'We will play a key role in football's future' - newly appointed regulator the regulator's chair
Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing struggles are seen as a "serious issue" and the football regulator is seeking powers to investigate clubs in similar circumstances, its new chair David Kogan has stated.
During an extensive discussion, the regulator, who was recently selected, voiced concern towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations associated with the football team this week.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in the autumn.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a significant problem for EFL and a substantial concern for English football," Kogan told.
"The club represents one of the iconic names for football in England and recently we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be willing to sell up at their home ground, but he has not been able to secure a deal with interested parties.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the league officials in June, blocking the team from conducting any transfers or loans for the following recruitment periods, although those limitations were removed in August.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, teams facing challenges where supporters are loyal to a community organization that has existed throughout their lifetimes in many cases.
"I fully appreciate the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the followers."
Questioned about whether the authority might compel an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the regulator clarified that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to work with them.
"The final option we would consider is commence engagement with an particular organization, an particular chairman, without being in a position to cooperate with that proprietor to address the problems affecting the organization and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.
"However, realistically, when you review the record of the sport, over the past few decades there have been some owners, not many, but some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the long-term prospects."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been voicing opposition to owner Dejphon Chansiri this season
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "progressive gathering" with a "significant participation" from the grassroots to elite level.
"This position carries substantial significance, because if errors are made, if the sport makes errors, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear incredibly quickly," Kogan said.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we've got to keep it going.
"There's an enormous amount of money entering the sport and has come into football for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will continue to come into football, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Premier League Concerns
Top flight officials resisted the formation of an authority because of fears of a negative impact on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an economic entity of the top division.
"I of all people understand the worry about compromising the top flight as an elite competition of the nation. But simultaneously, if you consult with top flight officials after the recent gathering, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, actually, they have been informing us confidentially they have a considerable comfort."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he disclosed making donations to the political party in the past.
The 68-year-old contributed funds to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I've been completely open about my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
