On Christmas Day in 2022, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday were separated by just two points in the League One table, sitting second and third respectively. Alongside Plymouth Argyle, they were contributing to a pulsating automatic promotion race.

Three years on, Ipswich and the Owls are separated by 46 points in the Championship standings after just 22 games (21 for Wednesday). Ipswich, who have also spent a season in the Premier League during this three-year period, beat Wednesday 3-1 at Portman Road on Saturday to close the gap on second-placed Middlesbrough to five points with 24 games still to play.

For the Owls, it marked a sixth defeat in seven, meaning they will spend Christmas propping up the Championship table on -9. Never has Christmas felt this miserable in the blue and white half of the Steel City.

As documented, Wednesday and Ipswich, three years ago, were matching each other stride for stride in England’s third tier. Neither club should have ever found itself competing in League One, previously being crowned champions of England five times between them, but it felt as though they were both moving in the right direction.

Wednesday, after falling short in the play-offs in 2021/22, were attempting to escape League One’s clutches at just the second attempt, whereas Ipswich were trying to get themselves back into the Championship at the fourth time of asking after being relegated at the end of the 2018/19 season.

After Plymouth scooped the League One title, Ipswich bagged second, beating Wednesday to the second automatic promotion spot by two points. Just 12 months later, Ipswich were celebrating a second successive promotion, returning to the Premier League for the first time in over 20 years, while Wednesday avoided an immediate return to League One by the skin of their teeth.

One of the biggest attractions of the Premier League is the money that comes with it. It has paved the way for game-changing investments at Portman Road. One media colleague said of the differences between Ipswich and Wednesday: “It’s like a different world.”

The media room features partitioned desks for journalists to work at, the press conference room is a lecture theatre-type setup, featuring plush, padded seating, and the press box, featuring monitors, is huge. From a journalist’s point of view, it is a fantastic setup.

Other improvements have been made across the board, too, with a TV studio being installed above the stadium’s control room, more executive boxes being added to the West Stand and safe standing being introduced in some areas of the stadium.

Premier League requirements meant a series of changes had to be made in the summer of 2024, but none of it would have been possible without a blueprint and investment from the top. That is what has put such a massive gap between Ipswich and the Owls in such a short space of time.

Wednesday, under former owner Dejphon Chansiri, were devoid of a plan after his ambition of restoring the club to the Premier League for their 150th anniversary in 2017 failed. The introduction of short-term and long-term plans under the next ownership model will be just as important as hard cash.

Ipswich, considering they spent four seasons in League One and were in desperate need of fresh ideas after their relegation from the Championship in 2019, provide a blueprint Wednesday’s next owner(s) should look at for a source of inspiration.

Prior to Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Portman Road, Wednesday’s last trip to Suffolk was in March 2024 under former boss Danny Röhl. The Owls were thrashed that day, losing 6-0, and the German, rather than focusing on just the result in isolation, took a wider view of the respective landscapes of the two clubs, suggesting Ipswich had created something Wednesday could take inspiration from.

”We saw the big, big difference from where we are in our position and where Ipswich are,” said Röhl. “The whole picture, it starts at the facilities, the pitch, the team.

“It shows a big, big direction of where Ipswich want to go and it’s good to see.”

Ipswich, of course, have been in and out of the Premier League since Röhl made the aforementioned admission, but their long-term goal is to stabilise as a Premier League club. Parachute payments, regardless of what you think about those being distributed to teams for failing in the top flight, will go a long way to helping Ipswich trying to achieve their long-term ambition.

Saturday’s win means they are now breathing down Middlesbrough’s neck without having consistently hit top gear so far this term. But when you consider the star-studded squad Kieran McKenna has available to him, it is hardly surprising.

A quick glance down from the press box at half-time on Saturday, for example, and the sight of Jacob Greaves, Jack Clarke, Kasey McAteer and Chuba Akpom going through their warm-ups offered a stark reminder of the resources Ipswich have available to them. Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen, unfortunately, can only dream of having such luxuries.

Ipswich and Wednesday are now worlds apart, and it as a result of one club having a plan and investment and the other having no such thing. Röhl was right, and it is going to take something extraordinary for the Owls to narrow this particular gap anytime soon.