Fans applaud a protest, Barry Bannan was sent off, Leicester come from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the last Championship opener.
Sheffield Wednesday supporters didn’t take their seats at kick-off and instead head into the game on the 5th minute, in protest against owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The sold out away end soon filled up, fans arriving in their masses to a round of applause in support from the Leicester fans too.
Leicester City fans applaud Sheffield Wednesday supporters in solidarity amid the club’s ongoing financial struggles, as fans hold off entering the stadium in protest. pic.twitter.com/gz7rpMwB0F
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
Barry Bannan red card after this actionpic.twitter.com/XKtSjQvq70
— Goals Xtra (@GoalsXtra) August 10, 2025
• Jun 3 – Club charged with multiple breaches of EFL regulations relating to payment obligations
• Jun 5 – Club placed under registration embargo
• Jun 18 – Club placed under 3-window fee restriction ban
• Jun 26 – Owner Dejphon Chansiri confirmed he’s willing to sell the club
• Jun 27 – Club placed under further embargo over amounts owed to HMRC
• Jun 30 – Players & staff not paid on time for 3rd time in 4 months
• Jul 3 – Club placed under triple transfer embargo following non-payment of transfer fees
• Jul 17 – Josh Windass & Michael Smith both leave club by mutual consent
• Jul 17 – Embargoes related to HMRC payments and player/staff wages lifted as debts settled
• Jul 29 – Danny Rohl leaves club by mutual consent
• Jul 30 – Hillsborough’s North Stand banned from opening due to safety concerns
• Jul 30 – Players not paid on time for 4th time in 5 months
• Aug 2 – Friendly v Burnley cancelled as players refuse to play
And it’s been going on a lot further before June 2025…
9 minutes in and nearly an opener for Wednesday, when a long throw in to the box was headed to Chalobah, took a touch, then sent a which hit the post.
The Owls went ahead on 26 minutes, winning it high up, got it out to Valery, who produced a cutback then found Nathaniel Chalobah, his effort takes a deflection off Skipp and into the back of the net.
Leicester found the equaliser on 54 minutes, a free-kick somehow finding Jannik Vestergaard, who sets himself himself free and levels the scoreline.
Some question whether it was offside. Harry Winks ahead of play and made an attempt at the ball before it found Vestergaard. No VAR to work that one out.
On 72 minutes, Bannan was booked for either committing a foul or dissent. Then moments later got a red.
Courtney Sweetman-Kirk on Sky Sports Football: “I understand why Bannan is frustrated. He gets to the ball first, but it’s about the follow through that goes over the ball into the thigh.”
Then on 87 minutes, a corner came in, Wout Faes was there to put the hosts ahead with a bullet header.
“It’s been hard to pick the boys up”
Barry Bannan explains what the last few weeks have been like for the Sheffield Wednesday players pic.twitter.com/coyegNtaSS
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
“For the culture part, we are very strong” 💪
Henrik Pedersen says the Sheffield Wednesday players have been fantastic despite the turmoil at the club. pic.twitter.com/OCwqrJbpxM
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes on Sheffield Wednesday’s struggles and how it will impact the Foxes’ game:
“Sheffield Wednesday are a big club and obviously we hear things and see it in the media, but my full focus is on Leicester.
“We always respect the position of teams, especially in the situation they are in, we don’t want to lose our focus.
“We just need to respect them and be humble, and a lot of the time these adversities create big commitment from the players.
“So, I am expecting a challenging game and a difficult game because of the situation they are going through at the moment.”
Due to safety concerns Sheffield Wednesday fans were unable to enter the stadium 🏟️
The concourse can hold 1000 standing fans at a time, with those inside staging a protest against the club by standing, preventing remaining fans from entering until it concludes ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mAFp52cH5y
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 10, 2025
Leicester striker Jordan Ayew told Sky Sports:
“When you’re in the Championship, this is so important [to score from set pieces].
“[It’s] given us the three points.
“First half wasn’t the best, the first game is always difficult but we got the three points and that’s what’s important.
“This is how we want to see this stadium every weekend, [with] everyone happy.”
Harry Winks said to Sky Sports: “[We’ve done] A lot of work on set pieces.
“We practice most days on it, it’s something the manager said he wants to improve on.
“It’s an important part of the game so to get two goals from them was important today.
“It’s still early in the season so a lot can change, a lot can happen, but the most important thing was to get the three points.”
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen told Sky Sports: “With all they have been through the last weeks, to deliver such a great performance today I’m so proud of the boys.
“We played with a big confidence in the beginning. We were really well prepared.
“It’s very frustrating [to lose by conceding two set-piece goals because, of course, they created chances after we were one man down but the performance from the boys was fantastic today.
On losing Nathaniel Chalobah to injury and Barry Bannan to suspension: “We don’t have biggest squad in the world and with Barry and Nate out we are [left with] 13 senior players.”
Leicester head coach Marti Cifuentes told Sky Sports: “The second half was stronger than the first one.
“We knew this would be a tough game. It showed mental resiliance in the players that we want to push in the games.
“We had to improve some things from a tactical point of view, the first half was slow.
On Harry Winks: “Winks is a strong player and he did really well for the team.
“In my opinion, their goalkeeper was the best player and that shows that maybe we could have scored more goals.
🎥 The gaffer reflects on today’s game.#swfc pic.twitter.com/7UaXYwnWb1
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) August 10, 2025
“I’m very, very proud of the performance.”
Henrik Pedersen expresses pride in his players after a challenging few months. pic.twitter.com/Tbh5urfteU
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
“They can’t just lie down and be rolled over” 💪
Ryan Lowe says Sheffield Wednesday’s defeat to Leicester won’t define their season. pic.twitter.com/zTgxrcDFZY
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
“I saw a lot of positives today, especially the mentality” 💪
Marti Cifuentes speaks about the progress he saw from his Leicester side after they got off to a winning start 🦊 pic.twitter.com/Yb7YYPMbFE
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 10, 2025
Here’s how Twitter users reacted as fans applaud the protest, Bannan gets sent off, and Leicester come from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday…
@TomJubb1867: So proud of them, they had me dreaming 1-0 up at half time
@racecourserambl: Thought that was really positive for you, well-done and keep up the protests to get your club back 👏👏👏Pierce Charles was really good today too, what a talent
@bcafcwin: As a neutral your players are an absolute credit to your club, deserved at least a point today. Hope Chansiri is ousted quickly and you can get back on your feet
@tommyuto: So proud of the boys, 14 vs 10 is impossible
@cjdecorators: Well done ref. Man of the match performance missing an offside goal and a ridiculous red card for baz. So proud of the lads for that effort and deserved so much more
@Danhemstock: Unlucky boys, solid effort. Also, chansiri out
@18671867swfc: gutted. no one expected a win though, or even a draw, we’ve shown we can compete, and if their first goal was correctly ruled out, who knows what could’ve happened. proud of the boys. come on Wednesday 💙🦉
@NTTJA0: We all expected a hammering, never happened. The players showed they’re not going to feel sorry for themselves and roll over.
@Jacobrobz20: Been a decent game from us, yes we’ve lost, we have 14 senior players, red card, injuries, they can bring on the likes of winks, feas and we have absolutely no one, be proud of the performance tbh
@IChambers82: Unlucky again played so well, Charles won’t be here long
@cooper2903: Proud of the boys. Can feel very hard done to. Not a second yellow in my opinion and no excuse for missing an offside from a dead ball
@tomosuto_: proud of every single one of you, lads. up the owls.
@DanJamesHaywood: Result was always irrelevant today under the circumstances, respect to every player that put on the shirt and gave 100%. DEJPHON CHANSIRI GET OUT OF OUR CLUB.
