Sheffield Wednesday takeover: David Storch drops club badge change hint | OneFootball

The prospective new Wednesday owner has been back in the city, and his message to fans at the end of it may have hinted at a big change coming.

The prospective new Sheffield Wednesday owner David Storch has been back in the city, with one hint of a change that could be coming to the Owls' shirts before the start of next season.

Relegation back to League One may have been sealed weeks ago and the team may not have won a match since September, but the imminent arrival of Arise Capital, owned by the Storch family, at Sheffield Wednesday is starting to bring some positivity back to Hillsborough following the years of the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, which ultimately brought stagnation followed by a complete financial collapse over the course of 2025.

The group, which is led by David Storch, emerged as the new preferred bidders to buy the club out of administration following the collapse of the bid fronted by the professional gambler James Bord in February. The ratification process remains ongoing for the new owners, but it remains the case that they should be running the club by the summer, meaning that Wednesday can at least enjoy a fresh start next season.

David Storch has been meeting dignitaries from Sheffield as he prepares for Wednesday takeover

Posting to the social media platform X on the 4th April, David Storch has been speaking about his latest visit to Sheffield, ahead of his group's much-anticipated purchase of Sheffield Wednesday.

Storch revealed in this message that he has spent a lot of time with local dignitaries and club staff. He confirmed that he had held a Q&A session with club staff, as well as having had meetings with Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, Kate Josephs, the CEO of Sheffield City Council, and Lord David Blunkett, and having spent time with the legendary former Wednesday player David Hirst.

But it was at the end of his message that there was a possible Easter egg for fans. Storch revealed that he had been able to purchase two retro Sheffield Wednesday shirts from a vintage clothing store in the city, and accompanying this was a photograph of him wearing a shirt which features a familiar badge which he is believed to want to bring back to the club.

David Storch's Sheffield Wednesday shirt harks back to a very special season for fans of the club

The Sheffield Star reported on the 1st April that David Storch would be making changes to the club's kits for next season. They confirmed that exiting administration could mean that they can rip up the long-term contract that they signed with Macron 2021.

But perhaps a bigger change still would be reverting to another old club badge. Sheffield Wednesday's current badge was reintroduced by Dejphon Chansiri, shortly after he took ownership of the club. The design is based upon that which was used by the club between 1956 and 1970.

The Star also revealed that Storch had already "signalled an intention to move the club crest back to the popular ‘Retro Owl’ design featured on Wednesday shirts in decades gone by", though they added that new heritage rules mean that the club would have to get support from their fans before doing so.

In the social media post in which Storch spoke about his recent visit to Sheffield, he is seen wearing a retro replica shirt which can be dated back to the 1990-91 season. This was a highly significant season for the club's supporters. Not only did they return to the top-flight of English football at the first attempt following relegation, but they also won the League Cup that year, beating Manchester United 1-0 in the final. This was their first major trophy since the 1935 FA Cup, and their last to date.

There are hurdles to jump in order to get this badge back on Sheffield Wednesday shirts again. New FA rules which were introduced in August 2022 to protect the heritage of clubs prevent owners from changing such designs without "a thorough and extensive consultation process with supporters". It's not expected that this will be a major issue for Sheffield Wednesday, given the current badge's association with an era that most of the club's fans would sooner forget.

Changing the badge on the shirt and around Hillsborough will not in and of itself change the fortunes of the club. There'll be substantial rebuilding work to be carried out all over the club this summer, not least on the threadbare playing squad which has struggled so much this season.

But changing the badge is part of something greater. It's about altering the mood of Sheffield Wednesday, and signaling the start of a new era which intends to get the club back to the happier days of the past. Things can't get any worse for Sheffield Wednesday fans next season than they have been this time around, but there are encouraging signs from the prospective new owner that he understands that a combination of the club's heritage and a fresh start could be exactly the clean slate that this famous old club needs.