Mike Ashley to Sheffield Wednesday? How £10k loan from parents changed everything | OneFootball

The Owls' potential new owner started his business ventures with a helping hand

Mike Ashley's name has become synonymous with English football ownership for many years now, and his return to this particular circle could come through Sheffield Wednesday.

The Owls are one of the country's most historic and recognisable outfits, yet have continuously fallen on hard times for the past 25 years. Nothing has exemplified such developments than current developments at Hillsborough too.

After a relatively satisfactory 2024/25 Championship season, the current campaign has been uneventful for all the wrong reasons in S6, with Wednesday suffering the EFL's earliest-ever relegation at the hands of their Steel City rivals, Sheffield United, in the process.

Such an unwanted record has been well-attributed to the docking of 18 points throughout the season as a result of mismanagement from controversial former owner, Dejphon Chansiri.

Yet, despite the fact the club was put into administration in October, the takeover saga in S6 is far from over after the consortium led by professional poker player, James Bord, withdrew its £47.8m bid from the process after initially being named as preferred bidders ahead of the likes of Ashley, David Storch and John McEvoy on Christmas Eve.

Unsurprisingly, Ashley's name has been brought back into the fold as Begbies Traynor attempt to name a second preferred bidder as soon as possible, with the hope that the saga can be resolved ahead of the Owls' first season back in League One since 2023 amid reports of a potential 15-point penalty if administration isn't exited in a satisfactory manner.

It has been well-known that Ashley's funds have largely come through the founding of his nationwide sportswear brand, Sports Direct, over four decades ago.

However, what might not be as well known is how the company which started it all for the 61-year-old came to be, as some of those funds could be used to propel Wednesday into a much more positive era.

How Mike Ashley founded Sports Direct through a helping hand from his parents

Despite being born in Walsall in September 1964, Ashley's first venture into the world of business came in Maidenhead, Berkshire, back in 1982.

Aptly, the shop which sold sportswear, skiwear and equipment was founded as Sports Direct whilst Ashley was still in his teens, although the funding for him to be able to do so came from his parents.

It has been widely reported that the businessman received a £10,000 loan, which is equivalent to £35,986 as of January 2026, to set up the store opposite a public house in the town.

Speaking to the Mirror during Ashley's mixed period as Newcastle United chairman, during which St James' Park was briefly, and controversially, renamed the Sports Direct Arena, his friend, Ross Wilson, revealed that he was always driven towards success.

“I knew him very well through squash. He was very competitive. He liked winning and he was very clear where he was going in life," said Wilson.

From then on, Ashley has overseen the opening of over 700 stores worldwide, although the company was rebranded to Frasers Group in 2019, before the Owls' potential new owner left the company board as director in October 2022.

Mike Ashley will hope to win over Begbies Traynor in fresh Sheffield Wednesday takeover race

As previously mentioned, Ashley has been a high-profile figure in the race to plug new investment into the Owls.

After failing to take over Derby County when the Rams were also cash-strapped in 2022, the man who sold Newcastle for £305m in October 2021 was also unsuccessful in his first bid to take over at Hillsborough when Begbies Traynor rejected a £20m bid in November.

It was claimed that the tycoon is working with the EFL over a deal which could be worth £100m and would wipe out the chances of Wednesday starting next season with a 15-point deficit.

However, it has now been claimed that he has, once again, been outbid, with David Storch believed to be in the driving seat.

Rather unsurprisingly, though, he is a name who continues to split opinion, with some Wednesdayites open to the idea of him moving the club forward, whilst others remain sceptical after his previous business activities.