Crisis deepens at Sheffield Wednesday as new issue emerges at Hillsborough | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday players have been informed that they won't be paid at the end of July, as the crisis forming over Hillsborough deepens.

The crisis engulfing Sheffield Wednesday seems set to deepen, with their players having been informed that they are not going to be paid on time at the end of July.

Sheffield Wednesday's disastrous summer seems set to take an even more ominous turn, with reports that the players have been informed that they're not going to be paid on time at the end of July.

Wednesday's condition has been worsening steadily on a week-by-week basis since the end of last season. Wages weren't paid on time at the end of June, leading to the departures of their two highest scorers in the Championship, Josh Windass and Michael Smith.

Elsewhere, takeover talk has stalled amid rumours that club owner Dejphon Chansiri is drastically over-valuing the club, a transfer embargo has been put in place which drastically limits who can be brought into the club, head coach Danny Rohl is leaving the club, and safety concerns have led to North Stand at Hillsborough's safety certificate being revoked.

Wednesday players have been informed their wages will be late again at the end of July

Journalist Andy Giddins has posted to X that Wednesday's pre-season is to take another wrong turn, reporting that the players have been informed that they will not be paid on time on the 31st July.

He reports that there is a possibility that Wednesday's players could take strike action over this. Wednesday's players were not paid on time at the end of June, and even though they were paid by the middle of July, this wasn't enough to prevent two of their players leaving the club. Tensions were already running high before being told that they would be paid late again.

It had been hoped that the sales of Caelen-Kole Cadamarteri to Manchester City for £1.5 million and Djeidi Gassama to Rangers would give the club the financial liquidity to get through the end of July, but this is apparently now not the case.

Sheffield Wednesday 'strike' news threatens their start to the new season

Reports that the Sheffield Wednesday players will not be paid on time for the end of July are bad enough; further reporting that the players might withhold their labour will set alarm bells ringing across both the club and the EFL.

Sheffield Wednesday are due to kick off their 2025-26 Championship campaign at Leicester City on the 10th August, and a failure to fulfil this fixture would not only be a major embarrassment for the EFL, but would also run the risk of severe punishment for the club.

The problems that are racking up at Hillsborough are starting to look insurmountable. The club owe a reported £4 million in transfer fees to other clubs, while the repair work that is necessary to be completed on the North Stand at Hillsborough will also be costly.

And should the players not be paid within 15 days of the 31st July, the club will find itself back in exactly the same position it found itself in the middle of July, only with the club a hostage to the mood of the players, only with their patience even more stretched than it was before.

The easy route out of all of this would be a sale of the club, but this doesn't appear to be close, with reasonable offers having been turned down and reports that Chansiri is holding out for £100 million to sell it, even though there's no calculation by which this price makes any sense. Sheffield Wednesday's position is only getting worse and worse, and that's a dangerous place to be, with the new season only just over a week away.