'We are going to be a part of football's future' - newly appointed regulator David Kogan
Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing struggles are seen as a "major concern" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to examine team situations in similar circumstances, the newly appointed chairman the regulator has declared.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was appointed on Monday, expressed "sympathy" towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The regulator engaged with four supporter groups associated with the Championship side in recent days.
The team have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a substantial concern for English football," Kogan told.
"Wednesday stands as one of the historic institutions for English football and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will allow us to have Wednesday and comparable cases submitted for our review if they warrant scrutiny and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
Wednesday's embattled owner the current owner indicated in the summer he would be willing to sell up at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Missed wage deadlines on time in March and May resulted in restrictions being imposed by the league officials in summer, stopping Wednesday from completing any transfers or loans for the next three transfer windows, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
The regulator explained: "Our role exists to serve the Owls followers, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a regional establishment that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or been close to going to the wall, for causes separate from the followers."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, Kogan said: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we gather the evidence and know what's going on, we will."
But the regulator clarified that forcing owners to sell clubs would be considered the final option and the authority would rather to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an particular organization, an individual owner, without being able to work with that proprietor to address the challenges confronting the team and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"However, realistically, when you look back over the history of the game, over the recent generations there have been some owners, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the future."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been demonstrating against the current proprietor during the current campaign
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the oversight body this week and insisted it was a "proactive meeting" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if errors are made, if the football community fails, the significant advances achieved might evaporate rapidly," Kogan said.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a major achievement - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has come into football for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will keep flowing into the sport, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on challenges and obviously, of the immediate future."
Top Flight Apprehensions
The Premier League opposed the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the elite division's competitive balance, but the chairman responded: "I'm absolutely committed to the success and growth as an economic entity of the Premier League.
"I of all people understand the concern of undermining the Premier League as a premium product of this country. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after the recent gathering, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, actually, they have been telling us in private they have a significant confidence."
Political Connections
The chairman continues to confront a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he revealed he contributed money to the political party in the past.
The 68-year-old provided financial support for Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that party membership ceased the day the official body endorsed my nomination," Kogan said.
"I am no longer involved in any form of political activity."
