Preferred consortium pull out of Sheffield Wednesday purchase

LONDON, Feb 25 : Sheffield Wednesday’s future has been thrown into doubt again after the consortium planning to buy the ailing Yorkshire club announced they were pulling out on Wednesday.

The group, fronted by professional poker player James Bord, were named as the preferred bidders by administrators Begbies Traynor on Dec. 24, and have been funding the second-tier club’s losses.

However, they say the beleaguered club’s initial valuation in excess of 32 million pounds ($43.30 million) is now too high and that they have ‘regretfully’ decided to withdraw.

The consortium paid a non-refundable deposit of 2.5 million pounds for exclusivity after the club was put into administration by much-maligned former owner Dejphon Chansiri in October after a decade in charge.

In a statement, the consortium, which includes Felix Romer and Abdullah Faisal Bin Jamil, said: “Our initial bid had constraints applied on our ability to renegotiate – which is crucial as the figure we offered is significantly higher than that justified by the findings of a lengthy due diligence process.

“We genuinely believed we could play a positive long-term role as custodians of one of the greatest clubs in English football and wanted to help guide Sheffield Wednesday towards a brighter future.

“While we leave this process with a sense of regret, our admiration for the Club and its supporters remains undiminished, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.”

Four-time English champions Wednesday have endured a season of woe after being docked 12 points for entering administration and another six points for breaches of financial regulations.

A 2-1 defeat by city rivals Sheffield United on Feb. 22 – their 10th successive loss – left Wednesday on minus seven points and condemned them to the earliest relegation in Football League history. 

They have won only one of their 33 games in the second-tier Championship this season, losing 24.

($1 = 0.7391 pounds)