‘Bittersweet day’ – but what next for Sheff Wed after administration?

As fan groups discuss the potential for a supporter-led ownership of the Championship side, Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen wants “a new Wednesday with an old heart.”

The Yorkshire club fell to the bottom of the second tier with fewer than six points after being placed in administration on Friday and receiving an automatic 12-point deduction from the EFL.

It does, though, effectively end the reign of deeply unpopular owner Dejphon Chansiri, with administrators Begbies Traynor now tasked with finding new owners for the club.

According to a report from BBC Sheffield, interested buyers and administrators are already having discussions with interested investors.

The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust (SWST) claims to have been monitoring its progress for the past few months to see what can be done.

“We have been working to develop a credible, fan-led takeover proposal”, it said in a statement.

The administration’s announcement marked the end of a dark period in Wednesday’s rich andstoried history.

The past few months have been dominated by delayed wage payments, player departures, fan protests and finally a boycott of attending matches as Owls supporters despaired at the manner in which their beloved club was being run.

His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs filed a winding-up petition earlier this month, with the club owing £1 million.

However, it is comforting to know that Wednesday can now take a different turn because Chansiri will now step down.

“Today marks one of the most bittersweet days in our club’s proud 158-year history”, added the SWST.

“Years of financial mismanagement, a lack of accountability, and repeated failures to engage credible buyers were the inevitable outcomes of entering the administration.”

After 11 games with fellow rivals Oxford United at Hillsborough on Saturday (15:00 BST), Wednesday are now 15 points away from safety.

After losing just one league game due to a transfer embargo and the club’s summer squad, Pedersen, who was appointed after Danny Rohl’s departure, has created a strong team.

But for the Dane there is initial optimism about the return of more fans to Hillsborough for Saturday following the boycott of Wednesday’s match against Middlesbrough.

According to Petersen, “It was awful the other evening,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield. However, having this experience and being together once more can be fantastic tomorrow.

“I’m really, really looking forward to this day that we are one club again”.

Pedersen has a deep respect for the club and its supporters during his time at Hillsborough, first as an assistant to Rohl before taking over as manager. He wants that to be at the forefront for any aspiring new owners.

He continued, “Money is one thing, but strategy is crucial to understanding and respecting Sheffield Wednesday.”

“We have to be Sheffield Wednesday. We must have an old-fashioned Sheffield Wednesday heart. Because we have a fantastic club, but this fantastic club deserves to grow, we must keep this understanding.

While the immediate prospects are not good with the Owls facing an uphill task to avoid relegation to League One, fans are more optimistic for the longer term again.

Gaz Robinson, a fan on Wednesday, told BBC Sport, “We needed someone to listen, someone to act, and somebody to give us that hope that I can pass on to my kids.”

Midfielder Barry Bannan has been a stalwart in the Wednesday side since his arrival back in 2015 and signed a new deal in August despite the departures of many of his team-mates, following multiple delayed payments of player and staff wages.

“We’ve known this could be the course that it would take for a while,” said one of the team members. You don’t really want to be going into administration, the 35-year-old told BBC Radio Sheffield, “Obviously, it’s a sad day for the club first and foremost.”

“As a group of players, it’s made our task a lot harder this season as well so it was hard news to take but this needed to happen, we couldn’t keep going on the way it was going on.

The task grows, but I believe it’s probably the right thing to do for the club going forward.

Bannan, who has made 460 appearances for the club over the course of his ten years with the club, acknowledges the frustrations of the fans, but he also stressed the significance of the atmosphere at Hillsborough.

” We totally got what they were doing, we were never against it as players and staff, we just wanted to play games, “he added.

When the fans came on the pitch the other week, I said, “the only bit of joy we’re getting as a group of players and staff was playing three o’clock on a Saturday.”

“We got what they were doing, but now we need them more than ever,” he says of the home environment’s lack of atmosphere. “We’ve needed them all season, but we’ve been using them all.”

” But now the fans have got what they wanted, this is where we really need them to come and get behind us and be that extra man. “

The players’ statements on official club websites included Bannan’s message, which was repeated by the players.

We now hope that this is the time to come back together under the badge and enjoy our football once more, the statement read. “After what has been a period of division and a feeling of disconnect, between the club, the players, and the fans,” it read.

” So we ask you, starting tomorrow against Oxford, please come back to Hillsborough and cheer the team on. Make the ground a place where teams can fear as we try our hardest to get the points we sorely need.

“Think back to Peterborough’s victory over Arsenal and Newcastle,” says the author. That was you in the stands as much as us on the pitch!

Reporter for BBC Radio Sheffield, Rob Staton

As soon as administration was confirmed, we were allowed into Hillsborough Stadium and walked out into the stands.

When he was the owner, the name “Chainsiri” that was embossed across the North Stand seats at the time was already being replaced.

It had a lot of symbolic meaning. Fans roared their approval online when they saw the photos and videos we published. Fans had a new era they so desperately desired, and this was it.

The club has a sense of relief all around. Although administration is far from ideal and will carry several unknowns, there’s a feeling that things couldn’t continue as they were. Something had to change, and it will right away.

We’ve already heard from people who have been contacting the club to express their interest. The club will eventually have new owners.

In the immediate future though it’s about fans returning. That is what the administrators are now requesting. From Hillsborough boycotts on Wednesday night to needing to cover ground. Every penny is vital now to keep the club running.

This weekend’s Oxford United game could have an incredible atmosphere. It might be euphoric. Fans returning who had to force themselves to stay away. People who sacrificed their favorite possessions for the club’s good.