Sheffield Wednesday takeover news: How Simon Jordan feels about stepping in after James Bord deal collapses | OneFootball

The former Crystal Palace owner was part of a potential Owls consortium earlier this year

Simon Jordan has been reacting to the latest Sheffield Wednesday takeover twist.

His comments came a day before news broke that the consortium led by James Bord, who had been handed preferred-bidder status in December, had pulled out of the deal.

They had offered £30m for the club, and have already sunk over £4m in deposits and operating costs, but following relegation the Owls’ valuation is said to have dropped, and the group cannot vary the terms of the original offer, so were forced to step away.

Jordan was part of a consortium that looked at a Wednesday takeover last year, but ultimately decided to step away.

Simon Jordan had a look at Sheffield Wednesday originally

The driving force behind Jordan’s mooted takeover of the Owls was insurance entrepreneur Ryan Howsam, a close friend who’s originally from Sheffield, which the latter revealed in an interview with The Star.

The talkSPORT broadcaster was interested, and even went as far as registering £50m proof of funds to proceed to the second round of the process.

That is, however, as far as the exploration went, as the pair quickly realised that the costs to buy the club would far exceed the figure they had in mind.

More than 10 parties showed proof of funds, one of which being Jordan and Howsam, before Bord’s consortium were selected as the preferred bidders.

What Simon Jordan said about taking over Sheffield Wednesday

Both Jordan and Howsam have spoken on this topic publicly, so, naturally, with Bord’s potential takeover collapsing, the spotlight shifted back on the likes of Jordan to see whether he’d be interested in reigniting his interest.

In short, the answer is no.

Jordan had originally saved Palace from administration when he took over in 2000, but the club faced financial difficulties towards the end of his reign, with the Eagles placed under a transfer embargo, players’ wages delayed and, ultimately, the south London outfit entered into administration.

Wednesday would be a similarly difficult proposition, and clearly not one Jordan is ready to take on.

The talkSPORT broadcaster still sees value in Sheffield Wednesday

That’s not to say he doesn’t see the value for others, though.

“I've always advocated for Sheffield Wednesday, always suggested that they're a club waiting to happen,” he continued.

“If someone can get behind them, get some momentum, it's a great football club with great scale opportunities.”

The former football club owner believes rivals Sheffield United have a bigger digital footprint at the moment, but believes Wednesday are the bigger club. That digital dominance, however, is something figures like Jordan pay attention to, with the broadcaster says is “part and parcel of the whole branding opportunity of a football club, which is why Wrexham are so successful.”

He concluded: “But the reality of it is, I think there are better opportunities for me in other spaces than going and running a football club again.”

Wednesday must now go through the painful journey of finding another preferred bidder and restarting the process Bord’s consortium was going through all over again, but it seems they can rule Jordan out of that conversation.