When Chris Waddle thinks Sheffield Wednesday will be in the Premier League after David Storch takeover | OneFootball

The former Wednesday legend believes that the Owls can climb back to the top flight in the future under new ownership

The final day of the 2025/26 Championship campaign was a joyous one for Sheffield Wednesday, even if it did mark their final second-tier outing for the foreseeable future.

The Owls' relegation to League One was confirmed back in February, but with their administrative period still ongoing, there was still plenty of uncertainty surrounding whether new owners would be in place and what sanctions would be set upon them for next season.

They were given clarity on Saturday ahead of their final day meeting with West Brom. The takeover by David Storch and his Arise Capital Partners consortium was approved, and the 15-point deduction that was set to be imposed on them to start League One was waived by the EFL.

Wednesday will still be under budget restrictions, but the club will be able to remain competitive next season, which is a massive boost, and those pre-game announcements set the scene for Henrik Pedersen's side's first league win at Hillsborough this season against the Baggies.

Chris Waddle makes Sheffield Wednesday, Premier League prediction

Understandably, a lot of people connected with Sheffield Wednesday are riding that high from Saturday's takeover announcement and the game which followed.

With a clean slate to begin life back in League One, at least in terms of the points they're set to start on, promotion back to the Championship could be achieved a lot sooner than anticipated.

And, speaking to the Sheffield Star, former Wednesday winger and England international, Chris Waddle, has gone one further, and believes that, with the right guidance, the Owls could find themselves back in the Premier League for the first time since the 1999/2000 campaign in the future.

"Obviously, I'm delighted that Chansiri's gone, like all Owls," he said. "Everyone's delighted, there's a new start to the club. Yes, they've been relegated, which is sad, but everything looks like it's going in the right direction, and they can bounce back very quickly.

"Sheffield Wednesday is too big a club not to be around the top two divisions, so they will come back, if it takes a year, two, or even three.

"They will be back in the Premier League one day, and hopefully these new owners are the right owners, not like the previous."

Granted, it would take a lot of mismanagement to reach the levels that former owner Dejphon Chansiri achieved. Even just maintaining the standards of running a football club would be a plus, given what Wednesday fans have been put through.

But, so far, it looks like David Storch and co are going above and beyond to ensure that Wednesday are in a good place to bounce back as soon as possible.

The Premier League may be a long way away, but Sheffield Wednesday has real momentum going into next season in League One

Roared on by the biggest Championship crowd of the season on the final day against West Brom, it's clear that, with the right ownership in place, the support for Sheffield Wednesday will start to flood back into Hillsborough next season.

There's still work to be done, with the playing squad needing much-needed additions and the facilities in a non-playing sense needing improvement, too, but if Saturday is anything to go by, it seems that those upgrades will come in due course.

Starting without a points deduction, too, will give the Owls real belief that they can compete at the top of League One next season. So, while the Premier League seems quite a way away, you can't blame fans for getting carried away after Saturday's revelation.

The first step is to get back into the second tier, though. Then, perhaps all eyes can be on making that long-awaited top-flight return.