Trust Statement – Hillsborough Charge

TRUST STATEMENT:

We have asked SWFC to provide clarity and reassurance to supporters urgently, following media reports this morning about the ‘charge’ placed on Hillsborough.

Recent efforts to re-build the relationship between supporters and the team via social media have been very welcome and would be maximised by openness and transparency about the Club’s off-the-field position at this potentially worrying time.

Hillsborough has been our home for 121 years and means the world to us as a fan-base. It’s a place our members have shared joy, happiness and tears with family and friends.

We’re open to hearing about the rationale for this decision, and would like to understand it with perspective and context - but without any explanation from the Club it appears to be a worrying direction of travel. We have, on the face of it, gone very quickly from owning our home and biggest asset, to selling it, and now in effect, having a mortgage.

It’s our role as a Trust to understand this development, what its implications might be, and ask questions and seek answers from the football club in an effort to alleviate our members' concerns. To that end, we have sent a series of questions to the club. Those questions and the rationale are listed below:

Ownership of the loan: Is the loan supplied directly by New Avenue Projects Limited or are they administrators for an anonymous third-party? Alternatively, has the loan been supplied by a company owned by Mr. Chansiri? If so, why has the ‘charge’ been put in the name of New Avenue Projects Limited?

Reasons for the loan: Is the loan simply a revenue-generating measure to get the club through challenging times? And was this always in the plan or is it in response to current challenges?

Future strategy: Unless the club takes a different approach in the future it will eventually run out of tangible assets (i.e. the stadium) to sell or mortgage. Are you willing to explain key aspects of the club’s strategy to regain financial sustainability once coronavirus is over? And how can supporters help on a practical basis?

Liability for the loan: Does any of the cost burden from the loan fall directly on Sheffield Wednesday football club? Or is the loan serviced entirely by the company (Sheffield 3 owned by Mr.Chansiri) that owns Hillsborough?