Steven Fletcher reveals what new Sheffield Wednesday owners are really like | OneFootball

Former Sheffield Wednesday and Wrexham striker Steven Fletcher can see plenty of similarities between both clubs' owners

Sheffield Wednesday's new owners, Arise Capital Partners, have joined a long list of ambitious Americans in charge of EFL clubs.

The Owls were finally taken over ahead of the final game of the Championship season, ending over six months of administration and many more years of heartache caused by former owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Ahead of just their second win of the campaign against West Brom, too, it was announced that Wednesday will be starting next season without a 15-point deduction, and it's since been revealed that they won't be under any salary caps or seasonal spending restrictions.

It means the club will be on a level playing field as it begins life back in League One, which is a brilliant way to win back some distant fans. Now, the focus is on getting back into the Championship, something former Owls forward Steven Fletcher has experienced recently.

Indeed, the 39-year-old called time on his career last summer after playing a part in Wrexham's promotion to the second tier, but the majority of his time in England was spent at Hillsborough.

Therefore, he's excited to see where Sheffield Wednesday can go under the new owners, and can see similarities to those at the top at Wrexham.

Steven Fletcher tells Sheffield Wednesday fans what to expect from ambitious US ownership

Fletcher spent time back in South Yorkshire recently as part of a charity weekend for Sheffield Wednesday. He spoke to the Sheffield Star about how he felt about the club's recent takeover.

"I saw the scenes after the game, the atmosphere and all that," he said. "For what the club has been through in the last years, to see that atmosphere was incredible. I said to the people close to me, 'That's the atmosphere we had there in the play-offs,'

"To see that sort of thing back at this club is just incredible. It sums the fans up in how incredible they are, to see it bouncing when they're relegated, with everything that has gone on.

"Credit to the fans, they've been through a lot in the recent past. It's such a great place. I'd never been to Sheffield before I came, and it just holds a place in your heart. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay. But that's football for you."

The 39-year-old would leave for Stoke City in 2020, and after a short stint back in Scotland with Dundee United, he'd join Wrexham, where he'd score 16 times across two seasons to help achieve back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship.

There, he worked under the ambitious American duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, and still works for the Red Dragons now in a non-playing sense. While no two sets of owners are the same, he can draw some parallels between the Hollywood pairing and the new higher-ups at Hillsborough.

"Listen, the Americans are flamboyant, they're extravagant, and it's so infectious," he said. "At Wrexham, I work for the club now, and to see how they operate on a day-to-day basis is amazing. The club can only go on and on. If this club ends up anything like that, it can only be a good thing.

"They're driven, they want to win. It's funny, football is a lot different to the sports they have over there, but for some reason, when they come over here, they do it right. They have at Wrexham, anyway. If that is anything to go by, this here at Sheffield Wednesday can only be a good thing."

Sheffield Wednesday would love to follow Wrexham's promotion footsteps in 2026/27

Sheffield Wednesday may not have the sheer wealth as a club right now that Wrexham currently have, with the Red Dragons said to be worth £350 million, over £300 million more than David Storch bought Wednesday for.

However, the Owls are still seen as a big fish in the third-tier pool due to their history and the revenue they can bring in from a fanbase that, as seen on the final day against West Brom, can provide the biggest attendance in the Championship.

So, if they are, indeed, starting the transfer window without restrictions, you feel that the Owls will have a big advantage in luring players to Hillsborough, which will give them a good opportunity to climb out of League One at the first time of asking, like Wrexham did last season.

And if David Storch can use his ambition to secure good commercial sponsorships in the future, similarly to North Wales-based side, but understandably not as luxurious, nothing is stopping Wednesday from returning to the top end of the Championship in the future, with the view of finally breaking back into the Premier League.

Ultimately, things will be taken one step at a time, but there's no denying that exciting times are on the horizon at Hillsborough.