Is the fifth-oldest team in England s history going to fall? What exactly did Xie Wednesday go through?

In April 1991, John Sheridan scored a winning goal for Sheffield Wednesday, beating Manchester United at the time. This 1-0 victory not only allowed them to win an important trophy, but also became a unique footnote in history: it was the last example of a non-English top league team winning an important championship.

That year, Xie Wednesday was a promoted player in the English sub-league and ranked third in the league to qualify for promotion. The final rival Manchester United is ranked sixth in the top league. But just this century, Xie Wednesday also wrote a miracle - creating the greatest reversal in the history of the English Football League play-offs and completing a magical relegation two years ago when it was almost destined to be relegated.

However, Xie Zhousan now seems to be sliding into the dimest abyss in history. Not only are they in a serious fiscal crisis, they are also at risk of not being able to start the game as scheduled. Just this weekend, they will have their first round of the Championship against Leicester City, but it is still undecided.

The fans have organized a protest, and the target is directed at the controversial club owner: Charn Xiri.

🦉 Why did Xie Wednesday's problem affect the entire English football world? Founded Wednesday in 1867, Sheffield is one of England's oldest clubs, second only to Nottsshire, Stoke City, Wrexham and Nottingham Forest.

Although they have been away from the Premier League stage for 25 years and are even slightly unfamiliar with some young fans, this "Owls" was once a well-known team in the history of English football: it has 10 important trophys, more than most current Premier League teams.

They were members of the early days of the Premier League and were still competitive in the 1990s. But since winning the League Cup in 1991, it has fallen into a long-term low.

Nevertheless, their historical status in English football cannot be underestimated. Now that we can reach the point where we are "on the verge of disintegration", this is exactly why the whole story is shocking.

👤 Who is Chan Xiri? Why did he become the target of public criticism?

Chan Xiri is a businessman from Thailand who has bought Xie Wednesday from former chairman Mandarich in 2015. His family owns the world's largest canned seafood producer, Tyvantong Group, but Chain Xiri himself does not hold any position in the group. In the early days of placing the charge, Xie Zhousan ushered in two years of short glory - he almost succeeded in 2016 through the playoffs. But that period was also a "consequential" stage. Not only did he invest heavily in players, he also lacked a transfer return mechanism, which led to a gradual tight financial situation.

What's worse is that he adopts a highly centralized management approach - the club has no sports director, no CEO, and the UK has no permanent management team. He made the decision on all major and minor matters, and the outside world generally believed that this made Xie Zhousan look like a ship without a rudder.

📉 The crisis broke out in full swing: From wage arrears to transfer bans

The problem was first exposed in 2020: the club was deducted 12 points (later reduced to 6 points) for violating financial fairness regulations. The reason was that Chaan Xiri failed to complete the book transfer of home Hillsborough Stadium in time, resulting in loopholes in the financial statements. This deduction directly led Xie to drop into the League One on Wednesday. Since then, problems have followed: In March, May, June and July 2024, the club failed to pay all employees' salaries on time and in full, including players, shops, ticketing and other positions. In June, the EFL imposed a triple transfer ban on the club due to failure to pay the player's salary. After that, the ban was escalated due to tax arrears and transfer installments.

The core player left the team freely: forward pillar Windas (13 goals) joined Wrexham, and another striker Michael Smith (8 goals) transferred to Preston.

Selling new stars in order to repay the debt: 21-year-old winger Gasama was sold to the Wanderers for a low price of about 2.2 million pounds. He scored goals in two rounds of the Champions League qualifiers.

The coach leaves office and the coaching staff is disbanded: German coach Danny Roll leaves office on July 29 because of disagreement with Charn Hillily, leaving only assistant coach Peterson to take over as head coach.

The main stand was closed: the city council closed the 9,000-seat North stand on the grounds of security issues - this was the stand named by Charn Hillily. Season ticket holders have no seats to sit.

There are only 16 first-line players left, and the lineup is seriously incomplete: a goalkeeper, a long-term wounded, and several players who are preparing to file for termination.

Pre-season warm-up match was forced to be cancelled: Players refused to participate in a closed-door friendly match with Burnley after not receiving their July salary.

⚠️ What is the English League (EFL) doing?

Although the EFL filed charges against Chane Hilli and the club on June 18, few actions have been made since then. The EFL does not have the right to take over the club or force the transfer of shares, but can put pressure on it by "threatening to expel the league".

This strategy successfully forced Dai Yongge to sell the Reading Club in 2024, but it is still unknown whether it will work on Xie Zhou Wednesday.

A more promising reform direction - the independent regulator of English football is about to go online, but I am afraid there is no time to save the current crisis.

❓ Is Xie Wednesday really possible to "go bankruptcy and disband"?

The answer is: the possibility exists, and it is not small.

If Chan Xiri's capital chain is completely broken, or he deliberately withdraws and insists on asking for an unrealistic high price (he claimed that Xie Wednesday is worth 100 million pounds), then Xie will be unsuccessful on Wednesday and the crisis will be irreversible.

This is similar to the Berry team that disbanded in 2019, and it is also similar to the Bolton Wanderers who almost went bankrupt the same year - the latter relied on young players to survive the first few weeks and finally completed the sale. But Xie Zhouxi’s complex problem is that the home court and the club are two legal entities, and the transaction is more difficult to operate..

👊 Is it possible for a player to strike?

At present, the official competition strike is still the "last method", but it cannot be ruled out.

players have refused to participate in friendly matches because they are not paid, and issued a joint statement on Monday saying: "We are united and support all colleagues, hoping to avoid another refusal in the future."

captain Barry Bannan just renewed his contract and said that the team will play in the opening match against Leicester as scheduled, but the situation is still not optimistic.

😡 Fans' anger escalated: prepare for live broadcast of global protests

Faced with the club's daily bad news, Xie's fans have organized a series of protests on Wednesday: When

away against Leicester (global live broadcast), fans will delay entry by 5 minutes to create a visual impact of the "empty stand".

Home game will continue to protest: the North stand will remain vacant and Chain Xiri will be requested to repair it as soon as possible.

fans have collectively boycotted the purchase of official peripheral products, trying to cut off the club's commercial revenue.

🔚 What will happen next?

Xie Zhoushen's fate is completely in the hands of a boss who is far away in Thailand and refuses to communicate.

Chain Xiri currently has no intention of reducing the price, has not solved the funding gap, and no one is willing to take over a team that cannot spend money to sign ups by 2027, has no head coach, no core players, and no source of income.

Even if you find a buyer, you have to face the mess of "transfer ban + fiscal black hole". It is almost out of reach to the dream of returning to the Premier League.

And the ultimate problem in reality is: they may not even be able to hold on to this season.