'We are going to be a part of football's future' - newly appointed regulator the regulator's chair
The Championship club's current difficulties are seen as a "serious issue" and the football regulator is looking to gain the ability to look into club affairs in such situations, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards the club's followers.
The chairman convened with four supporter groups connected to the South Yorkshire club this week.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club delaying salary disbursements on multiple instances, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a major concern for the league and a significant problem for football," the regulator explained.
"The club represents one of the iconic names for football in England and in recent days we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will allow us to have Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs brought to our attention if they require examination and dealt with."
Monetary Issues and Ownership Situation
The team's struggling chairman the current owner suggested earlier this year he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Missed wage deadlines on time in spring months caused limitations by the football authorities in mid-year, stopping Wednesday from completing any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although the ban was rescinded in August.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a regional establishment that has represented their community in many cases.
"I have absolute sympathy for Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the followers."
When asked if the oversight body could require an proprietor to divest a club if they are considered unfit, Kogan said: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be considered the final option and the oversight body would choose to collaborate with owners.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an individual club, an specific proprietor, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that owner to try and resolve the challenges confronting the team and the owner's facing," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you examine the past of football, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been certain proprietors, not many, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually decline to assume obligation for the coming years."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the team's chairman in recent months
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the authority recently and insisted it was a "progressive gathering" with a "substantial involvement" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"The role holds considerable importance, because if errors are made, if the sport makes errors, the remarkable development accomplished might evaporate incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the context of the English game is a major achievement - we need to continue the progress.
"Substantial financial resources entering the sport and has come into football for the recent generations, because certainty is lacking it will keep flowing into the sport, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Elite Division Worries
Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the elite division's competitive balance, but Kogan said: "I fully support the success and growth as an financial organization of the elite league.
"I of all people understand the concern of undermining the division as a high-quality offering of England. But simultaneously, if you engage with division representatives after today's meeting, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, in fact, they have been informing us confidentially they have a considerable comfort."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "full inquiry" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in the past.
The chairman donated money to government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my past party membership [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the select committee approved my appointment," the regulator explained.
"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."
