Sheffield Wednesday owners facing £1.6m a month bill once sale is completed

An "administrator's proposal" filed on March 5 and made public on Tuesday disclosed James Bord’s consortium spent £820,000 a fortnight to keep the Owls viable before pulling out of a proposed takeover last month. American businessman David Storch has now emerged as the frontrunner to take over.

The bill for the upkeep of Hillsborough ran to more than £800,000 over the four-month period covered by the report. During that time the Owls paid wages of £3.7m – a bill reduced by the departure of players such as Barry Bannan in January.

The proposal, covering the period since the club went into administration in late October, confirms previous owner Dejphon Chansiri has claimed around £63m as his share of unsecured debts totalling £80m.

How much the next owner repays is to be decided, but £10.5m is non-negotiable to play in next season's League One, which the Owls have been relegated to, as is an administrators’ bill set to be close to £4m.

Chansiri was subsidising losses until calling in administrators to run both the club and his separate company which owned its Hillsborough home. Both will be sold as a package.

Storch, one of five bidders before Christmas, is understood to have put forward the most money since the process reopened.

His initial outlay will quickly be dwarfed by running costs after it was revealed Bord's consortium paid £3.69m over nine weeks just to keep the club running.

They withdrew their bid, which the administrators valued at £47.8m, last month, claiming a report on the state of Hillsborough led them to believe it was too high.

Years of under-investment have left Hillsborough and the club's Middlewood Road training ground dated and not befitting their status. "Commercial sensitivity" meant the administrators did not value either in their proposal.

They did, however, reveal they had to pay £295,572 for essential work to keep the North Stand’s safety certificate as part of £379,485 of repairs and maintenance costs added to £254,621 running costs.

The company wage bill during the period was £3,732,595, with the vast majority to players. £2.1m was paid to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in tax liabilities, and £95,785 in pension contributions.

Reducing wages was partly behind a transfer window which saw Bannan, Bailey Cadamateri and Yisa Alao sold for £1.5m, Harry Amass and Ethan Horvath return from loans, and Yan Valery and Killian Barrett loaned out. Football-related running costs were £0.7m.

Football creditors are owed £2,625,628 and must be paid in full for the Owls to be allowed into next season's League One.

Likewise £343,727 owed to HMRC, who have made a secondary preferential claim for nearly £1.6m. The administrators are challenging HMRC's claim £463,000 for wages before their time should be treated as an administration expense.

Unless a loan of £7.5m to allow Chansiri to buy Hillsborough is repaid in full, the Owls could lose control of the stadium.

If the new owners fail to immediately pay 25p in the pound to other unsecured creditors, Wednesday will be docked 15 points next season.

Administrators Begbies Traynor estimate the final figure for their services will be around £3.9m.

They have reported to the Department for Business on the conduct of the directors and “shadow or de facto directors" over the past three years but say there are "several matters requiring further clarification".

The proposal also highlighted the financial importance of fans, with over £1m made at the club shop and Sheffield Christmas markets, plus donations of £68,919.

Nearly £2.5m was made from ticketing, including over £400,000 from their cut of away tickets.

Over £5m was received from the Football League, including £2.67m in Premier League solidarity funding.