Deputy Editor
James Bord, a poker player who once won the WSOP Europe main event, is set to buy English soccer club Sheffield Wednesday, according to a BBC report.
Sheffield Wednesday dates to 1867. The club has been in turmoil of late. It went into administration, which essentially means it’s being managed by accountants, following former owner Dejphon Chansiri’s financial troubles. BBC reported that the club missed multiple wage payments in 2025.
The team entered administration in October, and potential buyers had the opportunity to bid. Chansiri had owned the club since 2014.
Acting administrators have selected Bord’s as the “preferred” bid, though it isn’t a done deal yet. Bord must still pass the English Football League’s Owners and Directors’ test, which isn’t a given due to his past gambling involvement.
“The decision to move forward with a preferred bidder has been taken following extensive financial, legal and forensic due diligence, supported by specialist advisors,” the club’s administrators said in a statement. “From a financial perspective, the proposed financial offer from the preferred bidder provides certainty for the Club. The consortium we intend to progress with has submitted the strongest overall proposal for the Club.”
Bord will have his work cut out for him when and if he takes over. Sheffield Wednesday has not won a league championship at any level since 1959. It currently sits with an unfathomable -9 points (due to penalties), 24th out of 24 teams in the second tier of English soccer. The season is about halfway over, so Sheffield Wednesday is nearly certain to be relegated to the third tier. It hasn’t competed in England’s top league since 1999-2000.
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James Bord’s Poker Career
Bord has accumulated $3.8 million in poker tournament cashes, according to the Card Player archives.
The most notable of those was when he topped a 346-entry field in the WSOPE main event to win £830,401 (~$1.3 million) in 2010. However, he also won €2.1 million for a fourth-place finish in the €1 Million No-Limit Hold’em Big One for One Drop Invitational.
That score is Bord’s only tournament cash in the last 10 years.
However, he has made multiple appearances on livestreamed high-stakes cash games. Most of them were on the PokerGO platform, including High Stakes Poker and No Gamble No Future. According to the tracking site Highroll Poker, Bord has netted approximately -$164K in the televised games.
Bord Not the First High-Rolling Poker Player to Own English Soccer Club
While the BBC report painted Bord’s gambling as a possible hang-up in his attempt to finalize the purchase of Sheffield Wednesday, precedent exists for a high-rolling former poker player to own an English soccer club.
Tony Bloom still owns Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Bloom has an even more extensive history in gambling than Bord. Not only does Bloom have more than 20 years of history with poker — he has also almost $4 million in recorded cashes — but he has long owned the high-stakes betting syndicate Starlizard.
That involvement has gotten Bloom embroiled in a recent scandal. An associate with the syndicate alleges that Starlizard owes him a chunk of its winnings. The situation has turned into a rather involved lawsuit, featuring an eight-figure cryptocurrency subpoena and a petty media credentials battle between Bloom and The Guardian.
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