Sheffield Wednesday’s season has plunged into further chaos after the EFL announced a fresh six-point deduction for the club on Monday.
The penalty, which relates to historic breaches of payment obligations under former owner Dejphon Chansiri, leaves the Owls rooted to the bottom of the Championship table on minus-10 points, effectively sealing their fate for the 2025/26 campaign.
This latest sanction compounds the misery for the South Yorkshire club, who were already reeling from an automatic 12-point penalty imposed in October after entering administration.
With the total deduction now standing at 18 points, the EFL confirmed in a statement that the additional punishment was triggered by “multiple breaches of regulations relating to payment obligations.”
These breaches specifically cite the failure to pay player and staff wages on time during March, May, and June of 2025, as well as missed payments to HMRC.
While the current administration team, led by Begbies Traynor, attempts to stabilise the club and find a new buyer, the legacy of the previous regime continues to haunt Hillsborough.
As part of the ruling, controversial former owner Dejphon Chansiri has been handed a three-year ban from owning or acting as a director of any EFL club.
For manager Henrik Pedersen, the news is a devastating blow to morale. Despite a spirited 2-0 win over Portsmouth in September, the team has struggled to find rhythm amidst the off-field turmoil.
The EFL has stated it is not seeking further points deductions for the current season, but for fans seeing their historic club sit on a negative points tally in December, the damage is already done.
Financial rules tightening across English football
Sheffield Wednesday are far from the only club to suffer the wrath of the governing bodies in recent years.
The landscape of English football has been increasingly defined by strict financial sustainability rules, with several high-profile teams facing similar sanctions.
Most notably, Everton and Nottingham Forest became the first Premier League clubs to suffer points deductions for breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in the 2023/24 season, setting a precedent that financial mismanagement would be punished on the pitch.
In the EFL, Derby County famously suffered a combined 21-point deduction in the 2021/22 season due to administration and accounting irregularities, a penalty that ultimately condemned Wayne Rooney’s side to relegation despite a valiant fight.
Reading also faced multiple deductions totaling 18 points over three seasons for breaching agreed business plans and failing to pay wages.
Wednesday fans will also remember their own history; the club previously started the 2020/21 season with a 12-point deduction (later reduced to six) for breaching spending rules, a deficit that contributed to their relegation to League One that year.
History, it seems, is repeating itself in the cruelest fashion at Hillsborough.