What happened to Derby County when they went into administration as Sheffield Wednesday face same threat | OneFootball

The Owls are the latest Championship side on the brink of administration

It is a sorry state of affairs for those connected to Sheffield Wednesday right now, with there seemingly no end in sight to the Owls' off-pitch woes.

The Steel City outfit are enduring one of the most chaotic starts to a Championship season, with supporters, onlookers and pundits all pinning the blame on Dejphon Chansiri for his day-to-day running of the club that has seen the Owls plummet from their previous position as a strong second tier force between the mid-and-late 2010s.

As a result, there is a real possibility that the Hillsborough club could be put into administration, with the club given until Tuesday, September 30th to repay a hefty £7.3m loan taken out, which was initially a figure of £6.4m back in September 2020 as the South Yorkshire side essentially mortgaged their home stadium.

Whilst there could be a grace period offered by the EFL when it comes to the repayment of said figure, failure to do so would land Wednesday in yet another heap of bother, having previously been the subject of delayed wage payments, transfer embargoes and transfer fee restrictions until 2027, leaving head coach Henrik Pedersen with a seemingly impossible task of maintaining the club's second tier status.

It would make the Owls the latest 'sleeping giant' in the division to fall into administration, with Derby County the previous club to enter such a predicament. FLW has looked at exactly what occurred at Pride Park whilst the Rams' existence was put under threat.

Derby County players and staff earned praise during administration era

Shortly after preserving their Championship status at the expense of the Owls after a dramatic final-day 3-3 draw in DE24 with Wednesday being handed a 12-point deduction for breaking spending rules, Derby were given the same penalty after entering administration in October 2021.

Then-owner Mel Morris had been actively trying to sell the club for two years after losing the play-off final to Aston Villa in May 2019, stating that the club had lost him "in excess of £200m" during a six-year period where promotion was largely the target.

Wayne Rooney and Liam Rosenior were the men on the sidelines at the time, and they were only able to acquire free agents after a previous transfer embargo was put in place.

An already impossible task was made worse just two months later, as the EFL docked a further nine points off the Rams' tally for breaching accounting rules, leaving them with a total of -3 points after 17 games.

To their credit, Rooney and his squad, which still contained the likes of Tom Lawrence, Krystian Bielik, Curtis Davies, Ravel Morrison, Craig Forsyth and Sam Baldock along with talents such as Malcolm Ebiowei, Jason Knight, Louie Sibley, Luke Plange and Eiran Cashin rarely rolled over.

Remarkably, Derby ended the season second-bottom despite a 21-point deduction, and they would have ended in 17th had it not been in place.

With the club still in administration in the off-season, Rooney resigned, leaving Rosenior in charge to oversee the eventual £55m takeover by David Clowes in July 2022.

Rosenior was subsequently swapped with Paul Warne in the hotseat, with the former Rotherham United boss seeing Derby narrowly miss out on a play-off spot during the 2022/23 campaign, before ending a two-year spell in League One as runners-up in his first full season, with several experienced players such as Joe Wildsmith, Sonny Bradley, Callum Elder, Conor Hourihane, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Kane Wilson, David McGoldrick and James Collins playing a key role in proceedings.

Derby were able to consolidate back in the second tier last season after replacing Warne with John Eustace in February, and the 45-year-old is hoping to make strides of progress after a busy first transfer window at Pride Park.

Sheffield Wednesday may have to follow Derby County blueprint

Of course, Wednesday are no strangers to League One themselves, with their most recent spell in the division ending in a play-off success back in May 2023 against Barnsley at Wembley Stadium under Darren Moore.

It looked as if Danny Rohl would be the man to steady the on-pitch ship amid controversy surrounding Chansiri, but his resignation nine days before the current season left a threadbare squad even more in the lurch after cancellations of pre-season friendlies.

Once again, those in blue and white have earned praise for the way they have conducted themselves in an extremely dark period, which has culminated in boycotts from EFL Cup encounters and supporters deciding to not purchase food, drink or items from the club shop whilst Chansiri is still in the boardroom.

After picking up a surprise first win of the season at Portsmouth last weekend, a 12-point deduction just days later would be a major confidence setback to add to the endless list of them in recent weeks and months in S6.

It seems increasingly likely that, in the long run, the Owls will have to follow the aforementioned Derby blueprint, although there are bigger things to focus on in the short-term.