The BBC’s annual Price of Football study results have been broadcast today and it will come as no surprise to Owls fans to see that the cost of watching Sheffield Wednesday is one of the highest in the Championship.
The study has found that only Norwich City charge more in terms of the cheapest adult season tickets at each of the 24 clubs in the 2nd tier though some will be surprised to find that some match-day tickets are more in line with the division average.
When Dejphon Chansiri took over the club in early 2015 the Owls had a budget that saw them struggle to compete with the top half of the Championship. The new owner pledged to fund a positive turnaround of the club but made fans aware that to comply with financial stability rules he would need the support of the fans in terms of raising prices.
Over the 2 seasons since then, the investment in the Owls both on and off the pitch is clear to see. Chansiri has raised prices but has brought in a squad of the value that the club has not seen since the Premier League era at the back end of the last century. Wednesday have gone from a bottom half team to genuine promotion contenders in that time, making the play-offs in the past 2 seasons by finishing 6th and 4th respectively.
There has also been vast investment in the stadium as well, including a thorough upgrade of the playing surface, prior to which, the pitch was among one of the worst in the football league at times due to periodic drainage issues.
While prices have increased the fans have backed the new owner and their team with more than 20,000 season tickets sold for the current campaign. The raising of quality and costs has brought an increased expectation and for ticket sales to remain high the Owls will be expected to maintain a promotion challenge in what is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive divisions in European football. After another indifferent start to the season, Wednesday are currently in 11th place in the Championship, 3 points off the play-off places with 30 games to go.