Sheffield Wednesday takeover: Why is it taking so long? | OneFootball

James Bord's bid for the Owls has stalled

After entering administration, falling behind on bills and a catastrophic 18-point deduction, Begbies Traynor finally confirmed that a preferred bidder had been selected to buy the Owls.

Within hours, the BBC reported that bidder to be James Bord, part owner of Dunfermline Athletic and sports-analytics entrepreneur.

For a fanbase conditioned by false dawns, the announcement was greeted less with celebration than wary acceptance. At least something, finally, was moving.

Three weeks later, Wednesday are still ownerless. The January transfer window is open, academy players are being lined up in the shop window, and the EFL has made clear there is “no set timescale” for approving Bord’s takeover.

The question, increasingly, is not just who will own Sheffield Wednesday - but whether the delay itself will begin to shape the club’s future.

James Bord’s Sheffield Wednesday takeover is still stuck in limbo

The first thing to understand is that “preferred bidder” is not the same thing as “approved owner”.

When Begbies Traynor selected Bord’s consortium on Christmas Eve, they were fulfilling their duties under insolvency law: to identify the best-funded, most credible offer that maximised returns for creditors and met EFL requirements in principle.

That process included extensive checks on proof of funds, deal structure and sustainability - but none of that replaces the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test.

That is where the current delay is coming from. The league has confirmed it only received formal written notification of the Owls' preferred bidder and supporting documentation in early January, after which it was able to begin its own due diligence.

That delay - partly procedural, partly seasonal - means the regulatory clock did not even start running until well after the Christmas announcement.

From there, Bord’s bid presents exactly the sort of complexity that slows these processes down.

This is not a single-benefactor takeover. It is a consortium involving Bord, data-and-crypto investor Felix Roemer and Jordanian venture capitalist Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil.

Their funding streams, corporate vehicles, governance plans and ownership chains all have to be verified.

The EFL has been explicit about the trade-off. Ownership changes involving multiple investors, foreign capital and layered structures “may take longer due to increased complexity”. There is no deadline, only a requirement to get it right.

The EFL’s takeover delay is already costing Sheffield Wednesday

What makes this so dangerous is not the scrutiny, but the timing.

Wednesday are not a stable club awaiting a formality - they are an insolvent one, living week-to-week.

A £1 million emergency loan from a supporter and short-term fundraising have kept wages paid into the winter, but that breathing space is shrinking. Even with a non-refundable deposit from Bord’s group, the club remains financially exposed.

That reality is already leaking into football decisions. Under administration, Wednesday need cash now, not theoretical future value.

That is why Hibernian’s bid for Bailey Cadamarteri - heavy on add-ons, light on up-front money - was rejected, and why Blackburn Rovers’ interest, structured around immediate payment, is more dangerous.

The same logic applies to Pierce Charles, Charlie McNeill and Yisa Alao, who have all attracted recent interest: players are not being sold because it makes footballing sense, but because liquidity matters more than long-term planning.

There is also a regulatory knife-edge still to come. Administrators insist Bord’s proposal satisfies the EFL’s 25p-in-the-pound creditor rule, avoiding a further 15-point deduction next season, but that is only secured once the deal completes. Until then, Wednesday are technically still exposed.

Supporters find themselves caught in a familiar trap. Everyone wants proper vetting after a decade of Dejphon Chansiri. No one wants another owner who arrives with grand promises and leaves with the club in ruins, but every extra week without resolution increases the chance that the squad is stripped, leverage is lost and next season starts already compromised.

In theory, the takeover is progressing exactly as it should. In practice, Sheffield Wednesday do not have the luxury of time.

That tension - between regulatory diligence and financial emergency - is why this process feels stuck.