Sheffield Wednesday crisis: Growing EFL fear that first game of new season 'won't happen'

The English Football League is growing concerned that Sheffield Wednesday's first fixture of the Championship season is under threat. The Owls have already seen their friendly with Burnley cancelled this coming weekend after the club failed to pay its players for the third month in a row.

The Yorkshire side found its stars unwilling to play their final pre-season friendly against the Clarets as the game was cancelled on the same day new manager Henrik Pederson took over after the departure of Danny Rohl. Wednesday are just nine days out from their first competitive match of the season against Leicester City.

The EFL are in contact with club officials and are 'increasingly alarmed' by developments at Hillsborough. The side have already been charged by the EFL with multiple breaches of its financial regulations. It comes as Wednesday are already under a transfer embargo and they face a points deduction.

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Owner Dejphon Chansiri has come under fire from fans and local politicians in Sheffield.

The latest uncertainty follows a summer that has already seen a number of players depart Josh Windass and Michael Smith ended their contracts by mutual consent earlier this month with Pederson leading just a small selection of senior players.

Wednesday were meant to play against Burnley on Saturday in a behind closed doors match. It was to be their final friendly fixture before the new season as the club last faced Mansfield Town in a training exercise last month.

Owner Chansiri has faced persistent calls to sell up and the Thai tuna magnate has seen a number of interested parties. They are being directed to a group who specialise in the sale of football clubs, with NDAs being signed and proper process followed.

Two bids have been rejected from a Florida-based consortium made up of business and professional sportspeople. That has included Sheffield-born Adam Shaw who has made his money Stateside.

There is also believed to be interest from numerous other parties, including former Crystal Palace part-owner John Textor and potential bids from the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Sheffield city council issued the club with a prohibition notice in order to prevent them from housing spectators in Hillsborough's North Stand. Councillor Joe Otten noted the decision was made after they consulted with engineering speecialists who could not 'reconfirm that the North Stand is safe for spectator use'.

Chansiri's leadership has been slammed. Sheffield South MP Clive Betts recently hit out his "abject failure" at Hillsborough.

“This is yet another abject failure of Chansiri who is unable to competently run Sheffield Wednesday," said Betts. "This is just the most recent issue in a host of problems he has brought and failing to recognise and address. Chansiri clearly has no idea what he is doing with the club and should just move on and sell to an owner that will actually care about the club and its fans.”

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