Dejphon Chansiri got this one thing right at Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

The hiring of Darren Moore in League One was one of the few positive moments in the final few years of Dejphon Chansiri at Sheffield Wednesday

Not many critics can say that Dejphon Chansiri got a lot of things right at Sheffield Wednesday, especially during the latter half of his decade-long stint as Owls chairman.

Wednesday fell out of the Championship in the 2020/21 campaign, just four seasons following back-to-back top-six finishes, due in part to financial mismanagement, which resulted in a 12-point deduction at the start of the term.

While that deduction was reduced to six later on in the season, it couldn't stop Wednesday from finishing bottom that year, frustratingly enough, just three points removed from safety.

Understandably, a lot of frustration was sent Chansiri's way. Breaching spending rules to try to gain promotion to the Premier League had resulted in the club going in the opposite direction.

However, it's arguable that some of the best recent memories at Hillsborough came during that two-year stint, and it happened under the tutelage of Darren Moore.

Darren Moore led Sheffield Wednesday back to the Championship in dramatic fashion

Darren Moore actually became Wednesday's boss during the final months of that 2020/21 relegation campaign, taking over from Tony Pulis in March. He couldn't do much to keep the Owls up, and his task was made even more difficult, given that a COVID-19 contraction resulted in him suffering from pneumonia a month later.

In the end, Moore returned to the club ahead of the final day away at Derby County, where Wednesday, who needed to win to stand any chance of staying up, drew 3-3 at Pride Park, which confirmed their place in League One.

The former Doncaster Rovers and West Brom boss was given the opportunity in the third tier to bring Wednesday back up, and thus began a couple of enjoyable campaigns, as Wednesday, who had dwelled in lower midtable for a few years before succumbing to relegation, were among the top sides in the division.

Their first season back in League One had a few stumbling blocks here and there, especially in December and January, where the Owls went through a period of losing three in four, including a 5-0 thrashing at Sunderland to close out 2021.

Wednesday would lose just three more times in the final 20 games of the campaign to secure a fourth-placed finish, though, and would bow out in the play-offs to eventual winners Sunderland in the semi-finals, losing 2-1 on aggregate.

Despite failing to get Sheffield Wednesday up at the first time of asking, Moore was afforded another season, and in one of the most competitive third tier's ever in the 2022/23 campaign, Wednesday more than did their part.

The Owls finished the campaign on 96 points, which was a club record, had gone a club record 23 games unbeaten, and had kept a club record 24 clean sheets. However, that wasn't enough to finish in the top two, due to the excellence of Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, and thus Wednesday had to go through the lottery of the play-offs.

Peterborough United were their opponents, and Posh put Darren Moore's side to the sword in the first leg, demolishing the Owls and winning 4-0 at London Road. No side had ever come from four goals down to progress to the play-off final, and Wednesday looked dead and buried.

But then came the miracle of Hillsborough, where Wednesday pulled off the most dramatic of comebacks, scoring four times themselves in 90 minutes, before then coming back once more to level things in extra time. The Owls won on penalties and came into the play-off final against Barnsley on the highest of highs.

In a cagey affair that threatened spot-kicks, it was once again the late-late show for Wednesday, as Josh Windass cropped up in the 123rd minute to send the Owls back to the Championship.

Darren Moore departed Sheffield Wednesday before the Championship return began — it highlighted Dejphon Chansiri's worst attributes

Unfortunately, as Wednesday fans know all too well, you could never afford to get too high supporting the club over the last decade, as three weeks following the play-off final win, Moore had left Hillsborough via mutual consent.

Moore stated in an interview a few months later that it was due to the visions not aligning between himself and Dejphon Chansiri, but critics still feel that it was due to a disagreement over a new contract for the manager.

Regardless, the play-off winner departed, and his successor, Xisco Munoz, won none of his 12 games at the club, and led Wednesday to their worst ever start to a league season.

Even their 2025/26 campaign, which was marred by players leaving in the summer, resulting in a depleted squad and protests against Chansiri, was better than their 2023/24 start.

Whether Moore could have gotten better out of that current crop is yet to be seen. The Wednesday job has seemed a baptism of fire in the years following the 51-year-old's departure, but given that he'd go on to fail at Huddersfield Town and be sacked from Port Vale with the Valiants bottom of League One, perhaps it was best for him to part ways in the end.

Either way, no one will be able to take away what Moore did at Hillsborough during their recent stint in League One. Memories were created for life, and it all happened with him in the dugout.