Barry Bannan and Henrik Pedersen open up on the Sheffield Wednesday chaos and Frank Lampard seeks clarity on security amid protest plans.
The Owls are still grappling with significant financial turmoil, leading to unpaid wages for players and staff, with some staff members have no choice but to take bank loans in order to get by, while players, including 11 unpaid squad members, have not taken strike action despite the delays.
Bannan, speaking to The Star this week, expressed frustration over the recurring issue, now spanning seven months, which has fostered a “siege mentality” among the team.
He praised the team’s commitment to performing despite the chaos, driven by pride and a desire to be role models for their families and fans.
Bannan noted the particular hardship faced by non-playing staff, cleaners, kitmen, chefs, and others, who are struggling financially but may not voice their difficulties due to pride.
This situation deeply affects the players, who feel more concern for the staff than for their own unpaid wages.
Despite his leadership role, Bannan feels limited in resolving the issue, focusing instead on leading by example on the pitch.
The club also faces a potential points deduction, which Bannan and the team are preparing for by accumulating as many points as possible.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen to BBC Radio Sheffield: “We have 11 players who have not been paid and a lot of them have played a lot in our team this season.
“I have had individual conversations with all of them for how next week will look like (during the international break) and some will have an extra day off but it’s not a theme that players don’t want to train because they haven’t been paid.”
On the possibility of a pitch invasion, Pedersen said: “We have not spoken about it but I have heard about it.
“Of course we all understand the frustration and that there is a protest but we also really hope that it can be without risk and with safety for the fans.”
Meanwhile, Coventry manager, Frank Lampard, expressed concerns about security protocols for an upcoming match at Sheffield Wednesday, citing potential fan protests due to the financial issues, seeking clarity on safety measures for both teams amid ongoing discussions.
Heard today that a couple of members of #SWFC’s staff have had to take out bank loans to tide them over. Could be more for all I know. Can only sympathise with all those for whom this must be a huge worry – & are still doing their jobs regardless.
— Alan Biggs (@AlanBiggs1) October 2, 2025
HP: “We have a group of eleven players that haven’t been paid… I’ve had conversations with all of them.”
“It was not a theme that the players don’t want to train because they haven’t been paid.”
Henrik playing down the rumours that players will take strike action over non… pic.twitter.com/laV7IMY4Lx
— The Wednesday ’Til I Die Podcast (@WTIDPOD) October 3, 2025
Bannan said to The Star: “Obviously a captain is a leader, so when things like this happen your job changes. This isn’t the sort of thing that normal captains have to deal with. It’s as new for me as it is for others, so it’s hard to find the right and wrong way… I get that maybe it’s my job to come in and do certain things, but it’s not – my job is to try and win football games. I can’t physically do anything to solve this, all I can do is be honest and when I’m asked questions, answer them.
“It’s never nice when you receive the news, because you’re actually hoping the closer it gets to payday that that news isn’t coming. But we’re now in a position where we kind of know it’s coming before it comes – not from the club, but just because there’s no smoke without fire and we see on social media people finding things out that we don’t even know about. So we know it’s coming, but you try to tell yourself that it’s not. Breaking it to the players is hard, but it’s got to the point where it’s becoming normal – and that’s crazy, because it shouldn’t be. As a group of players we expect it, though, which really is crazy. We’re a Championship club and it shouldn’t be this way.”
“If I really wanted to get in touch with the chairman I could. In the past if I’ve needed to then he’s made time. But recently it’s felt like I don’t really need to speak to him anymore, because it’s the same answers – nothing is changing… It’s a hard one, because I know that everyone looks at me as the captain, but people sometimes forget that my job is to play football and lead by example. And that’s on the pitch.
“It’s been a long time now, seven months it’s been going on for, and we’re all in the same boat. The boys know that the answers aren’t there, they’re always the same. You just get to the point where we’ve just to sit and wait and see what happens. But at the same time we’ve got a job to do, and we’ve got to give our all for ourselves and the staff.
“I spoke after the game [on Tuesday, a day after being told they wouldn’t be paid] in the changing room and thanked them. I told them how proud I was of them – as people and to have them as my teammates. Don’t get me wrong, we could find excuses to not be at our best, and it’d be so easy to not give your all and not give your all.
“But in the huddle before the game I spoke about being role models for their kids. A lot of the boys are parents now, and I asked how they’d want their kids to react to things like this. I also spoke about who we’re representing – each other, ourselves, and the fans. And the staff on the sidelines as well. It’s kind of built up a siege mentality with the group, and I’m lucky to have a team and a changing room that respects me so much and will follow me.
“I can’t praise them enough, because I know that this isn’t a normal way of reacting to things like this – but it’s an amazing way to react. It sets you up for life, too, it makes you a stronger person – at home or on the pitch. I’m proud of every single one of them, staff included. It’s a nightmare, but it doesn’t change our jobs. When you start out in football you want to make people proud, whether it’s your family, the fans, or whoever you’re playing for. And that doesn’t change because you’re not getting paid.
“It’s hard, because you know what society is like nowadays. People don’t talk. They don’t speak out, so you’re never going to know who’s really struggling. It’s a pride kind of thing where you maybe can’t say that you’re struggling for money, so a lot of people could be bottling things up – and we don’t know. It takes a lot for people to come out and speak about that, so it can be difficult to gauge who is struggling and who’s not. Even with the players, maybe not everyone can tell me how they really feel, so there could be players as well.
“But us as players should be ok to deal with a few late payments here and there… Not that it’s acceptable, but we can get by. But these people that I’m talking about – the cleaners, the kitmen, the chefs, staff at the stadium and the club shop, it’s all different for them. They’re not in the same boat, and it’s worrying. These are the people that make football clubs, and they’ve been here for years. So it’s hard to see them struggling, and that affects us more than ourselves not getting paid.”
“It’s weird. Because when you’re at a football club and playing every week, you tend to just think you’re the same. They actually make me feel younger, to be honest. You just fit in with the people you surround yourself with, so we’ve got a lot of young kids at the minute and I don’t really feel any different. Obviously when it gets highlighted it can make you feel a bit old, but I don’t really look at it that way.
“I still feel young, I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything in my game over my career – I feel like I’ve kept most of my things, if not all of them. I’ve had some niggles, but that’s football if you’re going to put in these kinds of minutes. But no, I feel great and I’ve got four goal involvements – I just need to continue that through the season. I need to try and hit good figures, because the situation we find ourselves in at the minute is going to be difficult, and I need to be as much of a talisman as a I can. I need to try and carry the baton as captain.”
Bannan’s on facing a potential deduction: “The points deduction obviously looks like it will come. So we’re trying to just get as many points on board as we can up until that comes – or doesn’t. If it does then we’ll reassess, if it doesn’t then we’ll just try our best to stay in the league. Even without a points deduction we knew it was going to be a tough test, so points deduction or not our aim is to stay in the league. But obviously it’ll be made harder if it comes, it’s hard to think about it though because nobody knows. We just want to put ourselves in as good a place as we can.”
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Coventry City boss Frank Lampard says that he hasn’t yet had “clarity” on security protocols for Saturday’s visit to Sheffield Wednesday.
🗣️ “I’ve got a lot of sympathy with Sheffield Wednesday fans… so I understand their emotions.”
Coventry City boss Frank Lampard on the possibility of protests during tomorrow’s game at Hillsborough and his view on the situation at #SWFC — speaking to @thelornashow pic.twitter.com/5hAFWCFsct
— Rob Staton (@robstaton) October 3, 2025
“I have to think for Coventry City and my players and the things that I’m hearing about people might come on the pitch,” Lampard told BBC Radio Coventry.
“We haven’t had massive clarity in our conversations this morning on our players’ security, their players’ security, what might happen.
“Sheffield Wednesday have to deal with their end but we want that communicated to us. What are the variables that may happen, what are the consequences of what might happen because we saw Ipswich and Blackburn recently, which is still on-going. That was a natural cause, this may not be.
“I want some clarity on that, I haven’t heard much. There are conversations on-going this morning and outside of that, I’ll focus on my job of trying to get my team ready.”
