Sheffield Wednesday News spoke exclusively to The 1867 Group about owner Dejphon Chansiri, the Independent Football Regulator, and much more.
The 1867 Group formed during the 2023/24 season amid ongoing frustrations among Sheffield Wednesday fans towards owner Chansiri.
They’ve since staged several protests of growing stature, with games against the likes of Birmingham City and Leeds United showcasing the growing support that fans have towards The 1867 Group.
Chansiri has earned widespread criticism for his poor running and mismanagement, with the 2023/24 season in particular seeing his popularity hit a new low.
It arguably started with the sudden exit of Darren Moore, the subsequent appointment of Xisco Munoz, and the overall poor planning in terms of transfers, contracts and so on.
Sheffield Wednesday News has now spoken exclusively to The 1867 Group about all matters Sheffield Wednesday, discussing Chansiri, and also the Football Governance Bill and the new Independent Football Regulator, which will look to protect clubs in England’s top five leagues from poor ownership among other threats.
Here’s the full transcript from our Q&A with The 1867 Group…
The 1867 Group on support from Sheffield Wednesday fans
“So there was that week where we had the protest on Tuesday against Plymouth and Leeds on Friday.
“We did put banner up against Swansea. We didn’t really do any sort of protest after that because we don’t feel well… We feel the results, obviously, with any football fans, I think we all know the generic content across all football fans is fickleness, a few good results and everything is sort of rosy again.
“Whereas we we’re not bothered whether we win, lose, draw, top of the table, we’re still going to keep doing what we’re doing.
“Obviously, it’s died off a bit because there’s some stuff going on behind the scenes, which we can’t really talk about as of yet, but that will come out in the next few weeks, I’d imagine.
“The Tuesday protest against Birmingham before. Wow. We didn’t expect that sort of reaction. We’d probably say about 85% to 90% of the stadium was covered.
“And then going into the Leeds game, we didn’t think it would get the same effect, because obviously, the form we had an uptake in form we why we were going to survive, so we thought we weren’t going to get any sort of sort of uptake in it.
“But obviously again to see it again, the same as the Birmingham game; it shows to us that there are people out there that are still support it and still believe that Chansiri isn’t the right man.
“This summer is obviously a massive, massive task for him, because he needs to back Rohl, it’s pretty obvious that he needs to back Rohl.
“So these next few weeks, I’d imagine, are pretty massive in terms of where we’re going to be this time next year.”
On having any protests planned for final games of the season
“We had stuff planned. But obviously because of the uptake in form we didn’t want to sort of disrupt or cause any sort of divide with the fan base.
“I mean, that last six games, I think everyone was all on the same page in terms of results and wanting to stay up, but we had we had some planed for, I think it had been the West Brom game. So obviously again, the uptake in form meant that it kind of took a back seat.
“We’re not going to go away. We’re still going to be here. It’s just waiting for the next sort of bombshell or mistake that he does make, which he kind of helps himself at the minute, especially with the season ticket prices.
“I don’t know why there’s 10 phases of season ticket prices every few weeks, it’s just a mental way to run a football club.”
On drawing the line between protests and good results on the pitch
“It is a good question, to be fair. I think it’s more; the more mistakes he makes, it’ll get into the press, it’ll get into the media, it’ll get sort of like national coverage.
“So if we’re winning 10 games in a row, but soon they are £1000, which way it’s going, they are going to be £1000 by the summer coming or by the time the season starts, I think it’s 800 something pounds for mine. I’m not renewing because obviously I can’t afford it anymore.
“I don’t know how we could answer it, because if we’re winning games, the fans are going to see that as a positive. But if we’re also charging £900 per season ticket, then surely you have to look at that and think, ‘right, results aside, why are we charging this much money?’
“Because it’s been like it for four, five, six years now, where we must have had the top end prices for a good number of years, but there’s been no investment in the playing side. That’s what frustrates me the most.”
On whether they think they’ve prompted change at Sheffield Wednesday
“I believe so. I don’t know if fans agree with that, but I do believe he has taken notice of his advisers, or his group that’s around him are taking notice and giving him some sort of advice going into this summer. I do think that the the protests have had an impact.
“If we didn’t do the march, I don’t think anything like this would be happening. We could have easily just sat back and moaned on social media like everybody does, but we’ve actually done something about it.
“It’s just it’s just now waiting, sitting back and waiting to see if he does fulfil his promises. It’s a massive summer.
“It’s going to be another rebuild, which seems to be the Chansiri transfer strategy, of letting players’ contracts run down and then let them go for nothing, and then somehow raking in frees and loans at the last minute. It seems to be in his DNA.”
On what Dejphon Chansiri needs to do this summer
“He needs to put a proper strategy in place. A proper transfer strategy, a proper business strategy. A proper club policy going forward.
“It’s just him that makes all the decisions, which in today’s day and age, is absolutely mind boggling. If that comes in with the regulator, he won’t get a licence for the club.
“There needs to be some sort of dialogue with fan base, the manager, the playing staff. There needs to be a proper process.
“Look at clubs like Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth to an extent; they’ve all got proper policies in place and look where they are.
“We’re struggling to stay in the division. But we’ve not been in the Premier League for nearly 25 years now.”
On the Independent Football Regulator
“We’ve spoken to guys at Reading, the guys at Bradford. We’ve spoken to many other clubs who are in support of what we’re doing.
“The regulator for me is a massive step forward in terms of football ownership. We’ve spoken to our local MP, which is Clive Betts, in terms of the regulator and what that’s going to bring. So we are massively in support of our regulator when it decides to come in.
“It’s good for the game. It’s good for safety and for futures of football clubs because if an owner’s not fit enough to own a licence, he shouldn’t be able to own the football club.”
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