Sheffield Wednesday broker deal to avoid administration

Sheffield Wednesday have been saved from administration after reaching an agreement with their bank over tax owed to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

The Owls were due at the High Court on Wednesday over a £1.1m unpaid bill.

But the Co-operative Bank agreed to secure the League One club's immediate future after HMRC agreed to withdraw their winding-up petitions.

The south Yorkshire club also survived a winding-up order in July over a £550,000 amount owed to the taxman.

That debt had doubled to the current outstanding balance, and there were growing fears that the 143-year-old club might not be so fortunate on this occasion.

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However, the agreement with the Co-operative Bank means the league leaders will avoid being deducted 10 points by the Football League for entering administration.

Administration might also have impacted the club's ambitions to host World Cup matches in 2018, should England win their bid to stage the tournament.

Wednesday, a top flight force for the majority of the 1980s and 1990s, were relegated from the Championship last season.

The club estimates this has already lost them more than 20% of last year's income.