After years of turmoil, broken promises and no running water in the toilets, Sheffield Wednesday fans finally have something to smile about.
The club’s long-awaited takeover by US consortium Arise Capital Partners, led by David Storch, was confirmed last week, with a threatened 15-point deduction simultaneously waived by the EFL. A moment Paul Taylor, a leading board member of the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust, describes as “mind-blowing.”
“I was emotionally wrecked at the end of it,” he told ShefNews. “Everybody’s fought so long to try and get into some clear water. And then finally, there it was.”
The contrast with former owner Dejphon Chansiri could not be sharper. Taylor, who joined the Trust board after retiring from Sheffield City Council last year, doesn’t mince his words about what went wrong. “He basically threw money at the team to try and get devotion. And then when that didn’t happen, he just got fed up and threw all his toys out of the pram.”
The new owners have taken a strikingly different approach. Even before the takeover was confirmed, they sat down with the Trust and asked a simple question that floored everyone in the room. “They said, can you talk to us about what you think the priorities are? What do the fans think? He was asking us, which was unheard of really.”
The infrastructure at Hillsborough has been left to decay, with Taylor noting that the new owners’ first promise to supporters was something most clubs take for granted. “When a new owner stands on the pitch and says the first thing we’re going to give you is running water, that’s how bad things had got.”
Beyond the plumbing, Taylor’s biggest priority is community. “We’ve got a lost generation. Young people are looking around, thinking, ” Which of these two teams should I support? That’s an untapped market.” The new owners, he believes, get that and will work with the Trust rather than around it, unlike the previous administration.
For now, though, Wednesday fans are relieved this nightmare scenario has finally been resolved. Nearly 34,000 packed Hillsborough to witness the moment the club turned a corner.
With the 15-point deduction being removed, Wednesday fans will be hoping they can reach the playoffs and try and get back into the championship.
To find out more about the Sheffield Wednesday Trust, click here