Long term lurker but been drawn in by the optimism I'm sharing with the rest of you, my first hope for the coming season is safety but this optimistic voice keeps on muttering 'play offs' which I know is utterly mad but its just addictive this thing called hope and I've not felt such optimism in at least 5 years.
So, with safety in mind I have been paying more attention to the state of play behind the scenes in the Championship - this battlefield with so many huge clubs and storied histories.
I'm keen to highlight that I'm not happy to see other clubs in financial disaster - that's simply the reality we live in as football supporters. Some are blessed with good owners and good luck and some are not. In the Batman movie The Dark Knight there's a decent quote that I think is applicable to most owners across football "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain" and so it is with the owners of both Hull & Sheffield Wednesday who have truly leaned into becoming the self imposed baddies in their clubs.
I think because of their meddling, lack of long term passion and perhaps not fully understanding the moral commitment of owning a club they will in some contribute to Charlton at least staying up and as someone who's been on the shit end of the stick owners wise, I'll happily take this potential leg up but with a measure of empathy. Fans of The Owls & The Tigers don't deserve it as their communities thrive on their passion but such is life in The Championship.
Hull
Hull City has been placed under a three-window transfer embargo by the EFL due to unpaid debts for player transfers. This was caused, specifically by a £1 million loan fee to Aston Villa for Louie Barry. Ironically, Barry joined in January 25 and made zero appearances.
The club reportedly owes around £22 million to other clubs for player transfers, but have requested to delay payments.
Reports indicate that Hull City has also had to settle outstanding debts with suppliers and for player loans.
While the owner, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acun_Il%C4%B1cal%C4%B1 has stated the club is financially robust, he has also admitted the club has a £60 million debt to himself, which he hopes to recoup through player sales.
Hull City is appealing the transfer embargo, hoping to have the restrictions eased or lifted.
The embargo means the club cannot register new players and have paused their recruitment involving fees. 5 players have been signed since January, 3 of them on a free and the other 2 were minimal fees paid before the embargo hit. I don't have much context but Hull have released 23 players over the summer which seems a lot - I compared them to a random Championship team Middlesbrough who have released 12 players
Its obvious but there is growing concern among fans about the club's financial management and the potential impact on the team's future
Sheffield Wednesday
Just like Hull, the Owls have been placed under a three-window transfer embargo by the English Football League (EFL) due to unpaid debts for player transfers.
Its really sad to say but the club owe various other clubs for various things, examples being : Southampton haven’t received full payment for Shea Charles’ loan last season, Norwich City are also owed money for Akin Famewo, who joined the club in the summer of 2022 and on Monday their now ex manager Danny Rohl left the club and its believed his entire staff will also follow and this will result in another debt in terms of a severance package for Rohl & his staff.
I couldn't find a solid number in terms of the total debt but perhaps someone else can? Again, not wishing this on Sheffield Wednesday but I have to guess that they're significantly worse off than Hull
When https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejphon_Chansiri first purchased the club in 2015 there was a lot of financial commitment and this followed for 3 seasons when it then dried up and Chansiri started to run it less as a business and more as a toy that he'd grown bored of. In 2017, he was found to be securing debt against the stadium and there followed high profile managerial sackings and a player exodus. As a keyboard warrior with no insight into the world of football, it appears that both players and managers are seeing the club with its current owner as a poisoned chalice to steer clear of. With the rich history of SW, this is utterly shit that its come to this.
Sheffield Wednesday don't appear to be attempting to appeal the transfer embargo, instead going down the crazy route of not paying certain players for 2 months which triggers a clause whereby the players can hand in their notice - to date 6 players have handed in their notice.
Same as Hull, the embargo means the club cannot register new players if a fee is involved and has mostly paused their recruitment. If Chansiri's insane logic comes to fruition they will likely lose an additional 6 senior players and you'd assume that they're some of the higher earners if they're the ones not being paid? They have brought in 3 players on a free and similar to Hull have released 23 senior players and sold an additional 4.
I think there's a SW fan on here so I'd be interested to know their thoughts - obviously I'd rather he wasn't in this horrible position to have this perspective to give.
Bonus mention to Leicester who look likely to get a 9 point deduction for breaching financial fair play rules back in 22/23 season, I doubt this will stop them earning promotion and fair play to them for it.
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