Darren Moore's Sheffield Wednesday, Dejphon Chansiri reveal is surely no surprise | OneFootball

The former Owls boss recently opened up about his Hillsborough exit.

When Darren Moore left Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent a month after guiding the club to promotion to the Championship in 2023, it sparked pure confusion.

Moore took over as manager at Hillsborough in March 2021 with the club heading to League One, and on the second attempt, he pulled the Owls out of the third tier, with the future appearing rather rosy.

There had already been controversy around the then-owner, Dejphon Chansiri, as the club were deducted points for breaching EFL financial rules linked to the controversial sale of their stadium to a company owned by Chansiri himself, but things were to take a nastier turn.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and Moore's recent revelation about his departure from Sheffield Wednesday is surely no surprise given what has transpired at the club.

What Dejphon Chansiri and Darren Moore said after Sheffield Wednesday departure

It is not uncommon for managers to leave after achieving promotion, with Slovica Jokanovic leaving Watford doing so after contract disagreements, but Moore's departure felt even more unexpected.

There was no shortage of apparent respect, however, in the pair's statements to one another. Although looking back at their words, given what we know now, there is certainly an air of fakeness around them.

“The journey of Sheffield Wednesday with Darren has been in many ways unique and always as a team. In the football industry, journeys come to an end and now is that time, which we both agree," Chansiri told the club website.

“The mutual respect we have for each other is immense on a personal and professional basis and I offer my sincere thanks for the dedication and commitment Darren has given to our club.

“Darren will always be welcome at Hillsborough.”

Moore then provided a lengthy message to Chansiri and the club's fans, clearly full of admiration for the South Yorkshire side after his two years in office.

“I would like to take this time to acknowledge the chairman, Mr Chansiri, for giving me the opportunity to manage this great football club in Sheffield Wednesday, it’s been a journey in every sense," he said.

“Both the chairman and myself have been determined to get this club back into the Championship. I’m delighted this has been achieved, and I hope the football club continues to develop and will soon fulfil the dream of mine, which was to take them back to the Premier League where they belong."

Moore reveals truth about Hillsborough departure

It is around two years to the day when the Owls completed the greatest turnaround in play-off history, reversing a 4-0 deficit to defeat Peterborough United on penalties to reach the final.

The final at Wembley Stadium was also etched with drama as Josh Windass bagged a stoppage-time winner in extra time to send Sheffield Wednesday to the Championship.

Since then, Moore and Wednesday have embarked on different paths, but they have been ones that have contained many similarities.

For the club, they are now preparing for life in League One after Chansiri's chaotic reign led to them finishing bottom of the Championship on zero points.

As for Moore, he has endured mixed spells at Huddersfield Town and Port Vale, but since being sacked by now-relegated Vale, he has been out of a job for five months, his longest period out of management.

In a recent interview, Moore opened up on his departure from Hillsborough and shed some light on what really happened with Chansiri.

"I didn't want to leave," Moore told the Daily Mail.

"It's only now people can see what happened. He wanted me out of the club, and he got me out. I wanted to build in the Championship and go forward. I was gutted when he didn't allow me that and showed me the door.

"A lot of people don't realise that, and I had to stand back and listen to him say things about me that were quite hurtful. But in the end, what's come through is that now everyone can see where the club was at."

This is in stark contrast to what he and Chansiri had initially said when speaking to the club's website following his departure, but the 52-year-old must feel a massive weight off his shoulders now he has had the opportunity to speak the truth.

A long list of bad behaviour by Chansiri

Since Wednesday's promotion to the Championship, everything at the South Yorkshire club has unravelled viciously as Chansiri's tenure has led to them being relegated back to the third tier, having been handed a total deduction of 18 points.

In 2023, Chansiri bizarrely asked Wednesday supporters for around £2million urgently to help pay the club's debts and avoid sanctions, something that was quite literally unheard of.

The following year, there were repeated reports of late wage payments, HMRC issues, transfer embargo threats, unpaid suppliers and governance concerns, as everything got even messier.

From 2025 onward, Sheffield Wednesday entered administration, with the club suffering major points deductions and multiple takeover stories emerging but failing to come to fruition.

Chansiri's tenure then reached its lowest point with supporters as he was repeatedly accused of refusing to sell the club or of setting conditions that potential buyers would not meet.

With the 57-year-old gone, the club can breathe again, and supporters will now be deserving of the truth moving forward as the scars left by Chansiri will take some time to heal.