'Sell up, you plonker' - how Sheff Wed fans united against owner

Sheffield Wednesday fans signalled their anger at owner Dejphon Chansiri

As Sheffield Wednesday fans sang outside Leicester City's King Power Stadium, a plane circled overhead.

Behind it was a banner with the message "Dejphon Chansiri Out".

Inside, another banner had already been laid across empty seats, urging the owner to sell.

Wednesday supporters have united against a figure they now widely consider a common enemy, a decade after he arrived with grand plans of a Premier League return. Their goal is to force Chansiri to find a buyer and to leave Hillsborough.

On this first weekend of the Championship season, the Wednesday faithful travelled to Leicester to back their team, but also to make their voices heard.

While around 2,000 fans waited outside, a flag with Chansiri mocked up to look like Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses was on show.

Its message was to the point: "Sell the club you plonker!"

This was a good-natured protest. Former loanee Shea Charles was mobbed when he arrived - his brother Pierce is the Wednesday goalkeeper.

But the gathering of Wednesday supporters was one that underlined the fear that lurks among them and around the club. They worry that Chansiri's tenure is ruining Sheffield Wednesday. Some are concerned the club could soon cease to exist.

There have been late payments to HMRC, delayed salaries for players and staff members, and transfer embargos. Fans have spoken of how "mentally exhausting" it has become to support the club - one, aged 84, described this period in Wednesday's history recently as "the worst in my life".

At Leicester, the travelling fans waited until the fifth minute to take their seats - the sight of an empty away end designed to signify the depth of feeling.

Once inside, especially when Wednesday took the lead in what became a spirited 2-1 Championship defeat, only Owls fans were to be heard as they called for Chansiri to leave.

For those not aware of the ownership of the two clubs, the contrast could not be greater.

As Wednesday fans protested, about 50 yards away two Leicester fans had earlier brought flowers to pay tribute at the statue of former Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash in 2018.

Two Thai owners treated very differently, with Leicester's Khun Vichai loved and revered for not only bringing the Premier League title to the club but for his work in the community. In 2016 he pledged £2m to help build a new children's hospital.

Compare that to the recently silent Chansiri, who so far this summer has refused to engage with supporters, with the 57-year-old now despised by many.

"It's killing the club. The only positive which has come out of it is a lot of supporters have come together. They just want rid of him," said Ian Bennett, chairman of Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust.

"Sheffield is known as the biggest village in world; everybody knows each other. The old-fashioned mentality still appears and it affects everybody, whether you're a football fan or not."

Wout Faes' late goal condemned Wednesday to an opening defeat in the Championship

How did Wednesday get here?

Chansiri, whose family owns seafood company Thai Union Group, bought Sheffield Wednesday from Milan Mandaric in 2015 but has overseen a decline.

In 2020, Wednesday were given a 12-point penalty - reduced to six on appeal - for breaching EFL profitability and sustainability rules.

The Owls were relegated from the Championship and returned in 2023 but were also put under a transfer embargo later that year because of payments owed to HMRC.

Wednesday's plight has only got worse, with head coach Danny Rohl and most of his staff leaving this summer. Rohl's assistant Henrik Pedersen was appointed his successor.

The North Stand has been closed at Hillsborough because of concerns around its structural integrity, while players have issued the club with their notices. Fifa regulations allow them to do so if they have not been paid as they should have been for two consecutive months.

Two of the players, Josh Windass - who scored the goal to send Wednesday up in 2023 - and striker Michael Smith, joined Wrexham and Preston respectively, with winger Djeidi Gassama sold to Rangers for £2.2m.

The EFL charged the club and owner Chansiri in June for repeatedly paying the players and other members of staff late, while PFA chief executive Maheta Molango told BBC Sport last month the situation was "shocking".

The union remains in contact with the squad, who boycotted their final pre-season friendly against Burnley, and remains committed to helping them.

"We are in touch with them. It's not an easy situation as you can imagine, because ultimately, you know, people need to be paid," said Molango in July.

"Particularly for me it's a bit shocking because normally this is stuff you see in other countries I have played in, but not in England."

It is important to recognise it is not just the players who have been affected. Club staff have been in tears and worried about their own futures with important bills to pay.

The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust has a fund to help financially stricken staff who can anonymously apply for a £500 grant, with the first few doing so last week.

"For low-paid people, three or four months with either some contribution or no wages at all?" said Bennett.

"We all worry about the players, and players not getting paid, and they'll have a big mortgage to pay, but usually they'll be able to take it for a few months. But staff on minimum wage and just above, it must be shocking."

Nathaniel Chalobah (centre) gave Sheffield Wednesday the lead at Leicester

So what now?

The introduction of the independent football regulator cannot come soon enough for Wednesday.

It was signed into law last month and will be officially launched later this year, with the Football Governance Act granting powers to a body independent from government and football authorities.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in July: "This is a huge moment for football fans because we've had far too many clubs including mine, Wigan Athletic, at risk from poor ownership and finances.

"This is the moment football fans can breathe a sigh of relief because we are fixing the foundations of football and putting fans back at the heart of the game where they belong."

Yet while those at Wednesday wait, there is little that can be done via that route.

"I know the secretary of state and sports minister, they both understand the scale of the problems at Wednesday and need for urgency in this," said Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East and a lifelong Wednesday fan who travelled to Leicester.

"They get the political downside if there's just-passed legislation but the regulator isn't able to do anything yet and is sat on their hands as a major football club falls over."

There is confidence Wednesday will survive, although the will of the people is not enough on its own.

The club received a solidarity payment from the Premier League this week, allowing them to pay off debts to staff, players and other clubs, but that money will not last long. The closure of the North Stand and fan boycott denies the club crucial revenue.

Wednesday are no longer under a transfer embargo, but they cannot pay fees for players - permanent or on loan - until 2027 as they had surpassed 30 days of late payments to clubs.

The EFL has said it is in "advanced discussions" with Chansiri over the sale of the club and former Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor has said he is monitoring the situation, while a US-based consortium told BBC Sheffield in June it had two bids rejected.

But the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust, who paid around £2,500 for the plane and stadium banner, are not waiting around, with plans for a phoenix club already in the works.

"I don't think we will get to that, but being a responsible supporters' trust we are putting those plans in place," said deputy chairman James Silverwood.

"It's not something you want to be doing under crisis conditions.

"There can be a brighter future. The problem at Sheffield Wednesday is not a lack of credible buyers; the problem is a credible seller.

"Sheffield Wednesday will survive. What damage is done to it before is another question."