Wednesday fan groups call for board to resign

The move has been sparked by news of a takeover bid involving former director Mick Wright, who is still owed 500,000 by the club.

If Wright's bid is supported by existing board members, fans fear this will disadvantage other interested parties including Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric and former East Stirlingshire chairman Spencer Fearn.

The Owls have debts of 30m and are desperately battling to avoid administration after the club's major creditors, the Co-Operative Bank, refused to loan the club anymore cash to pay off tax bills.

The club is due back in the High Court on December 1 to face a winding-up petition over 300,000 in unpaid VAT while a case for 1.4m in unpaid PAYE was adjourned this week until December 15.

Last night, in a statement issued jointly by fans groups, Wednesdayite, the Shareholders Association, and Time to Go, the Owls board were given 48 hours to take steps or risk fan fury.

"We have joined forces to send a clear and unequivocal message to the club's board of directors," said the statement. "You have overseen an unprecedented decline in our club. You have become personally compromised. Go now before you are responsible for the death of SWFC.

"If given the chance to succeed, current bids could see SWFC progress with new cash, new ideas and new faces at the helm. At least two parties have made offers reported as acceptable to the bank but, it seems, rejected by the loan note holders.

"Perhaps the most serious issue is the emergence of a consortium led by Mick Wright," the statement added. "Board members cannot carry out their fiduciary duty to secure the best available investment for the club if they are attempting to pursue and protect personal interests at the same time."

The statement also calls for a 'fans representative' to be allowed to sit on the board meetings, stressing that the three groups speak for a 24 per cent stake in the club's shareholding.

And the group demand a response before Monday, or they will escalate their protests "by all means open to us".

A spokesman for the Owls refused to comment.