Administration still 'looms' at Sheffield Wednesday says Wilkinson

Wilkinson was speaking at Hillsborough after High Court confirmation that a winding-up petition on the cash-strapped League One outfit had been dismissed.

That came after Wednesday's board struck a deal with the Co-operative Bank on Tuesday evening, which saw the bank fund a payment of 780,000 to HM Revenue and Customs, the amount being sought under the winding-up petition. But Wilkinson warned that, while he had a strong interest in safeguarding the club as a "healthy concern" because of his personal association with Hillsborough, the threat of administration was still looming.

He said: "I am not discounting that dreaded word, because it is part of a range of options. I am a football man not a business man, but I can still read bottom lines."

Wilkinson said an investor, who he refused to name, had been poised to inject cash into the club until the weekend but pulled out on Monday, leaving the directors in a diffcult position with their bill from Revenue and Customs.

He said: "There are serious investors interested, but the most serious investors are the ones who have kept quiet. But the position of a club in administration may be more attractive than where we are now.

"I would like to say to investors there is a deadline of next Friday and get them queueing up at this table, but I can't do that. They have got to prove they have got the money and are prepared to go through the process.

"You can't force people to buy, it has to be in their time. At the moment what we have to do is focus on dealing with the current problems."

Wilkinson, who was born in Sheffield and has both played for and managed the Owls, said huge efforts had been made to ensure the club did not follow the example of others, who have gone into administration and rebuilt.

Referring to Leeds United and current chairman Ken Bates, he said: "They didn't climb straight back up did they? And Ken Bates isn't from Leeds. I and the people who have been involved in this club over the last 20 years are from Sheffield and have to deal with the Sheffield public.

"As far as we are concerned, we think the best way for this football club is the way it's going for the moment. This is a healthy concern and we have a responsibility to try and ensure that we are true to all those people who have supported us.

"And by that I don't just mean the terraces. There are many people out there who have smaller businesses than this who have supported and continue to support this club. It is our responsibility to them."

Wilkinson said the club's stress was nothing compared with what others are suffering and added: "Ask people out of work how stressful this situation is. Ask people in Pakistan. Of course it's worrying but we need to deal with the problems we face.

"There are degrees of getting out of it. For me, come next summer, seeing this club from a financial point of view wash its face and be a thriving business, that will be one degree of success."

He added: "I know the part this club plays in the community and what part it played during the closure of the steel firms and the pits. I know what this club meant to people at that time and what part we played during the miners strike. We owe it to the fans."