News reporter compares how Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt with

News reporter Sophy Ridge goes viral as she compares how Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt with when it comes to punishments.

Ridge spoke of Chelsea’s £10.75 million fine for over 100 historical breaches, including secret agent payments during big transfers from 2011 to 2018, which saw no points deduction handed out.

In contrast, her Sheffield Wednesday have been faced with an 18-point deduction in the 2025/26 Championship season after entering administration and missing payments, which led to the earliest EFL relegation in February.

Fans have backed Sophy’s view of unequal treatment between big Premier League clubs and smaller EFL sides, however others note that there are differences in rules and co-operation.

Chelsea have been given a suspended one-year transfer ban and fined £10.75m after admitting historical breaches of Premier League rules

Sheffield Wednesday fan @SophyRidgeSky reflects on how the punishment compares to the 18-point deduction received by her team this season pic.twitter.com/lw5lt8pEAZ

— Ridge & Frost (@RidgeandFrost) March 17, 2026

Things could get a lot worse for Sheffield Wednesday 😬 pic.twitter.com/NFpRmHwHyh

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 17, 2026

Transcribed with the help of TurboScribe!

She said: “We wanted to talk a little bit about football because the Premier League has issued its largest ever fine.

“It’s charging Chelsea more than £10 million for making secret payments related to transfers between 2011 and 2018.

“They’ve also been given a suspended first team transfer ban and an academy transfer ban.”

Wilfred Frost: “Now many are questioning what this could mean for Manchester City. Could they face a huge punishment for their 115 charges?

“The club admitted making £47 million in secret transfer payments to unregistered agents and third parties between 2011 and 2018.”

Sophy Ridge: “Nice save there by the way. Don’t want to be sued by Manchester City.”

Wilfred Frost: “Decent lawyers they’ve got over there as well. Just to clarify obviously that time period, 2011 to 2018, so this was during the Abramovich era and it was under the previous set of rules, not the current PSR rules, the profit sustainability rules that apply today.”

Sophy Ridge: “Now at the risk of angering Chelsea fans, including our lovely podcast producer who’s a Chelsea fan who we’re all great fans of, £10 million, a suspended transfer ban, no sporting sanctions, despite something that clearly would have given them a sporting advantage.

“As a Sheffield Wednesday fan, you just look at the difference I think in how bigger clubs and smaller clubs are treated.

“Luton Town, 2008, 10-point deduction. Sheffield Wednesday, 18-point deduction in this current year, on its knees, which means that we’re the only club in English Football League history to be relegated in February, trying desperately to get some kind of owner, some kind of future for a club that is at risk of going under.

“And then what we have, we’re learning that we’re in line for a 15-point deduction next season as well, so how attractive is that going to be genuinely for an owner that might be looking at back-to-back relegations?”

Wilfred Frost: “Yeah, and I think the Sheffield Wednesday example really highlights the extent to which if an owner makes an error off the pitch, the punishment can be very pronounced for the fans on the pitch, which particularly when the ownership then changes feels disproportionate.

“I think as well, you need to just look at the Premier League itself. Last season, Everton and Nottingham Forest got docked points, and I think all the fans kind of got behind the idea initially of, should we have some rules to cap the people right at the top with bottomless pockets just spending to deliver trophies?

“But it wasn’t really intended to punish teams who spend, spend a bit more than maybe they’ve planned, but then fail to deliver on the pitch.

“Competition on the pitch, even if you miss out on it, shouldn’t be punished, and that’s what sort of happened to Everton and Forest.

“So on every level, highlighted again today by this Chelsea fine being so small, you don’t think these rules are really working?”

Sophy Ridge: “Yeah, well, I couldn’t agree more, Wilf.”

Wilfred Frost: “By the way, on that note, Arsenal, you know, I’m obviously biassed here, we seem to be able to always buy whoever we want to buy, and so I do think it sort of almost empowers the most successful teams to keep spending in a way that it was meant to balance it out.”

Sophy Ridge: “Yeah, exactly. The pyramid is so important to football and, you know, the smaller clubs as well, not that Sheffield Wednesday is a small club, by the way, big club, but small teams, you know, really, really struggling with some of this too.”

Interesting that in the Everton points deduction verdict the Premier League said “A financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty” and that “the requirements of deterrence, vindication of compliant clubs, and the protection of… pic.twitter.com/65Ahj5cSO7

— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) March 17, 2026

Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust release EFL’s insolvency policy in fight for club’s survival

CHELSEA STATEMENT:

Chelsea Football Club is pleased to confirm that the club has reached a settlement with the Premier League in relation to historical regulatory matters that were self-reported by the club in 2022.

As previously announced, the club voluntarily and proactively disclosed to all applicable regulators potential historical rule breaches, including incomplete financial reporting that took place over a decade ago.

During an extensive Premier League investigation, the club proactively disclosed many thousands of documents. Also, when requests for information were made by the Premier League, the club promptly provided comprehensive responses and facilitated all lines of inquiry to support a complex and extremely thorough process.

Furthermore, during the investigation, additional evidence was provided to the club by a third party regarding potential breaches of Premier League rules committed by a former employee in a small number of historical academy transactions. This information was immediately and proactively self-reported to the Premier League.

The club wishes to make clear that following robust financial analysis by the Premier League, it was concluded that “in no scenario would the club have exceeded the maximum allowable loss of £105 million over the three-year assessment period in the Rules.” Accordingly there is no scenario in which the club could have been in breach of the applicable limits in the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules during the applicable seasons historically.

From the outset of this process, the club has treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators. The club welcomes the recognition from the Premier League of its “exceptional cooperation” and that “without those voluntary disclosures and the act of self-reporting, a number of the Premier League rule breaches may never have come to the attention of the League”.

The club accepts the terms of the settlement in full, details of which have been published on the Premier League website. For clarity, the nine-month restriction on registering Academy players applies immediately, but only to Academy players who have previously been registered with another League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months. It does not apply to current Chelsea players, international players or players who are applying for their first registration at Under 9.

We are pleased that the matter is now concluded.

For full details of the terms of the settlement agreement please refer to the Premier League website here.

Here’s how fans reacted as a news reporter compares how Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt with…

@Kieenoo: They said in Everton’s case, a financial fine for clubs owned by billionaires wasn’t a deterrent. Go figure!

@andrewbrown5: Thank you for highlighting the issue, and it’s not just the – 15 pts to come, but also a transfer embargo, wage cap, it just feels like we are being constantly kicked because of our previous owner, by the very people you’d think would want to protect clubs and fans.

@loyalpiggy1000: Chelsea spend 47m illegally. Win trophies galore. Deemed to have had no sporting advantage. Everton overspend by 19m. Win nothing. Deemed to have had sporting advantage over other clubs and deducted points. Twice. Tell me this league isn’t corrupt lol.

@MattOwl29: Keep on highlighting Sophy how wrong this is 🦉💙#swfc

@Jasonowl15: Only way Weds will have any chance of arguing against this extra -15, is having people in the media really highlighting the unfairness of it all… with the hope of public pressure on the EFL getting them to change their minds. Keep it up Sophy 👍

@stu_woj: Being a Wrexham supporter we know exactly how you feel. Everything is in favour of the bigger clubs. I went to Hillsborough for the first time this season and Sheffield Wednesday are a massive club that should not be in the position that they are. Fans deserve better.

@CitizenSuburbia: Football Governance Bill was a missed opportunity to bring in a regulator with teeth. The game is out of control – we can clearly see it – and those supposed to govern it are part of the problem, not the solution.

@arighttweet: That’s why the Premier League don’t want to do anything to Manchester City because they’re more bothered about losing them out of the premiership which will reduce advertising and everything else that comes with it for the Premier League. It’s fixed and I am a Wednesday fan..

@Hadenwoof: It was NEVER about balancing it was always about protection of the cartel

@SnellGeoff: Its a disgrace that fans suffer due to the corrupt actions of owners who dont actually want the club to win like Wednesday, but as a fan who put money in buckets to save the ground, Chelsea have not broken the PSR rules.. do I think its fair, no do I think we were treated diff…no

@LeechSteve: This is not a rant Sophie. It is a well structured argument that Chelsea have got away with one and it should not be allowed. The Premier League should be brought to task!