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Who the named consortium figures were
BBC Sport’s January 2026 reporting identified three members of the consortium. Its December 2025 coverage had said the group’s identity was still unclear, so the later naming is the reference point for who was publicly involved. The reporting does not give a full roster of every financial backer or each person’s contribution, so the names below describe public roles, not a funding breakdown.
James Bord
BBC Sport described Bord as a former professional poker player who founded Short Circuit Science, a sports analytics business. Its December 2025 report said he had interests in other football clubs, including Córdoba CF and Septemvri Sofia, through Park Bench SFC LLC, and that he co-owned Dunfermline Athletic with Evan Sofer. These are background associations reported by the BBC. They do not show that those clubs or their owners funded the Sheffield Wednesday bid.
Felix Romer
BBC Sport described Romer as a German-born entrepreneur with business interests in online consumer sectors, including fintech, gambling and software. It reported that he was a shareholder in Short Circuit Science alongside Bord. The reports do not establish the size or structure of his stake in the Wednesday bid.
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Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil
BBC Sport named Bin Jamil as the consortium’s chief executive and as the group CEO of Short Circuit Science, and reported his board roles at Dunfermline and Córdoba. The BBC attributed to reported information the description of him as a member of the Jordanian royal family. Treat that description as a claim from the report, not a verified status.
What the bid involved
The figures reported around the bid are useful for understanding how serious the commitment was, but each one carries a qualification that matters.
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- £47.8 million: the value of the proposed takeover, as reported by BBC Sport in February 2026.
- £2.5 million: a non-refundable deposit that BBC Sport reported the administrators received from the Bord group before it was selected as preferred bidder on 24 December 2025.
- Over £4 million: the amount the consortium said it had spent helping to run the club over the preceding two months, as quoted in BBC Sport’s February 2026 report. This is the consortium’s own figure and has not been independently audited.
- About £1 million a month: BBC Sport’s reported rate at which the consortium was funding the club’s losses during the preferred-bidder period. It is a press-reported estimate, not a published accounts figure.
Why the bid was withdrawn
On 25 February 2026, BBC Sport reported that the consortium had withdrawn from the £47.8 million takeover. Its statement said: “To all the long-suffering fans of this great club, it is with the greatest regret that we have decided not to pursue our bid to become your new custodians.” The statement, released as an organisation rather than by a named individual, blamed the club’s historic mishandling and underinvestment and said the bid could no longer be justified.
BBC Sport also reported two further points. The consortium considered the club’s valuation lower than its offer and could not negotiate it down under the agreement it had signed. Documentation was also still outstanding during the financial and background checks. These are the explanations given by the consortium and reported by the BBC, not a finding from an independent inquiry.
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The funding question was live at the same time. In January 2026, The Guardian reported that the English Football League was examining the bid’s funding sources and the owners’ and directors’ test. Bidders’ advisers said the bid was privately funded. That review had not produced a final public finding in the reporting available, and it did not publish a complete list of backers or their contributions.
Who bought the club instead
The Bord-led group did not acquire Sheffield Wednesday. The English Football League confirmed on 2 May 2026 that the club had entered new ownership under Arise Capital Partners LLC, a consortium led by David Storch with Michael Storch and Tom Costin, and was no longer regarded as in administration. The joint administrators, BTG, confirmed completion of the sale on 5 May 2026. The two groups should be kept separate: the Storch-led consortium was associated with the successful acquisition, not the withdrawn bid.
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| Item | Withdrawn bidder (Bord-led group) | Completed buyer (Arise Capital Partners LLC) |
|---|---|---|
| Named figures | James Bord, Felix Romer, Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil | David Storch (lead), Michael Storch, Tom Costin |
| Role in the process | Preferred bidder from 24 December 2025 | Completed transfer of the club’s assets |
| Headline value | £47.8 million (BBC Sport, February 2026) | Not stated in the reporting reviewed |
| Deposit | £2.5 million, non-refundable (BBC Sport) | Not stated in the reporting reviewed |
| Outcome | Withdrew on 25 February 2026 | Confirmed by the EFL on 2 May 2026; sale completed 5 May 2026 (BTG) |
What is and is not established
The public record answers two questions clearly: who the named consortium figures were, and who eventually owned the club. It does not answer several others, and it would be a mistake to fill those gaps by inference.
- The three named figures were publicly identified as the principal members of the Bord-led consortium. No further public roster of financial backers has been established.
- Reported business links, including Short Circuit Science and the football club interests, are not evidence of who funded the Sheffield Wednesday bid or in what amounts.
- No individual contribution schedule has been published. Figures such as the £4 million of claimed spending come from the consortium’s own statements.
- The EFL’s funding and owners’ and directors’ review was reported as ongoing in January 2026. The reporting reviewed does not show a final adverse finding.
- The withdrawal reasons are the consortium’s and BBC Sport’s account, not an adjudicated cause.
For a reader asking who the investors were, the answer is the three named figures and their reported roles. For a reader asking whether the bid was funded and by whom, the public record does not provide a complete answer.
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