The Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust (SWST) are announcing further protests against Dejphon Chansiri’s ownership of the club for the forthcoming games against Middlesborough and Portsmouth at Hillsborough.
We know that there has been speculation that the Trust was not organising a protest due to last Monday’s Engagement Panel meeting meaning we were not ‘allowed’ to protest. The reality is that the EP meeting was called at short notice on days when board members were supposed to be working or looking after family. Preparing for the meeting on the Monday, attending the meeting in the middle of a workday on Tuesday, catching up at work on Wednesday and dealing with the fall out has taken up a lot of time and effort this week. In addition, this is a short week due to Easter and the next home game is only nine days after the last.
A big well organised protest for Monday was unfortunately just not realistic. We do however want fans to keep momentum going so we are asking fans to again undertake a protest that requires minimal effort but has a big impact. In addition, we are busy organising a larger event for the final home game of the season.
Therefore, against Middlesborough the trust is asking fans to repeat the TurnYourBackOnChansiri protest by turning our backs again and singing ‘Dejphon Chansiri Get Out of Our Club’ at the 10-minute mark. We know it is tempting to turn round and look at what everyone else is doing, we know we did 😉, but let us try to maintain some discipline this time.
We appreciate that other groups of fans might want to organise their own protests (such as the wear yellow protest) and many of our members may well support these. That’s fine with us.
And the results are in. We will be announcing the results of the Trust’s survey on the fans views on the owner on the morning of the game.
We can announce that the final game protest will be a ‘full spectrum,’ protest, catering to all segments of the fanbase who want to peacefully protest.
The Trust is looking to organise a funeral march starting from the site of the Adelphi Hotel where The Wednesday Football Club was formed in 1867 (Now the Best Western in town). We will be looking to march firstly to Hillsborough Park where we hope that we will be joined by other fans. And then through Hillsborough Park toward the ground. The message will be You Are Killing Our Club – Sell Now. More details will follow next week as we will be liaising with local Police on making sure that this protest is done within the law and with respect for the community.
As fans, none of us want our club to die in 2025. If you think that this can’t happen to Sheffield Wednesday, we would urge fans to listen to the WTID podcast which interviews members of the Reading Fans Groups about how they are at the stage where they might well be kicked out of the EFL at the end of this season. The similarities are frightening. Do not stick your head in the sand.
We know it is not possible for everyone to change their match day routine so we will also be organising other events and media which allow everyone to feel part of the protest. This is likely to include a Digi Van showing the survey results, Flyers for a visible protest inside the ground and other calls for action.
One thing Reading fans learned is that protests could only take them so far. Fan groups need to keep together but not at the expense of allowing the club to die to keep the peace. We need support from the local and national media, The EFL, The Football Supporters Association. We need buyers to come forward now as this club is imploding.
Most of all we need the owner to sell the club.
If it comes to a fight for Wednesday’s survival let’s not leave it to everyone else. Join in.
Join The Trust