Why Sheffield Wednesday administrators have been told not to sell the club in the next 21 days | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's administrators are hopeful of a quick sale of the club, but it may not happen within the next few weeks.

Sheffield Wednesday's administrators have been instructed by the EFL not to sell the club within the next 21 days, although those rules could be relaxed if the sale process is progressing faster than expected.

After months of off-field and financial turmoil, Dejphon Chansiri's turbulent decade-long reign at Wednesday came to an end on Friday when he put the club and the company through which he owns Hillsborough stadium into administration.

The Owls were hit with an immediate 12-point deduction after going into administration, and they currently sit bottom of the Championship table on minus six points, a huge 16 points from safety, but while relegation to League One is now almost inevitable, Chansiri's exit has been greeted with celebration by supporters.

After boycotting home games during the opening few months of the season, Wednesday fans returned in their numbers for Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Oxford United, with 27,261 in attendance for the game, while over £500,000 has been spent on tickets and merchandise in recent days as supporters answer the call from the administrators help the stabilise the club financially.

Joint-administrator Kris Wigfield revealed on Monday morning that there are "already four or five interested parties that look like the real deal", and he expressed his hope that a deal to sell the club could be completed before the end of the year.

While it is unclear exactly which parties Wigfield is referring to, former Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor is still believed to be keen to buy the Owls, despite reportedly making a £400 million bid for Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, while ex-Newcastle United chief Mike Ashley is also said to be monitoring the situation.

As he provided the latest update on the situation at Wednesday, Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett revealed that, while the EFL would usually ask administrators not to sell a club within the first 21 days of going into administration, they could potentially change the rules for the Owls, while he also suggested that the fact interested parties can negotiate for the club and stadium together could accelerate a sale.

"The EFL normally tells administrators not to sell the club quickly," Dorsett said on Sky Sports.

"They have guidelines that say not to sell the club within the first 21 days of going into administration, and that is to try and prevent companies lining up to buy a football club when it is in difficulty, getting it on the cheap if you like.

"The EFL doesn't want to encourage that, but I've been told that the EFL is prepared to bend those rules a little bit, they are not hard and fast rules.

"Actually, they and the administrators see the benefit in a quick change here.

"The other interesting point is that the company that owns the stadium was also put into administration by Chansiri on Friday, so that makes it very much easier for someone trying to buy the club as they can negotiate with the same administrator for the football club and the stadium at the same time.

"That's not the luxury that Derby County had back in 2022.

"That's partly why theirs took so long because Mel Morris still owned Pride Park whilst various interested parties were trying to buy the football club.

"There is optimism, I think, if not expectation that Sheffield Wednesday can be sold pretty quickly.

"They have already got four or five serious bidders that are interested, we're told."

Sheffield Wednesday should not rush sale process after Dejphon Chansiri nightmare

Wednesday supporters are understandably keen to see their club under new ownership as soon as possible, but it is important that the administrators take all the time needed to find the right buyer.

Any new owner would need to prove they have the funds to make the club financially viable for the next few years, as well as demonstrating that they can pass the EFL's fit and proper persons test, so the necessary due diligence must be done to make sure that both of those criteria are met.

However, it seems there is a desire from both the administrators and the EFL to see a takeover completed relatively quickly, and with a number of credible parties already believed to be showing interest, a deal could potentially be done before the end of the year.