EFL release delivers brutal verdict on Sheffield Wednesday as drop fears explode

The EFL has released updated squad registrations for the rest of the 2025/26 campaign, and the figures starkly underline the scale of Sheffield Wednesday’s problems.

Only 18 senior players have been named on the Owls’ registered list, which excludes under-21s. That number already includes Yan Valery, despite the defender completing a loan move to Swiss side Young Boys earlier this week.

Even before his departure is accounted for, Wednesday’s total is comfortably the lowest in the Championship. Queens Park Rangers are next with 21 players, while most clubs have registered close to the permitted maximum of 25.

The numbers offer a sobering snapshot of Wednesday’s current situation, with a depleted squad stranded at the bottom of the table and already operating on minus points. While the direction of travel has long felt inevitable, confirmation of relegation to League One could arrive within the next few fixtures.

Of the 18 senior names submitted, Valery has now exited, seven players are either sidelined or only just returning from injury, and five are loanees whose futures remain outside the club’s control. The list also omits several young players who have been fast-tracked into first-team involvement out of necessity, including Gabriel Otegbayo, Reece Johnson and Jarvis Thornton, all of whom appear on the under-21 register instead. That section also features long-term absentees such as Pierce Charles, George Brown and Ernie Weaver.

Wednesday are exploring the free-agent market in an attempt to replace Valery within the squad. Although regulations would normally allow the club to add up to eight more senior players, ongoing financial restrictions continue to severely limit their recruitment options.

The full registered squad lists are as follows:

Senior players:

Adaramola, Omotayo Daniel; Bernard, Di’Shon Joel; Chalobah, Nathaniel; Cooper, Liam David Ian; Cooper, Murphy Joseph; Heskey, Jaden Emile Tyrone; Ingelsson, Svante Ulf Ingel; Iorfa, Dominic; Kobacki, Olaf; Lowe, Jamal Akua; Lowe, Max Josef; McNeill, Charlie Martin; Nakamba, Marvelous; Ndala, Joel Tshisanga; Palmer, Liam Jordan; Ugbo, Ike Dominique; Valery, Yan; Yates, Jerry Aaron.

Under-21 contracted players:

Brown, George William; Charles, Pierce Joseph; Emery, Joseph Alfred; Evers, Harry; Fusire, Sean Sheunesu; Johnson, Reece Harry; Kamwa, Donald Junior; Leal Siqueira, Guilherme; Maltby, MacKenzie James; McGhee, Cole James; Moses, Devlan Geo; Oliver, Denny; Onukwuli, Favour; Otegbayo, Gabriel Algirdas Babatunde; Phillips, Jack James; Shipston, Rio Joel; Stretch, Logan Scott; Thornton, Jarvis Harry; Vilela De Carvalho Fernandes, Bruno Henrique; Weaver, Ernie Luke.