I own one of the oldest football clubs in the world – and am the planet’s biggest producer of canned tuna
THERE is something fishy going on at Sheffield Wednesday – and not just on the pitch.
The Owls, one of the world’s oldest football clubs founded in 1867, earned promotion back into the Championship in dramatic fashion at the end of last season.
GettyDejphon Chansiri is the owner and chairman of Sheffield Wednesday[/caption]
AlamyThai Union Frozen owns popular brand John West[/caption]
But owner Dejphon Chansiri oversaw the shock exit of Darren Moore and arrival of Xisco Munoz this summer.
The change has not produced the results expected – with the club joint-bottom of the league with no wins and one point from the opening five games of the 2023-24 season.
But Chansiri, 55, will be hoping there is a dramatic turnaround before the campaign fin-ishes and Wednesday can scale their way up the table.
That is because as well as getting his fish fingers on the Hillsborough side as owner in 2015, Chansiri is also part of the family that owns the world’s biggest producer of canned tuna.
His dad Kraisorn teamed up with best friend Cheng Niruttinanon to set up Thai Union Frozen in 1977.
The pair branched out to incorporate shrimp, sardines, mackerel, and salmon as well as other frozen seafood.
TUF is the umbrella company that owns the popular John West brand and even branched out to include pet food in 2010.
Now what was once a small business is now a global superpower worth more than £4.1billion.
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Kraisorn, 88, is the TUF chairman while eldest son Thiraphong, 57, is president and CEO – although Dejphon does not hold an official title within the company but remains a “connected” person.
The company employs around 50,000 workers across the world, with the HQ based in the port province of Samut Sakhon.
But back at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday fans are hoping this season can go swimmingly with Chansiri at the wheel.
Because they really do not want to get trapped in the net of relegation – or else they will be caught hook, line, and sinker on their way back down to League One.
