With relegation at the conclusion of this season certain, attention will now shift to how Sheffield Wednesday will proceed after the club’s takeover is completed.

Sheffield Wednesday’s defeat at Bramall Lane on Sunday lunchtime confirmed what had been expected for several months: the club will play League One football next season.

A 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Sheffield United put Wednesday over the mathematical line. With 13 games remaining, they had 39 points to play for, and the margin between themselves and 21st-placed West Bromwich Albion was 41 at this time.

As a result, attention now shifts to the future. The club’s takeover by a consortium led by professional gambler James Bord is still in the approval stage, with no indication of when more clarification will be provided. It may take till the end of the season to get there.

Relegation will cost the team money, regardless of who the new owners are. Playing in the lower league will have a considerable influence on broadcasting revenues, as well as commercial and match-day revenues.

Sheffield Wednesday has relegation release clauses ready to go at the start of next season.

In a report on the club’s future on the social media platform X, Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports mentioned relegation release clauses at Sheffield Wednesday, saying, “Sky Sports News has been told that automatic relegation clauses in players’ contracts are ready for the start of next season.”

This will be an important factor for the new owners if the club’s takeover is finalized. It has been clear all season that their depleted squad is not up to the rigours of Championship football, and Wednesday’s performance in 2025-26 – with only one League win from 33 fixtures and the team still on a negative points tally as a result of points deductions issued by the EFL for late wage payment and entering administration in the first place – may suggest that this group of players will struggle in League One as well.

Relegation release clauses have been a typical part of player contracts for a number of years.

Relegation release provisions are meant to provide security and clarity to all parties, including players and clubs. Clubs learn that they do not have to be stuck with players on wages appropriate for a higher division in the event of a revenue drop, while players of sufficient quality to justify remaining in the division from which they have recently fallen gain the security of knowing that they can leave a club and continue to play at the highest level they are capable of in the event that their teams fall.

These clauses can take many different shapes. They may let players to leave the club for a lower transfer cost, for example, or they may allow clubs to release players they can no longer afford in the case of relegation. The presence of the conditions may be a typical feature of a player’s contract, but the specific nature of those terms will differ from player to player because they are part of each individual contract discussions.

To some extent, Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation release clause may not be as important as it is at other clubs due to the hasty manner in which their 2025-26 squad was assembled. According to Transfermarkt, 11 players from their current first-team roster will be out of contract at the end of the season, while on-loan goalkeeper Seny Dieng is only expected to stay until the end of February.

However, Wednesday has five players under contract with the club until the end of the 2026-27 season and two until the end of the 2027-28 season. And one of the major problems confronting the club when the season draws to a close will be whether they can afford to keep players earning five-figure weekly salaries.

Sheffield Wednesday require a clean slate at the end of the season and a fresh start in League One. Relegation release clauses will be a valuable tool in the club’s arsenal in order to accomplish this.