<h3>Allen quits as Owls chief</h3> The future of Sheffield Wednesday has been plunged into doubt following the shock resignation of Chairman Dave Allen.</p> Allen resigned as Chairman and Director of Sheffield Wednesday with immediate effect at around 3pm on Friday - just six days before the club's AGM.</p> He issued the following statement at 4pm on Friday, 23 November:</p> "After much thought and careful consideration, I have decided to resign my position of Chairman and Director of SWFC. This has not been an easy decision. It has always been my passionate desire to see the club back in the Premier Division. However, recent events have really sickened me and the 'final straw that has broken the camel's back' is to realise that confidential boardroom matters have been discussed with outside parties. It is just totally unacceptable. Whilst I could deal with the matter at Board level I have decided that enough is enough. To run any business successfully you must have confidentiality in the boardroom and trust in your fellow directors.</p> "I would like to take this opportunity to wish the club well and hope that you are able to find an outside party who is prepared to invest 'mega bucks' into the business. Believe me that is just one of the things it needs.</p> "Finally I have to say that it is a sad day for me. As Chairman of the club I have put a lot of time, effort and money into getting the business right on track and I believe that I have achieved that goal. Therefore, I am sorry to be leaving but I just cannot come to terms with some of the unprofessional behaviour surrounding the business."</p> Allen, who has made no secret of his desire to sell his stake in the club for the right price, took over the reins at Hillsborough in 2003 after joining the board three years earlier.</p> He helped steer the Owls back into the Coca-Cola Championship through the play-offs in 2004/05 but has proved to be a controversial figure with fans.</p> The sacking of Paul Sturrock last year made him unpopular with supporters, and more recently tensions have grown between Allen and supporters' group Wednesdayite who own around 10% of shares in the club - which they have so far refused to sell back to the board.</p> Allen has claimed their refusal has hindered his attempts to sell the club on. At a recent press conference he referred to them as "cretins" and called another fan a "venomous bitch."</p> On Football Heaven, Allen spoke of the abuse he was receiving on match-days:</p> "When people stand at the other side of the ground telling you to F off at full blast, and you've got your two grandsons with you, it's not very nice is it. And walking over the bridge, with half a dozen fans behind you shouting 'Allen out' - and by the way, that's when we were about eighth or ninth in the League!"</p> A Wednesday statement said: The board would like to place on record their appreciation of Mr Allen's significant contribution during his chairmanship.</p> BBC Radio Sheffield spoke to Owls manager Brian Laws while he was on the team to bus to QPR. This was his reaction to the news....</p> "I'm totally shocked and taken aback. I had a meeting with the Chairman on Tuesday and there was no sign or talk of any such thing. So I really don't know what's gone on between now and Tuesday."</p> With Allen the guarantor on the clubs£26 million in debt, the financial future of the Owls has also been thrown into doubt.</p> At the time of writing, it is still unclear as to why Allen has left the club, or whether or not he's recouped the £3.5 million he has loaned the Owls.</p> Our Wednesday summariser John Pearson believes that it was the poor relationship between Allen and the fans that eventually forced him to step down:</p> <div class="float-wrapper"><div class="image width209 body position-b">"Relations between Dave Allen and supporters have reached an all-time low. I think things haven't been handled as they should have been. The PR from the club has been a bit of a disaster especially since the summer - the suing of fans and things like that shouldn't really have happened however bad the messages were. The club could have taken a higher moral ground, maybe made an example of the fans by threatening to sue them. But there's lots of things really and to be honest I don't know what reason it is."</div></div>
My uneducated guess Next week he'll sell his stake to a.n.other party who'll also reimburse his loans. He can do that now with impunity as he's no longer involved with the board because everybody and their grandmother has driven him out of the club. He's not daft, he's not going to allow £3.5 mill to disappear into the ether.
Time to strike like a Cobra at Hillsborough on Tuesday. They'll be too busy guessing on who the new owner is. Glavin-tastic.
