Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has called on the EFL to step in and save Sheffield Wednesday’s squad from the threat of career-threatening injuries and ‘total humiliation’.
The Championship club’s manager Henrik Pedersen was forced to name 13 players under the age of 21 in the Boxing Day draw with Hull City and he subsequently confirmed Wednesday’s latest request to sign loan players in January has been rejected by the EFL.
Under the EFL’s current sanctions, Wednesday cannot pay a fee for new arrivals until the summer of 2027, but there is hope that a takeover in the near future could see a reassessment of their complex range of transfer embargoes. Until that point is reached, Pedersen will have to navigate a congested schedule with a threadbare squad as the legacy of Dejphon Chansiri’s toxic reign, which ended when he put the club in administration in October.
Now, Blunkett, a Wednesday fan since the age of four, has written an open letter to the Daily Mail to ask the EFL for ‘common sense’.
It read: ‘The behaviour of the previous owner, Dejphon Chansiri, not only led the club into administration, but also to multiple points deductions and bans on the recruitment of players now, and in the January window.
‘The consequence is that the remaining players – who are giving everything they have – are in danger of literally playing till they drop; and, in some cases, retaining injuries which could threaten the rest of their career. The manager, Henrik Pedersen, and the squad deserve the backing not only of supporters of the Owls, but of all those who love football and have long-waited for the emergence of the football regulator to stop this happening to clubs across the country.
Lifelong Sheffield Wednesday supporter David Blunkett (pictured at Hillsborough in 2018) has called upon the EFL to withdraw current transfer embargoes on the club
‘However, whilst the responsibility for regulation continues to lie with the EFL, it is the club, the players, the manager, the nonplaying staff and, of course, the supporters who are being “punished”, not the person responsible: the former chairman, sole director and owner, Dejphon Chansiri.
‘Surely it is now time, as the EFL hands over to the new Regulator, for a little common sense to apply and for the manager to be helped in both saving his remaining players from departure, and the club from total humiliation.
‘Whilst all fans wait with bated breath to see who will eventually buy the club, the real world of players, lives and fans’ expectations continues.
‘Time, I think, for the EFL to recognise this?’
Wednesday, rock bottom of the Championship after being hit with 18 points of deductions, lost 15 players in the summer at a time when wages for squad and staff were repeatedly paid late. It is understood that a consortium led by former professional poker player James Bord has been chosen as the preferred bidder to take over the club.
