Martí Cifuentes has cleared his first hurdle as Leicester manager. The former QPR coach took the time to do a lap of the King Power Stadium while his players warmed up, introducing himself to the home supporters. A late header from his substitute Wout Faes ensured that those fans went home happy – but for much of a testing opening game against Henrik Pedersen’s Sheffield Wednesday, who have had to face plenty of obstacles before a ball was even kicked this season, that looked an unlikely outcome.
For Wednesday, it was an achievement to even be here. Placed under a transfer embargo by the Football League because of late payments, they have only 15 senior first-teamers on the books and cancelled their final pre-season fixture, against Burnley, after the players refused to play. They and the staff were paid their outstanding July wages on Friday after solidarity payments from the Premier League came in.
The sold-out away section was left sparsely populated at kick-off, the vast majority of Wednesday supporters staying outside for the first five minutes in protest against the Thai owner, Dejphon Chansiri, who is yet to receive an offer for the club that matches his valuation. A banner reading “SWFC for sale – enough is enough” was left on the empty seats. Leicester’s supporters rose to applaud as the travelling fans made their way into the ground.
