A new update on Sheffield Wednesday’s long-running takeover crisis has emerged, which will also pique the interest of fans of their Steel City rivals, Sheffield United, with James Bord among the bidders for the struggling club.
According to Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail, three parties have bid to take over the Championship’s current crisis club, including Bord, who has significant influence over the Blades’ current recruitment strategy under the ownership of American investment group COH Sports.
The Owls have been looking for new investors for several weeks and months, dating back to the turn of 2025, when initial reports of delayed wage payments under the control of controversial former chairman Dejphon Chansiri surfaced.
It has been well-documented that the Thailand-based businessman, who had previously overseen just north of ten years of matters in the Hillsborough boardroom, had failed to pay the club’s players, management, and general staff on time on numerous occasions, before taking the course of action that saw Wednesday placed into administration on Friday, October 24th amid fears of an expected winding-up petition as a result of a £1 million tax bill that had remained unpaid to His Maje
Begbies Traynor has owned the South Yorkshire club for just under two months, and they are still aiming to unveil the identity of their preferred bidder before the new year, following links to numerous high-profile businessmen and consortiums.
On the pitch, an automatic 12-point deduction for going into administration was followed by a six-point wipeout on December 1st due to many missed wage payments and non-payments, while Chansiri was banned from owning any Championship, League One, or League Two club for three years.
As a result, with the club’s fate effectively decided on the pitch, off-field developments remain the top priority at the moment.
A new Sheffield Wednesday takeover update has emerged regarding a 44-year-old with Sheffield United links.
As previously stated, Keegan’s article over the weekend disclosed the identities of the three investors/consortiums that have submitted official offers for the trio of Paul Stanley, Julian Pitts, and Kris Wigfield to consider.
It was hoped that these developments would have occurred by Friday, December 5th. While the aforementioned deadline has subsequently been pushed back, the trio of administrators is optimistic that a quick resolution to the long-running saga can be reached in the coming days.
It has also been widely claimed that the favored bidder may be given the keys to the Hillsborough boardroom for as little as £30 million because to a lack of a clear front-runner, despite the fact that numerous interested parties have well-known ties to the world of football ownership.
This includes former Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley, who failed with a £20 million deal on November 26th, and the Frasers Group boss has also been connected with a transfer to Wednesday’s divisional rivals, Derby County.
Keegan’s report also mentions John McEvoy and the Storch Family’s interest in the Owls, after it was recently reported that the two had joined forces due to a lack of a front-runner, with the former having a loose connection to the club through ties with Reverend and the Makers, whose lead singer, Jon McClure, is a season-ticket holder, and the latter having been linked with a takeover of Plymouth Argyle alongside Gareth Bale in the summer.
However, such findings have resulted in a new twist: Bord, despite his intimate ties to Sheffield United, remains in the running.
Bord, a former professional poker player, is now a co-owner of Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic and a minority partner in Spanish La Liga 2 club Córdoba CF.
The Londoner has been associated with COH Sports’ newly chosen AI-driven strategy to transfers at Bramall Lane through his current company, Short Circuit Science, since the Blades were acquired for £111 million in December.
Sheffield Wednesday supporters may be suspicious of Sheffield United transfer mistakes amid the James Bord links.
Just a few weeks ago, it was claimed that one of several interested parties in the takeover competition proposed merging the Owls and Blades, causing uproar among both groups of supporters.
It is hardly surprising, then, that links concerning Bord have caused significant debate, as has the fact that he has also been associated with a Derby County takeover bid.
Of course, it’s unclear what Bord’s position at Hillsborough will be in relation to his work in S2. However, those in S6 will be wary of United’s recent transfer mistakes.
This included the trio of Ben Godfrey, Tyler Bindon, and Louie Barry on loan from Atalanta, Nottingham Forest, and Aston Villa, with Football League World exclusively revealing that all three deals are expected to be terminated, while Chris Wilder issued a telling statement about his team’s prospects following their 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Friday.
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