Sheffield Wednesday facing potential Dejphon Chansiri administration twist - It involves Hillsborough Stadium | OneFootball

As if things couldn't get worse for Sheffield Wednesday fans, even being forced into administration may not end their connection to Dejphon Chansiri.

As if the 2025-26 season couldn't get any worse for Sheffield Wednesday fans, even administration might not be enough to rid them of Dejphon Chansiri, who may become the club's new landlord.

Fans of troubled Championship club Sheffield Wednesday haven't had much to celebrate this season, but they have been able to take a small crumb of solace from the fact that the club's current crisis would see the end of hated owner Chansiri's connection with the club, in the event that they are sold.

The news that HMRC are set to issue a winding-up petition against the club has raised the prospect of Wednesday being forced into administration, but while this might finally force the matter of getting new ownership for the club, even this might not be enough to crowbar Chansiri out of Hillsborough.

Dejphon Chansiri planning to keep hold of Hillsborough, even if Sheffield Wednesday are sold

Journalist Alan Nixon reports that, although being forced into administration would force a change of ownership at Sheffield Wednesday, Chansiri is hoping to retain ownership of Hillsborough, which is held under separate ownership to the club itself.

Nixon reports that Chansiri would end up as the club's landlord, explaining that the owner wants to get at least some of the money back from the tens of millions of pounds that he's put into it over the years.

Describing this potential outcome as a "nightmare" for Wednesday's fans, Nixon claims that any party that would want to rescue the club from what appears to be administration would only be getting the club - Hillsborough would not be part of the package.

He adds that any new club owner would have to pay rent to stay at the stadium, "or consider playing at a new home", should they not want to deal with Chansiri's demands, which could cause a further sticky situation between the club and the Thai businessman.

Dejphon Chansiri's Hillsborough move could jeopardise any future sale of the club

Dejphon Chansiri bought Sheffield Wednesday in 2015, but after four years of heavy financial losses attempted an accounting sleight of hand in selling the ground to another company that he owned in order to try and balance the club's books.

The sale allowed them to record a £2.5 million profit for the 2017-18 season. The EFL, however, were not fooled by this and charged the club with misconduct regardless.

Were Wednesday to be forced into administration, they would be entering a legal area in which the law takes precedent over footballing matters, and there is no legal mechanism to prevent this from happening.

The limited company which owns Hillsborough is a different legal entity to the football club itself; this was always the risk when clubs started pulling this sort of stunt to balance their books, and it's no small part of the reason why this loophole was closed following legal threats from other clubs.

There are other debts which would also be excluded from any administration process, including secured debts and, under the rules of the game itself, what are constituted "football debts." The EFL would require debts to other clubs and players to be paid in full, rather than under the sort of 'pennies in a pound' agreement that would have to be reached with other creditors.

All of this raises questions over what sort of sale might happen, in the event that Sheffield Wednesday are pushed into administration. Buyers may be put off by the stadium not being part of the deal. It is, by a long way, the most valuable asset connected to the club.

And even if a buyer could be found who'd accept those sorts of conditions, the need to continue to pay rent to a landlord would be a not-inconsiderable restriction on the potential future growth of the club. There's a very good reason why the reunification of club and ground which took place at Coventry City earlier this season was greeted with such enthusiasm by fans.

HIllsborough is in a state of disrepair following years of neglect, but it is still Sheffield Wednesday's historic home, and the fact that Chansiri may be prepared to act in this way only reflects the suspicions of his biggest critics.

If the owner is planning to act in this way during a spell in administration, it'll be widely regarded as a demonstration that, having already made such a mess their recent past and their present, he could be set to throw a spanner in the works of their future, as well.