improve.
Manager Danny Röhl and his coaching staff left the club by mutual consent on 29 July 2025, just days before the season opener. Henrik Pedersen, previously assistant coach, has been appointed as the new manager.. Only around 12–16 senior players remain on the books as numerous departures accelerate amid unpaid wages. Stadium-wise, Hillsborough’s North Stand remains closed due to a safety ban imposed by the city council.
Bannan's Thoughts
Speaking to TalkSPORT, Bannan stated "The lads have been brilliant since we've come back.
“We had a lot of conversations as a family and when I told my daughter Elsie that I might be leaving she started crying. Then last night when I told her I was staying she started crying again. I asked her why and she said they are just happy tears.” 💙 pic.twitter.com/NFvcRfWBkZ
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) August 2, 2025
"I can't complain, I thought it would have been hard to try and keep the group going, but they've been ultimate professionals.
"Come in, worked hard every day and done the running that you probably don't really want to do, and you've got loads of excuses probably at this time to pull out, but they've been amazing, to be honest.
"We've kept ourselves really fit, but it's hard because you don't know what you're allowed to do, because this never really happens.
"To be honest, it's never happened to any of us, so we don't know what the rules and stuff are, so we don't know what we're actually allowed to do as a group of players."
Questioned on if there will be any further strikes, he added: "No, I don't think so.
"We obviously pulled out the Burnley game at the weekend, that was simply because it's happened too much now, and I think it's a lot easier to pull out of a pre-season friendly game than it is a Championship fixture.
"We've come into training and just got on with it, and made it look to the outside world that we're fine with it, we're just getting on with it, so that was our choice then to say 'enough is enough'."
