In gutting news for the Owls, the already struggling Sheffield Wednesday FC have been informed that they could very well be starting next season with an immediate points deduction.
From bad to worse, it seems, at the moment.
Wednesdayites have been through it all over the past few years, with unpaid debts and salaries resulting in administration, sparking protests; now relegation to the third tier and the threat of complete collapse.
And as if things weren't hard enough already, Sheffield Wednesday have now been told that they will automatically be deducted 15 points from the beginning of the 2026/67 League One campaign if creditors aren't paid in full - starting with outgoing and controversial owner, Dejphon Chansiri...
BREAKING: Sheffield Wednesday look set to start life in League One next season with a 15-point deduction, because none of the bidders currently trying to buy the club is prepared to pay £15m to the outgoing owner, Dejphon Chansiri. pic.twitter.com/UoAgIMsB4p
Chansiri has loaned over £60 million to the organisation during more than 11 years in charge, but because this money was never converted into share capital, he is the entity that the club owes the biggest amount to.
Addressing supporters in a statement back in September 2023, the 57-year-old member of the millionaire family that controls the Thai Union Group, wrote: "I will not inject any more money into the club if I am being treated unfairly.
"Those fans who create trouble [for] the club and me, and believe that they are the real owner of the club, need to be responsible for the financial matters of the club from now on."
It's fair to say that relations with the fans have far from improved since then, and they've been left even more furious following this most recent development.
At present, Chansiri must be paid at least £15m (effectively almost half of the entire organisation's total purchase price at current valuation), but none of the interested bidders has ultimately been willing to do so thus far.
However, the Arise Capital Partners LLC consortium - led by David Storch and son Michael, as well as Tom Costin - has been identified as the 'preferred' party to complete a buyout.
Newcastle United Mike Ashley was also said to be in the running to take over the club, but ultimately was unprepared to settle this fee with Chansiri, and there remain doubts over whether or not Storch is willing to either.
As for the loyal Hillsborough matchgoers, they have accused the EFL of punishing them and the club rather than the ownership and wider executive board, who have overseen this turbulent period for the historic local institution.
One person wrote underneath the post in social media: "So a club gets penalised because their owner is a piece of shit, but Man City and others just get away with it, makes sense"; many others have simply added that the pending treatment is "unfair" and targets the wrong people. What do you make of it all?
Elsewhere in the Steel City, fresh hope and a new chapter are coming to the world's oldest football club as native musician Jon McClure has been confirmed as the new chairman. Find out more down below.
Just one month after opening, Trattoria Maria in Sheffield city centre has made it onto the coveted Good Food Guide.
When it was announced last year that the masterminds behind Bench and The Pearl, two award-winning Sheffield venues, were setting their sights on opening an Italian trattoria in the city centre we couldn't believe our luck.
Maria, located on Wellington Street in the new heart of the city development, is a homage to owner Ronnie's grandmother and a nod to his southern Italian heritage.
It's a space unlike anything in the city, a small but perfectly-formed space complete with counter dining where you can watch the magic happen.
Images: The Sheff
And magic really is happening, because the food is nothing short of brilliant.
But it's not just us who think so, as Maria has got the attention of The Good Food Guide - an established guide to the very best pubs, cafes and restaurants across the UK.
Getting a spot on the guide just four weeks after opening is truly an impressive feat, here's what the guide had to say about Maria: "The quaint name (and Nonna namesake) contrasts the very urban setting of this new arrival from the team behind beloved Bench.
Images: The Sheff
"On a particularly uncharacterful street in Sheffield's 'Heart of the City' development, the exterior is all flat walls and fogged windows, while inside it's one big room which gets buzzy and loud of a weekend evening.
"There are real gems to be found among the antipasti - stracciatella and caponata with very soft focaccia for dunking or superb saffron and cuttlefish ragu arancini - while the southern Italian sunshine dominates the pastas and secondi."
Announcing the news to Instagram, Maria said: "we are delighted to announce, after just four weeks, we have been listed in the good food guide.
"we are super proud of the whole team for this achievement after such short period of time. congratulations to you all."
We couldn't have said it better ourselves, congratulations Maria and the team - an accolade very much deserved.
The Yorkshire designer who’s put together the official FIFA World Cup scarf collection
Danny Jones
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
Danny Jones -
11th March 2026 
