Sheffield Wednesday takeover: 5 things all Owls fans must be aware of | OneFootball

James Bord is looking to complete a takeover of Sheffield Wednesday, although it has still not been finalised.

Sheffield Wednesday are still waiting to discover whether James Bord will complete his deal to buy the club.

The Owls have endured a miserable season, with two points deductions meaning it’s now a matter of time before their relegation to League One.

However, the one positive from this campaign is that it brought the end of Dejphon Chansiri’s time in charge of the club, with the Owls having entered administration in October.

Since then, attention has been on securing a new buyer, and it was confirmed in December that James Bord’s consortium were named as preferred bidders.

Much to the frustration of Wednesday fans, there has been slow progress over the past few months, and here we provide a recap of five things the fans must be aware of as they wait for a decision on the takeover…

5 ? ? James Bord’s period of exclusivity relies on him to keep funding the club

It has been said that Bord has a ‘rolling agreement’ in terms of his period of exclusivity, whereby it will remain in place if he continues to fund the club's losses.

That means Bord is paying two ‘six-figure’ sums each month, something he has been doing since he was named as preferred bidder. If those payments were not made, it would change the situation, but there is no indication that this will happen.

A reason this takeover has taken so long is due to the fact that Bord is involved with a consortium, so the EFL’s necessary checks naturally take more time than if a single figure is involved.

German entrepreneur Felix Romer and Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil, who is part of the Jordanian royal family, are the two figures involved alongside Bord, so it can become a complex process for the EFL as they look to see if all three can pass the owners’ and directors’ test.

Following on from that, even though this has already dragged on in the eyes of most Wednesday fans, the reality is that any takeover does not have a specific time frame on when it will be complete.

As outlined above, this is more complicated than a single-person takeover, which is why it has already taken a few months. It has been previously reported that a decision could be made by ‘spring’, so it is likely to be a few weeks, at the very best, before Wednesday get the clarity that they desperately want, but we still don’t know for sure when an announcement will come.

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The obvious concern with this dragging on is what it will mean for Wednesday next season. We know that this campaign is effectively over, but all connected to the club will hope that they can be competitive in League One.

Yet, to do that, a lot needs to happen, and it’s not just with the playing squad. So, the longer this is delayed, the more chance it will eat into the preparations for next season, but it appears work is going on in the background. That’s after the Sheffield Star revealed Bord is lining up individuals to lead the football side of things that would even impress the ‘sceptics’.

1 ? ? There remains interest from other parties

Finally, if Bord’s deal to buy Sheffield Wednesday does fall through, it’s unlikely to be a catastrophe for the Yorkshire outfit, as it has been claimed that previous interested parties would be willing to re-enter negotiations.

Mike Ashley and the Storch Family were both namechecked as potential buyers who could return, so that does at least offer some reason for optimism for Wednesday if Bord’s deal is not signed off.