Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

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Sheffield Wednesday
Full name	Sheffield Wednesday Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Owls
Founded	September 4, 1867
Ground	Hillsborough Stadium Sheffield
Capacity	39,859
Chairman	Dave Allen
Manager	Brian Laws
League	The Championship
2005-06	Championship, 19th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club (often abbreviated as SWFC), nicknamed The Owls, is one of the oldest football clubs in the England; this season they play in the Football League. Based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, Sheffield Wednesday's chief rivals are Sheffield United F.C. with whom they play in the Steel City Derby.

As of 2006, The Owls have won four league titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup, but their League Cup triumph (secured in 1991) is their only major trophy since World War II. They did reach both domestic cup finals in 1993, but lost 2-1 to Arsenal each time.

Sheffield Wednesday currently play in the Football League Championship . Home games are played at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, which had staged numerous FA Cup semi-finals prior to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Into professionalism 1.3 Post-war turmoil 1.4 Modern highs and lows 1.5 Name and nicknames 1.6 Colours 1.7 Grounds 1.8 Hillsborough disaster 1.9 Support 1.10 Fanzines 1.11 Rivalry 1.12 Crest and mascots 1.13 Honours 2 Managers and players 2.1 Notable managers 2.2 Current first-team squad 2.3 Out on loan 3 Records 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links 6.1 Supporters' clubs and associations 6.2 Unofficial news sites

[edit] History

Main article: History of Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

[edit] Early years

The club were initially a cricket team formed in 1820, named The Wednesday Cricket Club. The footballing side of the club was established to keep the team together and fit during the winter months, after a meeting on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867 at the Adelphi Hotel, Sheffield; they played their first match against the Mechanics on 19 October the same year.^[1]

From an early stage it became apparent that football would soon come to eclipse the cricketing side of the club. On 1 February 1868 Wednesday played their first competitive football match as they entered the Cromwell Cup, a four-team competition for newly formed clubs. They went on to win the cup, beating the Garrick Club 1-0 after extra time in the final at Bramall Lane.^[2]

During the 1870s Charles Clegg joined Wednesday. This would start a relationship that would last the rest of his life eventually becoming the club's chairman. He would also become president and chairman of the Football Association and become known as the "Napoleon of Football".^[3] In 1876 they acquired Scot James Lang. Although he wasn't employed by the club, he was given a job by a member of the Sheffield Wednesday board that had no formal duties. He is now acknowledged as the first professional football player in England.^[4]

The 1880s saw two major events that radically changed the face of the club. In 1882 the cricket and football clubs parted ways;^[5] the cricket club would later go out of existence in 1925. The football club turned professional in 1887 after pressure from players threatening to defect to other clubs. Sheffield Wednesday won their first game as a professional club against the meachnics by 3 goal and 4 rouges to nil.

[edit] Into professionalism

The move to professionalism led to the team leaving Bramall Lane, which took a share of the ticket revenue, and building a new ground at Olive Grove. In 1889 the club became founder members of the Football Alliance, of which they were the first champions in a season where they also reached the 1890 FA Cup Final, losing 6-1 to Blackburn Rovers at the Kennington Oval. Despite finishing the following season bottom of the Alliance, they were eventually elected to the expanded Football League in 1892. They won the FA Cup for the first time in 1896, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Crystal Palace.

Due to an expansion of the local railway lines, the club were told that they would have to find a new ground for the 1899-1900 season. After a difficult search the club finally bought some land in the village of Owlerton, which at the time was several miles outside the city boundaries. Construction of a new stadium (now known as Hillsborough Stadium) was completed within months and the club was secured for the next century. In a strong decade Wednesday won the league twice in the 1902-03 and 1903-04 seasons and the FA Cup again in 1907, beating Everton, again at Crystal Palace by 2 goals to 1. After this the club went through a relatively fallow period for another two decades.

The team were almost relegated in the 1928-29 season, but with 17 points in the last 10 matches they pulled off a great escape, rising from bottom to 14th. Wednesday went on to win the league title the following season (1929-30), which started a run that would see the team finishing lower than third only once until 1936. The period was topped off with the team winning the FA Cup for the third time in the club's history in 1935.

[edit] Post-war turmoil

The 1950s saw Wednesday unable to consistently hold on to a position in the top flight. After being promoted back up in 1950, they were relegated three times, although each time they bounced back up by winning the Second Division the following season. The decade ended on a high note with the team finally finishing in the top half of the First Division for the first time since World War II.

This led to a decade of successfully remaining in the First Division, which included a run to the FA Cup final in 1966 – notable in that Wednesday played all their ties away from home. Off the field the club was embroiled in the British betting scandal of 1964 where three of their players, Peter Swan, David Layne and Tony Kay, were accused of match fixing and betting against their own team in an away game at Ipswich Town. The three were subsequently convicted and, on release from prison, banned from football for life.^[6] The three were reprieved in the early 1970s with Swan and Layne returning to Hillsborough and though their careers were virtually over Swan at least played some league games for the Owls.

Wednesday were relegated at the end of the 1969-70 season, starting the darkest period in the club's history. After going into free-fall they dropped to the Third Division for the first time in their history and were marooned there for five seasons. The club were almost relegated to the Fourth Division in 1976, but a revival under the management of Jack Charlton saw them return to the First Division in 1984.

[edit] Modern highs and lows

Sheffield Wednesday spent the majority of the 1980s and 1990s in the top tier of English football. 1990-91 was the only season out of sixteen in a row that Wednesday spent in a lower division, but the season is best remembered by fans for Wednesday's swift return to the top flight under the management of Ron Atkinson and their League Cup victory over Manchester United to win their first major trophy for over 50 years. The 1992-93 season established Sheffield Wednesday as a top club as they visited Wembley four times during the season - a League Cup final and an FA Cup semi-final, final and replay. However Wednesday failed to win any silverware, losing to Arsenal in both League and FA Cup finals, the latter after Andy Linighan's late extra-time winner in the replay to give Arsenal the victory.

Wednesday's fortunes took a turn for the worse when a succession of managers failed to maintain this form, first David Pleat and later Danny Wilson spent small fortunes building squads that were ultimately ineffective, and the club's debts got out of control as a result.^[7] Danny Wilson was sacked in March 2000 and his assistant Peter Shreeves took temporary charge but was unable to stave off relegation. The club's flirtation with relegation continued in Division One and after yet more managerial changes Chris Turner was hired as boss and made a strong effort to rejuvenate the side. However, a failure to beat Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. in the penultimate game of the 2002-03 season condemned them to another relegation.

After failing to gain promotion the following season and a poor start to the 2004-05 Coca-Cola League One campaign, Turner was replaced by former Southampton F.C. manager Paul Sturrock. Sturrock revitalised Sheffield Wednesday's fortunes and they finished fifth in League One at the end of the 2004-05 season, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. Over 40,000 SWFC fans travelled to Cardiff to watch the Owls beat Hartlepool United 4-2 after extra time, achieving promotion to the Championship, where they have remained since.^[8] In September 2006 Sturrock was given a new contract to 2010 but a few weeks later he was sacked as he angered the chairman Dave Allen by saying the strugglng Wednesday team, that Allen had pumped his own money in so Sturrock could buy, was below par. The sacking sparked almost complete outrage from supporters and a protest was held against the chairman and board before the home game against QPR, where around 300 fans protested. This anger continued throughout the game with numerous anti-board and pro-Sturrock chants ringing loud across the ground. After the game a large number of fans gathered to continue their pre-match protest against the board outside the ground.

On Monday 6 November 2006 Brian Laws agreed a deal to become the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday, with Russ Wilcox as his assistant. ^[9]

[edit] Name and nicknames

Sheffield Wednesday are the only English League club with a day of the week in their name. The club derive their name from "The Wednesday Cricket Club", whose meetings were held on Wednesday afternoons. Wednesday was traditionally the day that the local steel workers who formed the club took their half-day off to play sports. The only other football club in the United Kingdom with a day of the week in the name is Abergavenny Thursdays, a minor Welsh club.

The club were formally known as "The Wednesday Football Club" until 1929, when the club was officially renamed "Sheffield Wednesday Football Club" under the stewardship of manager Bob Brown.^[10] However the name Sheffield Wednesday dates back as far as 1883: the former ground at Olive Grove had the name Sheffield Wednesday painted on the stand roof.^[1]

Wednesday's original nickname was "The Blades", a common name for Sheffield clubs during the 19th century due to the city's links to the cutlery industry and now the nickname of their long-term rivals Sheffield United. At the start of the 20th century when a player presented them with an owl mascot to honour their stadium at Owlerton, adjacent to Hillsborough, the club became known as "The Owls".^[11]

[edit] Colours

Since its founding the club has played their home games in blue and white shirts, traditionally in vertical stripes. However this has not always been the case and there have been variations upon the theme. A monochrome photograph from 1874-75 shows the Wednesday team in plain dark shirts.^[12], while the 1871 "Rules of the Sheffield Football Association" listed the Wednesday club colours as blue and white hoops.^[13] A quartered blue and white design was used in 1887 and a blue shirt with white sleeves between 1965 and 1973.^[14] This design would have received greater notoriety had Wednesday not worn their away kit for all of their games in the 1966 FA Cup run, when all of their ties were drawn away. Given the option in the final of wearing their first strip they chose the away strip for luck but Everton managed to claw back a 2-0 deficit after 54 minutes and eventually won the game 3-2.

There is a superstition among many older Wednesday fans that the team tends to have a poor season when they abandon the traditional evenly spaced blue and white stripe designs in favour of some broad stripe or narrow stripe design. However in an age of marketing-driven decisions, the team only reverts to the familiar style every so often.

Wednesday have often favoured black shorts or, more recently, blue. There have been times where Wednesday have opted to play in white shorts, sometimes to minimise colour clashes with the opposing team. The socks were invariably blue and white hoops but these too have gone through changes including blue with a white roll over top, all blue and all white.

The away strip has changed regularly over the years although an all yellow strip has been used for many of the recent seasons in the club's history. Traditionally white was the second choice for many teams, including Wednesday. Other colours used for away kits in previous years include black, silver, green and orange. Wednesday have always avoided red as an alternative colour but for years had the players' numbers in red on the first-choice shirt backs, which was not easy to discern against blue and white stripes.

The current home strip consists of blue and white vertical stripes with black shorts and black socks. The change strip (used for away or cup fixtures where there is a clash of colours) is all yellow with blue trim. The goalkeeper's home strip is all gold with black trim; the change strip is dark grey with yellow trim.

[edit] Grounds

Originally, Wednesday played matches at High Field, where Highfield Library is now located but moved several times before adopting a permanent ground. Other locations included Heeley and Hunter's Bar. Major matches would be played Sheaf House or Bramall Lane, before Sheffield United made it their home ground.^[5]

Sheffield Wednesday's first permanent home ground was at Olive Grove, a site on Queen's Road originally leased from the Duke of Norfolk. The first game at Olive Grove was a 4-4 draw with Blackburn Rovers on 12 September 1887. Extensions to the adjacent railway forced the club to move in 1899, when work began on Hillsborough Stadium at Owlerton, to the northwest of the city. The first game at Hillsborough was played on 2 September 1899 and ended in a 5-1 win for Wednesday over Chesterfield. The stadium was originally named Owlerton Stadium but in 1914 Owlerton became part of the parliamentary constituency of Hillsborough and the ground took on its current name.^[15]

[edit] Hillsborough disaster

Main article: Hillsborough disaster

On 15 April 1989 Hillsborough was the site of Britain's worst ever stadium disaster. Wednesday were not directly involved in the match; Hillsborough was hosting an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death after the terraces at the Leppings Lane end of the ground became overcrowded.

In the Taylor Report, the result of the official inquiry into the disaster, Sheffield Wednesday were criticised for the low number of turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end and the poor quality of the crush barriers on the terraces there. However, the report concluded that the root cause of the disaster was the failure of local police to adequately manage the crowds. The police failed to direct fans away from already-full central pens; these pens had an official capacity of 2,000, which should have been reduced to 1,600 as the crush barriers did not conform to the Health & Safety Executive's Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds 1986. It is estimated that the number of people in these pens shortly after kick off at 3.00pm was over 3,000, causing the fatal crush.^[16][17]

The Taylor Report gave 76 recommendations designed to improve safety at football matches in Britain. The most noticeable of these was the gradual replacement of terraces with seated areas in all grounds by the end of the 20th century.^[18] A memorial to the victims of the disaster stands outside Hillsborough's South Stand, near the main entrance on Parkside Road.

[edit] Support

Wednesday have enjoyed good support despite their recent decline in fortunes. They had the highest average attendance during both seasons in Division Two/League One ^[19] and continued the trend when returning to the Championship with the highest attendances in that division.^[20] At the 2005 playoff final they took over 40,000 fans to the Millenium Stadium.^[21]

Their most famous fan is Paul Gregory. Known to many as "Tango" or "Tango Man" due to his similarity to a character appearing in advertisements for the eponymous soft drink in the 1990s, he takes his shirt off for every match.^[22] He achieved national fame during the 90s appearing on The Big Breakfast and The Sunday Show. Another famous Wednesday institution was the Wednesday Band, a brass band that played during matches. Although unpopular amongst many rival fans (and some home fans),^[23] they have released several records and have been invited to regularly attend England matches.^[24] They were often banned from away grounds and have now suffered the same fate at home.

Supporters groups include Wednesdayite, an independent football supporters organisation which owns over 10% of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club and The London Owls, an active supporters club for Wednesday fans living in London and South East England.

[edit] Fanzines

Sheffield Wednesday have had a large variety of fanzines over the years; examples include Just Another Wednesday, Out of the Blue, Spitting Feathers, Boddle, A View From The East Bank, Cheat! and War of the Monster Trucks, which acquired its name from the programme that Yorkshire Television elected to show instead of the celebrations after the 1991 League Cup victory.^[25]

[edit] Rivalry

Wednesday's main rivals are city neighbours Sheffield United. Other rivals include Rotherham United, Barnsley, Leeds United and to a lesser extent Chesterfield, Doncaster Rovers, Hull City and Huddersfield Town.^[26] As part of a poll in 2004, Wednesday were seen as the fifth most rivaled club in England, with Sheffield United, Rotherham United and Barnsley consider The Owls as their top rivals. Matches between Wednesday and United are nicknamed Steel City derbies (as opposed to Sheffield derbies, which can be between any two Sheffield teams) and are usually the highlight of the season for both sets of fans. Famous matches include The Boxing Day Massacre, a Football League Third Division match which took place at Hillsborough on 26 December 1979. A record Third Division crowd of 49,309 fans watched Wednesday beat United 4-0 and the game has become part of Sheffield Wednesday folklore, even inspiring a song.^[23]

The two teams also met at Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final match on 3 April 1993. The match was scheduled to take place at Elland Road but due to pressure from fans and the sheer number of supporters wishing to see the game the Football Association decided to switch the game to Wembley and 75,365 fans made the trip down to London to watch the match. Wednesday took the lead through a spectacular Chris Waddle free kick before United forced extra time courtesy of a goal from veteran striker Alan Cork, despite Wednesday completely dominating the game. Mark Bright eventually scored the goal that secured victory for Wednesday and earned the Owls bragging rights until the next meeting.^[27]

Former Wednesday players Alan Quinn and Leigh Bromby became the first players to play for both sides in a league derby when they lined up for United in the December 2005 game. Quinn's winning goal in this match made him the first player to score for both teams in league derbies, having scored Wednesday's goal in their 1-3 defeat at Bramall Lane in 2003.

[edit] Crest and mascots

Since their move to Owlerton the owl has become a theme that has run throughout the club. The original club crest was introduced in 1956^[28]and consisted of a shield showing a traditionally drawn owl perched on a branch. The White Rose of York was depicted below the branch alluding to the home county of Yorkshire and the sheaves of Sheffield (Sheaf field) were shown at either side of the owl's head. The club's Latin motto, Consilio et Animis, was displayed beneath the shield.^[29] This translates into English as "By Wisdom and Courage".^[30]

The crest was changed in 1970 to a minimalist version that shows a stylised owl with a large round head and eyes perched on the letters S.W.F.C. Various different colours were used on this badge, regularly changing with the kit design. The predominant colours however were black and yellow. This version remained in use throughout the 1970s and 1980s before being replaced in 1995.^[28]

The new crest reverted to a similar design to the original crest. It again featured a traditionally drawn owl perched on a branch although the design of both had changed. The sheaves were replaced by a stylised 'SWFC' logo that had been in use on club merchandise for several years prior to the introduction of the new crest. The Yorkshire Rose was moved to above the owl's head to make way for the words 'Sheffield Wednesday'. The word 'Hillsborough' was also curved around the top of the design. The club motto was absent on the new design. The crest was encased in a new shape of shield. This crest remained in use for only a few years, during which several versions were used with different colouration including a white crest with blue stripes down either side and the colouring of the detail inverted.

The current crest was introduced in 1999. It reverted to the 1970s minimalist version, however the shield from the previous crest was kept and it now features the year of establishment below the owl. These changes were made to create a more 'sophisticated image'. The most recent change was the addition of a copyright symbol in 2002.^[29]

In 1967, to coincide with the centenary, the club introduced a mascot, known as Ozzie Owl.^[28] He was subsequently joined by Ollie Owl and both appeared at every home game up until 2006. A third owl, Bazz Owl, was introduced in 1997. For the start of the 2006-07 season, Ozzie, Ollie and Bazz were replaced by a new mascot, named Barney Owl.^[31]

[edit] Honours

Honour	Year(s)
Cromwell Cup Winners	1867
Football Alliance Champions	1890
FA Cup Winners	1896, 1907, 1935
Football League Second Division Champions	1900, 1926, 1952, 1956, 1959
Football League First Division Champions	1903, 1904, 1929, 1930
Sheriff of London Charity Shield	1905
FA Charity Shield	1935
Football League Cup Winners	1991
Football League One Play-off Winners	2005

[edit] Managers and players

[edit] Notable managers

As of 15 August 2006.^[32] Only managers with over 200 games in charge are included. For the complete list see Sheffield Wednesday F.C. staff.

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	L	D	Win%
Arthur Dickinson		1 August 1891	31 May 1920	919	393	338	188	42.27%
Bob Brown		1 June 1920	1 December 1933	600	266	199	135	44.33%
Eric Taylor		1 April 1942	31 July 1958	539	196	215	128	36.36%
Jack Charlton		8 October 1977	27 May 1983	269	105	77	87	39.03%
Howard Wilkinson		24 June 1983	10 October 1988	255	114	73	68	44.70%
Trevor Francis		7 June 1991	20 May 1995	214	88	58	68	41.12%

[edit] Current first-team squad

Main article: Sheffield Wednesday F.C. squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Mark Crossley (on loan from Fulham) 2 DF Lee Bullen 3 DF Peter Gilbert 4 MF Kenny Lunt 5 DF Graham Coughlan (captain) 6 MF Glenn Whelan 7 FW Marcus Tudgay 8 MF Burton O'Brien 9 FW Steve MacLean 10 FW Deon Burton 11 MF Chris Brunt 12 MF Steve Adams 14 DF John Hills 15 MF Wade Small 16 DF Richard Wood

No. Position Player 17 MF Wayne Andrews (on loan from Coventry) 19 GK Shwan Jalal (on loan from Woking) 20 DF Frank Simek 21 DF Madjid Bougherra 22 GK Chris Adamson 23 DF Rory McArdle 25 FW Drew Talbot 27 FW Luke Boden 28 MF Dave McClements 29 GK Richard O'Donnell 31 MF Yoann Folly 32 DF Tommy Spurr 33 MF Sean McAllister 34 MF Matthew Bowman 35 MF Liam McMenamin

[edit] Out on loan

No. Position Player 26 FW Barry Corr (on loan to Bristol City) 30 FW David Graham (on loan to Bradford City)

For a list of former players, see Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players.

[edit] Records

Main article: Sheffield Wednesday F.C. records

Wednesday's biggest recorded win was a 12-0 victory over Halliwell in the first round of the FA Cup on 17 January 1891. The biggest league biggest win was against Birmingham City in Division 1 on 13 December 1930; Wednesday won 9-1. Both of these wins occurred at home.

The heaviest defeat was away from home against Aston Villa in a Division 1 match on 5 October 1912 which Wednesday lost 10-0.

The most goals scored by the club in a season was the 106 scored in the 1958-59 season. The club also accumulated their highest league points total in the same season when they racked up 88 points.

The highest home attendance was in the FA Cup fifth round on 17 February 1934. A total of 72,841 turned up to see a 2-2 draw with Manchester City. Unfortunately for Wednesday, they went on to lose the replay 2-0.

The most capped Englishman to play for the club was Ron Springett who won 33 caps while at Sheffield Wednesday. Springett also held the overall record for most capped Sheffield Wednesday player until Nigel Worthington broke the record, eventually gaining a total of 50 caps for Northern Ireland whilst at the club.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Gordon, Daniel. Blue-and-white-wizards: The Sheffield Wednesday Dream Team. ISBN 1-84018-680-1.
• Dooley, Derek, Keith Farnsworth. Dooley!: The Autobiography of a Soccer Legend. ISBN 1-874718-59-8.
• Allen, Paul, Douglas Naylor. Flying with the Owls Crime Squad. ISBN 1-84454-093-6.
• Hayes, Dean. Hillsborough Encyclopaedia, The: A-Z of Sheffield Wednesday. ISBN 1-85158-960-0.
• Brodie, Eric, Allan Troilett. Jackie Robinson Story, The. ISBN 0-9547264-2-1.
• Dickinson, Jason. One Hundred Years at Hillsborough, 2nd September 1899-1999. ISBN 1-874718-29-6.
• Johnson, Nick. Sheffield Wednesday 1867-1967. ISBN 0-7524-2720-2.
• Farnsworth, Keith. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club: A Complete Record, 1867-1987. ISBN 0-907969-25-9.
• Waring, Peter. Sheffield Wednesday Head to Head. ISBN 1-85983-417-5.
• Liversidge, Michael, Gary Mackender. Sheffield Wednesday, Illustrating the Greats. ISBN 0-9547264-5-6.
• Farnsworth, Keith. Wednesday: Every Day of the Week - An Oral History of the Owls. ISBN 1-85983-131-1.

[edit] External links

• Official Site

[edit] Supporters' clubs and associations

• Wednesdayite Supporters' trust
• The London Owls (Sheffield Wednesday London Supporters Club)

[edit] Unofficial news sites

• SheffieldWednesday.com
• Vital Football
• AnzOwls Supporters site
• Sheffield Wednesday F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
• Sheffield Wednesday News

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