David Storch's attempts to engage Dejphon Chansiri saved Sheffield Wednesday 15 points, says Kris Wigfield
Former Sheffield Wednesday administrator Kris Wigfield says the Owls' new owner David Storch was rewarded for trying to engage with previous owner Dejphon Chansiri, saying it was the reason why the Football League (EFL) agreed to drop a threatened 15-point deduction.
Under a League rule which has never had to be applied, clubs coming out of administration have to settle unsecured debts at 25p in the pound immediately, or 35p in the pound over three years to avoid being docked 15 points the next season. Debts to so-called "football creditors" and His Majesty's Revenue and Customs have to be paid in full.
In Wednesday's case, a points deduction on that scale would probably have killed their hopes of winning an instant return to the Championship after relegation, not only in its own right but also in affecting the quality of player they could attract.
What made that uncomfortable for the Owls was that of the £80m debt which led them to this point, £63m was owed to Thai businessman Chansiri, widely held responsible for the mess in the first place.
Plenty of supporters would have been happy to see Storch's consortium have nothing to do with the former chairman, but by at least trying to engage with Chansiri, they earned important credit with the authorities, Wigfield revealed.
"What we had to do was come up with a solution that effectively met with the EFL insolvency rules so that we could get the EFL happy that they could effectively recommend to the EFL board that we should get zero points," Wigfield, who oversaw Begbies Traynor's attempts to sell the club, told the BBC.
"We've come up with a deal that HMRC are going to get paid in full through their preferential claim, the secured creditor (New Avenue Projects, who helped fund the purchase of the then-independently owned Hillsborough stadium which also went into administration) have settled their debt, all the football creditors are getting paid in full. Mr Storch has agreed to pay the trade creditors 25p in the pound and an offer was made to Mr Chansiri that got the EFL comfortable that even though Mr Chansiri seemed to have a refusal to engage, the club had made every attempt they could to effectively abide by those rules.
"It's a terrific outcome for everybody."
Storch's investment will go well beyond what he has paid for the club, with Wigfield stressing the commitment the American made on the pitch before Saturday's 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion to not only put money into a competitive squad for next season.
"They're definitely going to invest in the infrastructure, the stadium and the training ground, so I think Wednesday fans can be pretty excited about what they're going to do over the next few years," said Wigfield, a fan himself.