Official: Sheffield Wednesday drop new takeover update - it's good news for players & staff | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's administrators have issued their latest statement update, and there was special praise for the fans & good news for staff.

Begbies Traynor, the administrators running Sheffield Wednesday, have issued their latest statement on progress regarding the club, and there's both praise for fans, as well as good news for their long-suffering players and staff.

Sheffield Wednesday may remain in deep trouble at the bottom of the Championship, but the club's administrators, Begbies Traynor, have issued a new statement this afternoon which updates fans on the sale of the club, as well as offering very good news indeed for the players and staff of the financially-stricken club.

Wednesday were put into administration on the 24th October, and there has been substantial interest in buying them already reported, with at least ten having already reported proof of funds.

Since EFL rules state that clubs in administration have to be advertised for sale for a minimum of 28 days before a sale can be completed, there cannot be any confirmation of a sale for at least another seven days (and there may well not be then), but the statement does confirm some fantastic news indeed for those employed by the club.

Sheffield Wednesday administrators' statement praises fans for helping to put the club "on a sounder footing going forward"

The latest statement by joint administrator Kris Wigfield, managing partner at Begbies Traynor, was issued at 14.00 on the 14th November.

Wigfield is necessarily coy about the position with regard to the sale of the club, in particular over the identity of those who have expressed an interest in buying them, urging caution on the part of fans. "This discussion is to be expected for such a big club", the statement advises, "and as we quickly approach the end of the EFL's compulsory marketing deadline it is likely to intensify".

He does, however, confirm that enquiries "have been well into the double figures from across the globe", and that these will be "thinned down into serious and viable bidders that can secure the long-term future of Sheffield Wednesday".

But he does also go on to talk about the shorter-term position of the club, and here there is very good news indeed for the club's staff. He confirms that the club is "on a sounder footing going forward" and singles out the fans for particular praise over their contribution towards this, saying that this "comes at a time when serious bidders will be examining the finances and analysing the potential of this historic club - we all think it is very important that the fans know what a huge difference they are making".

Most importantly of all, he confirms that, "the efforts of the fans have not only meant that employees can be paid this month, but that November and December wages can be paid on time and ahead of Christmas".

The actions of Sheffield Wednesday fans have allowed the administrators to keep the club alive as a going concern

The issue of getting Sheffield Wednesday's wages paid on time has been a constant issue this year. This happened in five of the months prior to the club being put into administration.

The EFL take a very dim view of this happening, and it was one of a host of reasons why the club ended up with such a severe transfer embargo that they were almost entirely prevented from bringing in new players at the end of the summer transfer window.

This had other knock-on effects. When wages weren't paid on time during the summer, the club lost their two top goalscorers from last season, Josh Windass and Michael Smith, to Wrexham and Preston North End respectively after the players invoked FIFA rules to leave.

When Begbie's Traynor stepped in as administrators, one of the first things that they said was that they needed fans to contribute in order to confirm that they could continue to trade. The club cannot incur further debt in administration, meaning that players and staff can only be paid from money coming in.

The fans responded immediately, spending £200,000+ in the club shop and buying an extra 9,000 tickets for their home match against Oxford United. In total, 27,261 turned out for the Oxford match, and following another rallying call prior to their home match against Norwich City on the 5th November, 28,156 were there to see a 1-1 draw.

Wednesday's next home match is the Steel City Derby against Sheffield United on the 23rd November. Not only is this a local derby, but with United third from bottom in the table, it could be extremely important in terms of the bottom of the Championship table, as well. Hillsborough will surely be packed to the rafters for this crucial match.

The administrators' latest statement confirms that staff will be paid on time for November and early, ahead of Christmas. Not all players - and certainly not all staff - are wealthy enough to be able to absorb wages being paid late, so this will be very good news for them.

And this degree of security will also allow everybody, whether a player or someone in the backroom staff, to be able to get on with their jobs without this in the back of their minds.

Had Wednesday not got to this position of relative financial security, there could have remained the possibility of further sanctions from the EFL, up to possible expulsion. It cannot be overstated, how important it is that this money has come into the club.

A multi-millionaire will end up buying Sheffield Wednesday, but there's a powerful case for saying that it will have been the fans who've saved the club with their actions since the club was put into administration.

Statement in full