Sheffield Wednesday finances, contracts and players. Grab a cuppa and listen to this.

[HarrowbyOwl]

1 hour ago, Highbury Owl said:

 

Yes but in years 2 and 3 you no longer have to charge the £3m cost or pay their wages.

 

So sell Rhodes. Year 1 pain more than offset by Years 2 and 3 gain.

I'm sure that's right. I think the point they were making in the podcast was that it's not going to be a quick fix

[Jennz]

8 hours ago, Geoffrey said:

The club has been poorly run and some of you need to wake up to the fact.

 

"need"?....four Owls fans in a room, two are awake to the facts, two are asleep to the facts, if the two who are asleep wake up, or if they don't, what difference will it make to the outcome of SWFC's plight?....answer...nothing, so there really is no 'need' is there.

[Morepork]

Not much in there that we didn't know or couldn't make an educated guess at. I'd quite happily see us take the Brentford route although their Scouting Network and Youth Academy are very highly regarded, not the kind of thing you can reproduce quickly or easily.

 

In terms of FFP and the way's clubs account for the purchase and sale of players this is one of the best and easiest to follow explanations I've come across.

 

 

[quinnssweetshop]

Ah well,  UTO

 

too many forces at play to worry about it now. Used to be the case of looking at the bottom line. Now you have to look at every one and the ones you can't see that well.

 

Footballs corrupt to the core, and nothing will be done about it now, it's too ingrained in it's culture.

 

Blatter and Plattini allowed this to happen....... I'm sure they are struggling with life now eh ?

[Guest Hillsborough Mole]

On 07/08/2017 at 20:39, ANDY said:

Following the latest Supporters’ Steering Group convention held at Hillsborough last week, Sheffield Wednesday seek to clarify and expand upon a number of issues raised.

A host of topics came to the fore at the five-hour meeting held with representatives from a broad range of Wednesdayites.

Amongst many other things, general pricing was part of the conversation and this encompassed the likes of tickets, retail and corporate hospitality all the way through to player recruitment.

 

Whilst certain matters must remain confidential for obvious reasons, the club are keen to detail where possible our policy on pricing, which works in tandem with ambitions for the immediate and long term future.

 

The value of any product offered by any business, of course, is subjective and relative to the individual. The common denominator from Sheffield Wednesday is that we must examine every revenue stream possible if we are to achieve our goals whilst staying within the boundaries of Financial Fair Play – now known as Profitability and Sustainability.

Whilst there have been certain increased costs - balanced alongside savings on innovative Season Ticket promotions - the ambitions of the Owls have been matched by a level of financial commitment from an owner never before seen at Hillsborough.

 

Thus two successive campaigns in the Championship play-offs in 2016 and 2017 rapidly elevated the club from our position of previous years.

Inevitably, this has come at a cost, with the quality of the coaching and playing staff having taken the team to uncharted territory over the past two seasons.

With the constraints of FFP (P and S) hitting hard, pricing must be structured accordingly - together with our aims in mind - and supporters are assured that every penny generated is invested wholly back into the club.

 

At the Steering Group meeting, corporate hospitality packages in particular were highlighted as having risen in cost, but it is important to consider that previously prices were not reflective of what was required for long term sustainability so making recent increases artificially high.

This arm of the business yielded little profit, whilst on occasion even posting a loss after factoring in club costs accrued. This policy of low pricing was based on the rationale of unrealistic reduced revenues being more beneficial than no revenues. The business could not realistically sustain such a model so prices had to increase to help make our offerings competitive.

 

Given the Championship is the most financially challenging division in the world, internal revenues are more important than ever in terms of contributing to the blueprint for success, without breaching EFL regulations.

Currently, the club sustains significant losses each year, underpinned by the commitment of chairman Dejphon Chansiri, who told swfc.co.uk:

 

“With any of our products - hospitality, ticketing, or retail - pricing must mirror the ambitions of our club. In Thailand I am a businessman first but at Sheffield Wednesday I think of our fans first, not business, and we have to get the balance right as we try to stay within the rules of FFP.

 

“Of course, we can go back to lower prices and less investment in the squad but if we wish to reach the Premier League, such a model is not practical. So we must invest more than our revenues like almost every club in this division aiming for promotion.

 

“I know that some supporters say they cannot afford some things and I understand. I would never ask a single supporter to spend even one penny on anything they cannot afford.

 

“All I ask of everyone who can afford is to help and support as much as possible. I would love to do this by myself and not ask anything of our fans but the FFP limits mean I cannot. I do not want to disturb the regulations so I have no choice, we must support and go together.

 

“Historically I know that shirts can be bought elsewhere for a cheaper price, but when I see our fans buying from our club I know it is because they wish to support. The same for tickets and every other area. This makes me feel good and makes me want to give everything I possibly can.

 

“That is the spirit that we need, the togetherness we must have, and I thank every single one of our fans for giving me the heart to support our lovely club.

 

“They are the soul of Sheffield Wednesday, which is now in my blood. I am away from my family, away from my home, giving my all and trying my best and I want our fans to say the same because we are all Sheffield Wednesday.

 

“I hope this offers some explanation about many things as I felt it important that certain discussions in the Steering Group are communicated across the wider fan base.”

 

On 07/08/2017 at 23:22, Guest Deleted member said:

I think this is the most worrying thing Ive read from the club since Nick Parker was on the steps of the High Court

 

:-(

 

On 07/08/2017 at 23:28, Guest Deleted member said:

 

The clubs financial stability is far more important than what division we play in

 

 

 

 

As far back as August the club were warning us that spending would have to change. 

[@owlstalk]

3 hours ago, Morepork said:

Not much in there that we didn't know or couldn't make an educated guess at.

 

Totally disagree

You can see that for yourself by looking at the replies in this thread alone

 

[Geoffrey]

12 hours ago, owls101 said:

I found the bit about training ground / academy infrastructure interesting and worrying. DC says he has plenty of brass but hands tied on playing side but why hasn't he invested it in the foundations of the club where ffp doesn't count?

Nail on the head. Money spent on youth development is not included in FFP.

DC claims FFP is preventing him investing and that money isn't the problem.

Unless DC doesn't plan to be here for long, why doesn't he invest in the longer tem future of the club i.e training ground, academy?

Edited January 24, 2018 by Geoffrey

[torryowl]

16 minutes ago, Geoffrey said:

Nail on the head. Money spent on youth development is not included in FFP.

DC claims FFP is preventing him investing and that money isn't the problem.

Unless DC doesn't plan to be here for long, why doesn't he invest in the longer tem future of the club i.e training ground, academy?

probably because he wasn't clued up on how to run a football club and went for instant success . lets hope he's learned and puts a bit more thought into it from now on ........one problem for him though is if we do go down the route of playing and investing in younger players any chance of success could be a few years down the line so he needs to make himself bullet proof to the whinging he'll get on social media if we become marooned in mid table for a while especially if he keeps the ticket price sky high .......

[owls maniac]

14 minutes ago, torryowl said:

probably because he wasn't clued up on how to run a football club and went for instant success . lets hope he's learned and puts a bit more thought into it from now on ........one problem for him though is if we do go down the route of playing and investing in younger players any chance of success could be a few years down the line so he needs to make himself bullet proof to the whinging he'll get on social media if we become marooned in mid table for a while especially if he keeps the ticket price sky high .......

I think the ticket prices are untenable if we forecast being mid table for the next few years whilst we rebuild the team. 

[torryowl]

8 minutes ago, owls maniac said:

I think the ticket prices are untenable if we forecast being mid table for the next few years whilst we rebuild the team. 

I think your right though whether he'll think that is debatable 

[edwinowl]

One thing this will do, certainly from my point of view now is lower my expectations of promotion and any future signings which has been an issue with our fans of that there is no doubt

 

[Bluey9]

23 hours ago, @owlstalk said:

You guys really need to hear this. The best explanation of Sheffield Wednesday's situation that you'll hear.

It goes through the players we have, the kind of contracts they're on, the length of contracts, agents like Doyen, Club 1867, why selling players like Jordan Rhodes would actually mean we are way worse off in terms of FFP and more

 

It's a dense serious listen to grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and focus on it and you'll learn all you need to know.

It's not the most positive outcome for Wednesday fans but we definitely need to hear and consider it all.

Essential listening even if you think that you understand FFP

Great listen that Neil 

 

Cheers for that Pal  !

[@owlstalk]

13 minutes ago, Bluey9 said:

Great listen that Neil 

 

Cheers for that Pal  !

They just released another one - the new one is more football related

[Lemi_the_owl]

12 hours ago, vulva said:

Agree with this. Jos is getting loads of credit for playing the kids, but in reality he hasn't got any other option. If everyone was fit, the kids wouldn't get near the first team. 

To a degree maybe his hand is forced a bit. Although you could argue that before he arrived we had as many injuries and the youths were never played under CC. Under CC we would still be playing 442 and in that case probably Venancio and Pudil would be at CH with Glen replacing FV after suspension. JL has been brave enough to change the system to a 3 at the back we are more suited to, which has in turn given an opportunity to youth players. And he hasn’t shied from using them.

Only thing that concerns me is we have a youth team that seem to be doing really well but we never seem to see or hear of any midfielders or attackers making progress to the first team (don’t go there with the obvious one who maybe could have). Surely we must have a bit of pace in the youth team to add to the attacking element of our first team?!

[BRADDO]

40 minutes ago, @owlstalk said:

They just released another one - the new one is more football related

Any chance of a link Neil. I'd be interested in listen. They talk sense 

[matthefish2002]

12 hours ago, Lichfield alien said:

We could have done the same but didn't...more fool us

 

I am still glad we didn't take the easy route and went into admin.

Wouldn't have been a bit ashamed local businesses giving they services to the club in good faith and being left to pick up a lot of the tab if gone into administration.

[Guest Hillsborough Mole]

Its one of the best Wednesday podcasts Ive ever listened to

 

Far better than the usual rubbish they put out

[scram]

8 hours ago, Morepork said:

Not much in there that we didn't know or couldn't make an educated guess at. I'd quite happily see us take the Brentford route although their Scouting Network and Youth Academy are very highly regarded, not the kind of thing you can reproduce quickly or easily.

 

 

Brentford don't have an academy

[Guest Hillsborough Mole]

4 minutes ago, scram said:

 

 

Brentford don't have an academy

Yeah but apart from that it's very highly regarded

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

14 hours ago, vulture_squadron said:

Good podcast. We are at a crossroads regarding the future direction of the club.

 

Like the presenters I think we have decided to build at a steadier rate with Luhukay, Meire and younger players coming in.

 

The cost of tickets needs looking at though- if we're no longer bringing in top players and challenging at the top of the league they can't justify those prices.

Fans with loads of experience as a punter should realise that your chances of seeing a 'Goon Match' have little correlation to the quality of player on the pitch.

 

Crowds and revenue need to be maintained at the highest possible level IMO.