My mate’s a Sheffield Wednesday fan. He’s been going to Hillsborough since he was six. This season? He’s stopped going. Can’t bring himself to watch anymore. That’s what Dejphon Chansiri did to one of England’s biggest football clubs. Turned lifelong fans away from the team they love. On 24 October 2025, Dejphon Chansiri’s Sheffield Wednesday ownership finally ended when the club entered administration. Fans actually celebrated. That tells you everything about his ten-year reign.
Started With Promise
Dejphon Chansiri bought Sheffield Wednesday in 2015 for about £40 million. He’s 57 now (born 3 June 1968) and comes from a proper, wealthy Thai family that owns Thai Union Group – the world’s biggest canned tuna producer. When he took over from Milan Mandaric, Wednesday fans were buzzing. New owner, fresh money, big ambitions. The first couple of seasons looked decent under manager Carlos Carvalhal.
Two playoff campaigns trying to reach the Premier League. My mate said everyone thought Chansiri was the real deal. Splashed cash on players, talked about taking Wednesday back to the top flight where they belonged. Then it all went wrong. Spectacularly wrong.
Dejphon Chansiri’s Business Background
The Chansiri family is worth billions through Thai Union. They own John West, Chicken of the Sea, and loads of massive tuna brands. Proper serious money. So when Dejphon Chansiri’s net worth gets discussed, people assume he’s loaded. And yeah, his family is. But Chansiri himself? Different story. Reports suggest he’s been using club money to pay debts rather than funding Wednesday properly. The family fortune didn’t translate to sensible club ownership. Running a football club isn’t like running a tuna business, apparently. Who knew?
The Money Problems Started Fast
By 2017-18, investment dried up. Managers kept getting sacked. Steve Bruce came in, then left for Newcastle. Garry Monk replaced him. Jos Luhukay before that. Just a revolving door of managers with no proper backing. In 2020-21, Wednesday got a 12-point penalty (reduced to six) for breaching financial rules. That’s when everyone realised things were properly dodgy. Then in November 2024, the club couldn’t pay HMRC. Registration embargo. Happened again in November 2025. Same thing, same mess.
Players and staff went unpaid in March 2025. Then May. Then June. Wages delayed for two consecutive months mean players can legally hand in their notice. Some did. My mate said one player found out his wages weren’t coming through social media before the club told him. Absolutely shocking.
The Protests Got Serious
Wednesday fans staged a huge protest outside Leicester’s King Power Stadium in August 2025. Chose to stay outside the ground after kick-off, leaving a number of empty seats, and unfurled a large banner stating “SWFC for sale – enough is enough.” They boycotted the game against Middlesbrough in October 2025, televised by Sky Sports. Just 7,081 entered the stadium that day, most of them Middlesbrough supporters. Attendance was down 35 per cent from last season, to an average of 17,000 from 26,000. Followers refused to buy merchandise and food at the ground as a means of starving Chansiri of money.
The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust organised everything brilliantly. They also used the outside of the stadium to show protest images. Creative stuff to draw attention. The local MP for Sheffield South East, Clive Betts, even described Chansiri as holding the team “hostage” in June 2025. That’s your local MP publicly shaming you. Mental.
Wouldn’t Sell Up
Here’s what made everyone furious – Chansiri said, “If the fans want me to sell, I’ll sell.” But then he didn’t. Initially wanted £100 million for the club. Nobody would pay that. Potential buyers kept walking away “frustrated at a confused process and an absence of any clear asking price.” One American consortium tried making contact. Chansiri refused to even speak with them.
A figure involved in European club takeovers said dealing with Chansiri was “just the most bizarre process.” John Textor (former Crystal Palace owner) showed interest. Mike Ashley (ex-Newcastle chief) monitored the situation. David Richards, too. All got nowhere because Chansiri wouldn’t engage properly. My mate reckons Chansiri never actually wanted to sell. Just said he would to shut people up.
Administration Finally Ended It
On 24 October 2025, Sheffield Wednesday entered administration. Automatic 12-point deduction. Currently bottom of the Championship on minus six points. But fans celebrated anyway. The megastore took £500,000 in the first post-Chansiri weekend. Supporters Trust raised £60,000. Fans came flooding back. Begbies Traynor administrators took over, including lifelong Wednesday fan Kris Wigfield.
They immediately ripped out stadium seats spelling Chansiri’s name. Drawing a line under his ownership. Administrators are asking £50 million for the club, hoping to complete a sale by the end of 2025. Between 30 and 40 parties have shown interest already. My mate bought his first ticket in months for the Norwich game. Said it felt brilliant being back at Hillsborough without Chansiri.
Dejphon Chansiri Wife and Personal Life
Not much is known about Dejphon Chansiri’s wife or his family. He’s kept that side of things private, which is fair enough. His focus was supposedly on Wednesday, though fans would argue he wasn’t focused on the right things. More concerned about his asking price than the club’s well-being.
What He Actually Did Wrong
Let’s list it out. In ten years, Chansiri:
- Failed to pay players and staff on time repeatedly
- Racked up over £1 million debt to HMRC (plus another six-figure sum)
- Got the club five separate transfer embargoes
- Banned from paying transfer fees for three windows
- Received a 12-point deduction for administration
- Drove attendance down 35% through fan boycotts
- Refused to engage with genuine buyers
- Got charged by the EFL for multiple regulation breaches
- Made the club owe potentially £7.4 million on a stadium loan
That’s not bad luck. That’s catastrophic mismanagement. My mate said his dad remembers Wednesday in the Premier League. Now they’re at the bottom of the Championship, facing relegation to League One. All under Chansiri’s watch.
The Danny Röhl Situation
One bright spot has been manager Danny Röhl. Came in October 2023, saved Wednesday from relegation on the final day of 2023-24. Did brilliantly with zero backing. Southampton reportedly wants him. If Röhl leaves because of the mess Chansiri created, fans will be even more gutted. At least now there’s hope. New owners coming in, Röhl might stay, fans returning to Hillsborough.
The Bigger Picture
Chansiri’s story is one more example of what can go wrong when rich foreign owners don’t care for or understand English football culture. He had the money (or access to it via his family), but didn’t have a clue what Sheffield Wednesday meant to people. It’s not just a business. It is a 150+ year history in between, generations of families following the same team, a community with its identity wrapped up in blue and white.
My mate’s grandad took his dad to Hillsborough. His dad took him. He was planning to take his kids. That’s what football clubs are about. Chansiri never got that. Treated Wednesday like another business venture, ignored the fans, didn’t pay the bills, then refused to sell when everyone begged him to leave.
Where Things Stand Now
As of November 2025, Wednesday are bottom of the Championship with minus six points. Henrik Pedersen is managing the team. They haven’t won at home all season. But the mood’s changed completely. Fans are back. Hillsborough legends like Chris Waddle, David Hirst, and Terry Curran appeared in the megastore for the first time in years. Chansiri had fallen out with them all. The Sheffield United derby on 23 November sold out immediately.
That’s the power of the fanbase when they’re not boycotting. Administration will likely cost Wednesday relegation this season. The 12-point deduction is too much to overcome. But fans don’t care. They’d rather go down and rebuild properly than continue under Chansiri.
What We Learned
Dejphon Chansiri will be remembered as one of the worst owners in Sheffield Wednesday’s history. Possibly English football history. He came in with promises, spent money initially, then systematically destroyed the club through mismanagement, unpaid bills, and refusal to sell when everyone knew he had to go. My mate said watching Wednesday enter administration felt like weightlifting.
That’s proper sad – when administration feels like good news. The takeover will hopefully be complete by the end of 2025. Wednesday will rebuild. Fans will stick with them through relegation if needed. But Chansiri? He’ll be forgotten. Or remembered only as a cautionary tale about what happens when you buy a football club without respecting what it means. Ten years of his ownership. Ten years that nearly killed Sheffield Wednesday. Thank god it’s finally over.
