Geoff Sheard = Sean Lewis in disguise?

<div class="headline" id="ds-headline"><h1><font size="2" /></h1><h1><font size="2">Exclusive: Owls fans shut out ex-directors</font></h1></div><div class="viewarticlepanel"><div class="multiimageon" id="MainMultiImage"><div id="MainImageDiv">Owls: Share terms to preclude future sale to ex-directors</div><div class="offinline" id="ThumbDiv"><div class="thumb"><div class="off noprint" id="divGalleryLink"><a href="javascript:%20ViewGallery();" /></div>By Richard Hercock </div></div></div></div><div class="ds-firstpara" id="ds-firstpara">PLANS for a &pound;50m takeover at Sheffield Wednesday look set to rule out any prospect of a return to power for former Owls chairman Dave Allen.</div><div class="va-bodytext" id="va-bodytext">Allen and fans' group Wednesdayite have been at loggerheads since the former Owls Trust supported Ken Bates's failed Hillsborough takeover.

Millionaire Allen &ndash; who resigned three months ago after a boardroom squabble &ndash; even blamed Wednesdayite for another failed buy-out by Paul Gregg last year and unsuccessfully tried to buy back their 10 per cent shareholding for &pound;500,000, shares which he had originally gifted the group.

Now Wednesdayite have been promised a &pound;1m-plus offer for their shares by a consortium, fronted by Lancashire businessman Geoff Sheard, and the Yorkshire Post understands one of the conditions attached to any sale would be the 10 per cent stake could not be then sold on to Allen or any of his former boardroom colleagues at a future date.

Allen has been linked with a return to football at Chesterfield, but Wednesdayite's move is aimed at drawing a line under the previous regime and moving the club forward under new leadership.

Sources close to the consortium last night indicated their solicitors had been instructed to put in formal offers for the 40 per cent shares held by former Owls chairman Allen, former director Keith Addy, remaining boardroom member Geoff Hulley, plus fans group Wednesdayite.

Wednesday officials were last night staying tight-lipped about the ongoing talks.

Owls chief executive Kaven Walker said: &quot;No formal offer has been made so we cannot comment. There is nothing to put to the shareholders as yet.&quot;

But David Coupe, chairman of the club's independent Shareholders Association, said: &quot;If it doesn't happen I will be devastated. Sheffield Wednesday has got to move forward. If we are going to compete we have got to be structured like the other big clubs.&quot;

If the takeover is successful, it seems likely current directors Bob Grierson, Ashley Carson and Hulley would step aside.

The consortium have yet to go public with their plans, but as in any takeover, the role of the manager would come under scrutiny, although it would be harsh on Brian Laws not to be given a chance to operate without the strict financial boundaries which have seen him forced to sell star names like Glenn Whelan and Chris Brunt.

&quot;If everything goes to plan, it's an amazing proposition for Sheffield Wednesday,&quot; said Owls captain Lee Bullen, one of the longest-serving players at Hillsborough. &quot;Everybody wants the best for the club, the potential is there for all to see.

&quot;All the foundations are in place, all it needs is just a bit of financial backing.&quot;

Bullen, who will today have a scan on a hamstring injury which is likely to rule him out for a month, told the BBC last night: &quot;As a player, and a Wednesday supporter &ndash; which I am now &ndash; I just want to see the right thing done. I experienced (the play-off at) Cardiff and that shows the true potential of the club. It's a club that would grace the Premier League.&quot;

Wednesdayite's rules mean any offer for their shares would activate an emergency meeting, before members were asked to vote on whether to accept.

Chairman Darryl Keys said it would then be likely they would invite Sheard and the consortium &ndash; who are rumoured to have overseas funding &ndash; to address members and outline their plans for the future.

&quot;Our intention is to offer the group a chance to meet members about selling the shares,&quot; said Keys, who added they had expected the share offer to arrive yesterday, but understood it was in the hands of the consortium's solicitors.

Any money received for the shares would be used by Wednesdayite for community schemes such as schools football coaching or projects to the benefit of the football club.

Sheard &ndash; who in his spare time is an opening batsman for his local Lancashire cricket side, Caton &ndash; has a background in football kit manufacturing and worked with Preston North End.

Such has been the interest in Sheard, the humble cricket club's website has been inundated with visitrs from intrigued Owls fans. They only had 100 hits in the month of January, yet in the 24 hours since the story about the takeover deal broke, around 3,000 fans have logged in trying to glean information about the mystery buyer.
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be fantastic if it got to time for him to sign paper for the take over and he turned round ans said he was a reds fan and he was only pillocking them