James Board: A former poker player who has been chosen as Sheffield Wednesday’s favorite showrunner

Former professional poker player James Board has been named as the favorite to take over as Sheffield Wednesday manager, BBC Sport can confirm.

The Owls have been in administration since October, ending 10 years under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri.

Officials of the struggling club announced on Wednesday that an agreement had been reached with a potential buyer.

London-born Board began his career working for gambling companies Starlizard and Smartodds before winning $4.3m (£3.18m) on the poker circuit.

He now runs data company Short Circuit Science, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) for sports analytics and was involved in a consulting role for COH Sports following its takeover of Sheffield United in the summer, although he now has no connection to the Owls’ rivals.

Under the banner of Park Bench SFC LLC, Board also owns a stake in Spanish second division club Cordoba and Bulgarian club Septimvri Sofia.

Bord, who is based in Las Vegas, has owned Dunfermline with partner Evan Soffer for about a year. He attended his first match in person at the weekend, a 3-2 home defeat to Ayr United.

At the moment, it is not clear who is part of the Bord Federation that will buy Wednesday, which is in last place in the championship table with -9 points due to discounts, or whether it will be part of Park Bench SFC LLC.

Bord’s bid still has to pass the EFL’s owners and directors test, which may have some hurdles to overcome due to his previous involvement in gambling.