Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has told Sheffield Wednesday‘s prospective owners that they must emulate the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion in order to return the club to the Premier League.
After years in the doldrums, things are beginning to look up at Hillsborough. Previous owner Dejphon Chansiri has finally gone, putting to an end a reign of terror which included a series of unpaid tax bills, salaries and first team player exits.
The administrators stepped in last month, leaving the Owls with a 12-point deduction which sent them tumbling to the foot of the Championship. Despite that, there is a renewed optimism surrounding the club, with supporters flocking back to the stadium in vast numbers.
Sheffield Wednesday displayed THIS before today’s game. Absolutely beautiful 💙#swfcpic.twitter.com/UvcFe6zt9F
— The Real EFL (@RealEFLSocial) October 25, 2025
One Step Backwards For Two Steps Forward
Wednesday entered this season with an understrength and young squad. As a result, they have struggled on the pitch, picking up just 1 win to date.
Still on -4 points, they find themselves 13 points behind 23rd placed Norwich City and a whopping 20 points from safety. However, there is an acceptance that the club will drop back into League One next season.
It has previously been said that new owners could be in charge before the end of the year, where work will immediately begin to restore some pride. There are several interested parties, which are believed to include former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.
The business tycoon isn’t alone though, with administrator Kris Wigfield revealing that the Yorkshire-based club are an attractive proposition:
“As always, you get a lot of interested parties that probably aren’t going to meet the criteria, but within the numerous inquiries we’ve had, we certainly think that there are already four or five interested parties that look like the real deal.
“There are two criteria that new owners basically need to satisfy to then open dialogue and there to be an opportunity where they can make an offer.
“The first thing is they need to show the administrators that they could make the football club viable. So they’ve got to show that they’ve got sufficient funds to be able to fund it for the next few years.
“And secondly, we have to be satisfied that they will pass the EFL fit and proper persons test, and if they can satisfy both of those, then we’ll start talking to them seriously.”
Goodman Sets New Owner Target
Sheffield Wednesday were one of the founding members of the revamped Premier League in 1992 and remained in the top tier until suffering relegation in 2000. They’ve not returned to the division since.
There’s an argument to say that Sheffield Wednesday have the best fans in the country. Unreal.
👏👏#swfc pic.twitter.com/s3I0JX04GI
— The Real EFL (@RealEFLSocial) November 1, 2025
“Look, I think Sheffield Wednesday is just such a huge, huge football club.
“And it’s going be a huge, huge football club that is probably going to end up in League One.
“And so for that reason, that kind of a model, a platform to showcase rising talent, would work, but there needs to come a point in the future where the owners are ambitious enough to want Sheffield Wednesday to become an established Premier League club.
“It has that potential, but it needs a lot of TLC, and it needs investment, and it needs a transfer model that is similar to Brighton’s or Brentford’s or Bournemouth’s that works.
“So exciting, absolutely. But it must be with the aim of getting Sheffield Wednesday to the top of English football.”
Sheffield Wednesday return to action after the international break when they welcome bitter rivals Sheffield United to Hillsborough.
