UCFB academic offers insight into Sheffield Wednesday finances on BBC documentary

UCFB academic Professor Rob Wilson recently appeared on a BBC documentary discussing the financial situation around Sheffield Wednesday.

Rob, an expert in the field of football finance, is head of UCFB’s executive education courses alongside VSI Executive Education.

Amid administration, relegation, point deductions, Rob was interviewed by the BBC for his football financial expert insight into the situation at Hillsborough both during and since the Chansiri era.

Looking back on the time when Dejphon Chansiri owned the club, Rob said in the documentary: “We’d have to ask him why he wanted to buy a Championship club firstly, and why he wanted to buy Sheffield Wednesday secondly.

“I think there’s a level of vanity purchasing in that. He was looking at a football club which he could invest in, and which he could take to the Premier League.

“He leaves the family business, the Thai Union Group of Fisheries, he buys this iconic football club and he’s able to put them into the Premier League.

“I think that is really prestigious for both him and his family, and would’ve taken him up, if you like, into the aristocracy of Thailand.”

He added: “It didn’t appear to be strategic; it was very short term. Bringing players in on significant wages who were at the wrong end of their careers, as well.

“So lots of money going out, not that much money coming in, and in many ways that first three years set up what we saw in the last seven or eight.”

During the documentary, Rob was asked about the years where Chansiri’s name was the sponsor on the front of the Owls’ iconic blue and white strip.

“I think that was something to get around financial fair play,” he said. “They had a sponsorship deal they were due to sign, but it wasn’t worth enough, so Chansiri took the front-of-shirt sponsor.

“All of those things were effectively coming from his wealth, so it was a catastrophic failure on a financial level for him personally as well.”

The documentary looked not only at the past, but also the present and future of the club, which for a time looked uncertain, with the potential of the club going out of business.

The Owls already have a 15-point deduction for their upcoming League One campaign of 2026-27 under new ownership.

“When you look at Sheffield Wednesday,” Rob said to the BBC, “it’s a £100m-plus project.

“You’ve got the player wages which need to be met, you’ve got the infrastructure requirements, you’ve got the redevelopment of Hillsborough because it has lacked investment for a large period of time.

“Whoever buys Sheffield Wednesday, they need to really have long-term plans that’s probably upwards of £20m per year.”

He finished his section of the documentary by saying: “My philosophy of how we should be running professional enterprises is not necessarily that we’re prepared for those massive economic shocks, but certainly that we should have business plans and strategies in place for the long-term financial sustainability of that football club.”

You can view the full documentary for a greater insight into the goings on at the club.