Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday
Full name Sheffield Wednesday Football Club
Nickname(s) The Owls
Founded 1867 as The Wednesday
Ground Hillsborough, Owlerton, Sheffield
Capacity 39,732
Owner Dejphon Chansiri
Head Coach Stuart Gray
League The Championship
2013–14 The Championship, 16th
Website Club home page

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England who play in the Championship, the second tier of the English leagues. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the third oldest in the English league.

The Wednesday, as they were known until 1929, were founding members of The Football Alliance in 1889 and its first champions. They joined The Football League three years later and were also one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992. Since joining the Football League in 1892, the club has spent most of its history in the top flight of English football but have not played at this level since being relegated in 2000. They have won four League titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup.

Since 1899, Sheffield Wednesday have played home matches at Hillsborough Stadium in the north-western suburb of Owlerton, hence their nickname The Owls.[1][2] Hillsborough is currently an all-seater ground with a capacity of 39,732.[3]

History

A cricket match at Darnall in the 1820s, a ground laid out for The Wednesday Cricket Club.
The Wednesday squad shot from 1878, in their original hooped shirts.
Leaflet advertising a Blackburn Rovers match on 12 September 1887 against 'The Wednesday' at Olive Grove.

Early years

The club was a cricket club when it formed in 1820 as The Wednesday Cricket Club (named after the day of the week when they played their matches). A meeting on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867 at the Adelphi Hotel established a footballing side to keep the team together and fit during the winter months. They played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year.[4]

It soon became apparent that football would 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.[5]

Charles Clegg joined Wednesday in the 1867, starting a relationship that would last the rest of his life and eventually lead to his becoming the club's chairman. He also became president and chairman of the Football Association and known as the "Napoleon of Football".[6] Clegg played for England in the first-ever international match, against Scotland in November 1872, thereby becoming Wednesday's first international player. In 1876 they acquired Scot James Lang. Although he was not 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.[7]

The 1880s saw two major events that radically changed the face of the club. In 1882 the cricket and football clubs parted company;[8] the cricket club ceased to exist 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 Mechanics 3–0.

Professional football

The move to professionalism took the club from Bramall Lane, which had taken a share of the ticket revenue, to the new Olive Grove.[9] 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 Kennington Oval, London. 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 was told that they would have to find a new ground for the 1899–1900 season.[8] After a difficult search the club finally bought some land in the village of Owlerton, which at the time was several miles outside the Sheffield 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 2–1, again at Crystal Palace. After this the club went through a relatively fallow period for another two decades.

The club was almost relegated in the 1927–28 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 (1928–29), which started a run that saw the team finishing lower than third only once until 1936.[9] The period was topped off with the team winning the FA Cup for the third time in the club's history in 1935.

Post-war turmoil

The 1950s saw Wednesday unable to consistently hold on to a position in the top flight and this period became known as the yo-yo years.[10] 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 the Second World War.

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. A largely ignored highlight in this period was Wednesday's achievement in the First Division in the 1960–61 season, when Tottenham Hotspur became the first club since Aston Villa in 1897 to complete the 'double' – winning the FA Cup and the league in the same season. Wednesday finished runners-up to Tottenham, beating the Spurs at Hillsborough 2–1 in November 1960, with Fantham and Griffin scoring for the Owls in front of a crowd of 53,988. Another highlight in this period, which some Owls fans regard as the greatest match ever played by the team, was a 5–4 win over reigning European Champions Manchester United at Hillsborough on 31 August 1968. The United team featured Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best in his prime. However, brilliant goalkeeping by Peter Springett and a hat-trick by Jack Whitham saw Wednesday home.

Off the field the club was embroiled in the British betting scandal of 1964 in which 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.[11] 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 was almost relegated to the Fourth Division in 1976, but a revival under the management of Jack Charlton and, after Charlton resigned in 1983, Howard Wilkinson, saw them return to the First Division in 1984.

Modern highs and lows

The Owls playing in their final Premiership away match at Arsenal, May 2000. A 3–3 draw.

Sheffield Wednesday spent the majority of the 1980s and 1990s in the top tier of English football.

On 15 April 1989, the club's stadium was the scene of one of the worst sporting tragedies ever, at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, at which 96 Liverpool fans were fatally crushed in the Leppings Lane end of the stadium.[12] The tragedy resulted in many changes taking places at Hillsborough and all other leading stadiums in England, namely the requirement of all-seater stadiums[13] and the removal of perimeter fencing.[14]

The 1990–91 season was the only one 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. This League Cup triumph was the last domestic cup to be won by a club competing outside the top level of English football. The following season Wednesday finished third in the league. 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. In the FA Cup semi-finals they recorded an historic win over the city rivals Sheffield United, 2–1. 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 The Gunners the victory.

Wednesday lift the 2005 League One Playoff Trophy

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.[15] 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 in the penultimate game of the 2002–03 season condemned them to another relegation.

After narrowly avoiding yet another relegation in 2003–04 and a poor start to the 2004–05 Football League One campaign, Turner was replaced by former Southampton and Plymouth Argyle 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 Owls fans travelled to Cardiff to watch Wednesday beat Hartlepool United 4–2 after extra time in the playoff final, and return to the Championship.[16] Sturrock guided Sheffield Wednesday to Championship survival in 2005–06 but was sacked after a poor start to the 2006–07 season and replaced by Brian Laws, who led Wednesday to a 9th-place finish in the Championship after having an outside chance of reaching the play offs until the penultimate game of the season.[17]

The 2007–08 season began with Wednesday's worst ever start to a season, losing six league games in a row. Chairman Dave Allen resigned in November 2007,[18] and Wednesday avoided relegation with a win on the last day of the season.[19] The Owls improved in 2008–09 and finished in 12th place, with the best home defensive record in the division. Halfway through Sheffield Wednesday's 2009–10 season Brian Laws was sacked, and was replaced by Alan Irvine. On the last day of the season, needing a win to stay up, Wednesday drew 2–2 with Crystal Palace and were relegated to League One.[20]

Between July and November 2010, Sheffield Wednesday faced a series of winding up orders for unpaid tax and VAT bills.[21][22][23] On 29 November 2010, Milan Mandarić agreed to purchase the club. The purchase was completed after an Extraordinary General Meeting of Sheffield Wednesday's shareholders on 14 December 2010, during which 99.7% of shareholders voted to sell the company to Milan Mandarić's UK Football Investments for £1.[24] Milan Mandarić has agreed to settle the club's outstanding debts as part of the largely confidential deal.[25] As of 3 February 2011, Alan Irvine stated he had parted company with Wednesday after a crisis meeting following a 5–3 defeat by Peterborough.[26]

Gary Megson replaced Irvine as the club's manager and The Owls went on to finish 15th in League One. The following season, the Owls pushed on for promotion out of League One. But after falling behind Charlton and Sheffield United at the top of the table, and despite a thrilling 1–0 derby win over their Steel City rivals, Megson was sacked and replaced by Dave Jones. Jones went on to guide the Owls to 10 wins and 2 draws, out of the last 12 games, securing promotion to the Championship on the final day in a 2–0 home victory over Wycombe Wanderers in front of the largest Football League attendance of the season, 38,082, of which only 487 came from Wycombe.[27] Following this season the Owls struggled in the championship. However with a better run of form after Christmas, the club secured Championship safety on the final day of the season beating Middlesbrough 2–0.

Wednesday supporters celebrating on the pitch, following promotion to The Championship, on 5 May 2012

Name origins and nicknames

Sheffield Wednesday are the only English League club with a day of the week in their name. The club was initially a cricket club named The Wednesday Cricket Club after the day of the week on which they played their matches. The footballing side of the club was established to keep the team together and fit during the winter months.

The club was formerly known as "The Wednesday Football Club" until 1929, when the club was officially renamed "Sheffield Wednesday Football Club" under the stewardship of manager Robert Brown. The club is sometimes still referred to as simply 'The Wednesday'[28] or more commonly just 'Wednesday'. 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.

In the summer of 1912 a Wednesday player, George Robertson, presented the club with an owl mascot. A monkey mascot introduced some years earlier had not brought much luck even though the club stressed that they should keep their original nickname of "the Blades" (now the nickname of arch-rivals, Sheffield United). However, the club somehow failed to get their wish and the club became known as "The Owls" especially after, having placed the owl under the roof of the North stand in October, Wednesday went on to win the next four games (reference "One Hundred Years at Hillsborough" by Jason Dickenson).

In their early days, the club's nickname was The Blades, a term which was used for any sporting team from the City of Sheffield, famous the world over for its cutlery and knives. After rival team Sheffield United was created, both clubs were often called 'The Blades' until The Wednesday move to Owlerton. The popular view of the origin of the nickname is that Wednesday are known as "The Owls" because the stadium is technically in Owlerton. However, in the local pronunciation of "Owlerton" (OH-ler-ton), the first syllable rhymes with "pole", not "owl", and the mascot story suggests that this is not entirely the case.

Colours, crest and traditions

The Wednesday's home shirt of 1871. It is assumed that these were the original colours used by the team.

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,[29] while the 1871 "Rules of the Sheffield Football Association" listed the Wednesday club colours as blue and white hoops.[9] A quartered blue and white design was used in 1887 and a blue shirt with white sleeves between 1965 and 1973.[30] 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 shirt sponsors Lotto finish their contract at the end of the 2008–09 season and the new shirts are supplied by Puma with whom the club had a successful partnership in the Premier League. Home colours are the traditional shirt of blue and white stripes, coupled with black shorts and the away strip is a yellow shirt with blue accents, and yellow shorts.

Crest and mascots

The original crest
Mid-1990s crest
The minimalist crest

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[31] and consisted of a shield showing a traditionally drawn owl perched on a branch. The White Rose of York[32] 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.[31] This translates into English as "By Wisdom and Courage".[33]

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.[34]

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. Most recently the shield shape has remained but the detailed owl logo has been replaced, yet again, by the minimalist version, echoing the badge's course of history in the 1970s. The most recent change was the addition of a copyright symbol in 2002.[31]

Over the years Sheffield Wednesday have had several Owl themed matchday mascots. Originally it was Ozzie The Owl and later two further Owls, Baz & Ollie were added. All three were replaced in 2006 by Barney Owl, a similar looking owl but with more defined eyes to make it look cuter. Ozzie Owl was reintroduced as Wednesday's main mascot during the home game with Charlton Athletic on 17 January 2009. The current mascots are Ozzie and Barney Owl. In 2012, Ollie Owl also made his return to the scene, as the club announced him Mascot for the Owls work with children in the community.

Sponsorship

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1974–1977 England Umbro None
1977–1981 England Bukta
1981–1984 Crosbys Kitchen
1984–1986 England Umbro MHS Malcolm Stockdale
1986–1988 Finlux TV
1988–1990 VT Plastics
1990–1991 Asda1
1991–1992 Mr Tom2
1992–1993 Sanderson
1993–2000 Germany Puma
2000–2001 Chupa Chups
2001–2003 Italy Diadora
2003–2005 Napoleon's Casino
2005–2007 PlusNet Broadband
2007–2009 Italy Lotto
2009–2011 Germany Puma Sheffield Children's Hospital
2011–2012 Gilder Group/Volkswagen (Home)

Westfield Health (Away)

2012–2013 Gilder Group/Honda (Home)

Westfield Health (Away)

2013–2014 WANdisco (Home)

Bartercard (Away)

2014– England Sondico Azerbaijan Land of Fire

1 Asda sponsored the club for 1991 Football League Cup Final only.
2 Mr Tom was the sponsor for 2nd half of the season only.

Stadium

Past Stadiums

Originally, Wednesday played matches at Highfield, but moved several times before adopting a permanent ground. Other locations included Myrtle Road, Heeley and Hunter's Bar. Major matches were played at Sheaf House or Bramall Lane, before Sheffield United made it their home ground.[8] Sheffield Wednesday's first permanent home ground was at Olive Grove, a site near 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 to their current ground in 1899.

Hillsborough Stadium

Main article: Hillsborough Stadium

Since 1899 Wednesday have played their home games at Hillsborough Stadium in the Owlerton district of Sheffield. 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.[3] With 39,732 seats, Hillsborough has the highest capacity of stadiums in Championship, and the 12th highest in England. The club intended to increase Hillsborough's capacity to 44,825 by 2012 and 50,000 by 2016 and make several other improvements in the process, but due to England's failed World Cup bid, this is now not the case.[35]

The stadium has hosted FIFA World Cup football (1966), The 1996 European Championships (Euro 96) and 27 FA Cup Semi Finals. The Kop at Hillsborough was re-opened in 1986 by Queen Elizabeth II and was once the largest covered stand of any football stadium in Europe.[36]

The Hillsborough disaster occurred on 15 April 1989 at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death after the terraces at the Leppings Lane end of the ground became overcrowded. The following report concluded that the root cause of the disaster was the failure of local police to adequately manage the crowds.[37][38] A memorial to the victims of the disaster stands outside Hillsborough's South Stand, near the main entrance on Parkside Road.

Panorama of Hillsborough Stadium in 2009

Support

Wednesdayites at Hillsborough

For many years Sheffield Wednesday has enjoyed a good turnout of supporters despite underachievement on the pitch, however match day attendances dropped slightly for the 2010–11 season. Despite this, attendance was still high compared to other League One clubs, and even surpassed some Championship and Premier League clubs.[39] The Owls draw support from all areas of Sheffield, wider South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire & North Notts. Significant concentrations of support exist in the north of the city, areas such as Hillsborough, Stannington, Parson Cross, Ecclesfield, Chapeltown, Wisewood,Grenoside and Stocksbridge in particular.[40][41] They continued the trend when returning to the Championship with the highest attendances in that division.[42]

At the 2005 playoff final, Wednesday took over 42,000 fans to the Millennium Stadium,[43] which remains the highest number of supporters any football team has taken to the Millennium Stadium.

Famous supporters

Supporters' Groups

Sheffield Wednesday's large fan-base has lead to the creation of several supporters' groups both nationally, and internationally with the aim of bringing together Wednesdayites in separate regions and organizing match-day travel to Hillsborough, Away match transport, and hosting social events among other activities.[66]

The independent supporters organisation Wednesdayite owned over 10% of the shares in SWFC before the 2010 sale of the club.

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 over Manchester United.[67] More recently, an on-line fanzine has been set up by fan-site Owlsonline.

Rivalry

Sheffield Wednesday's main rivals are city neighbours Sheffield United. Matches between these two clubs are nicknamed Steel City derbies, so called because of the steel industry the city of Sheffield is famous for. These matches are usually the highlight of the season for both sets of supporters, and always attract large attendances.

Famous Steel City derbies 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 supporters watched Wednesday beat United 4–0, a match which became part of Sheffield Wednesday folklore, and is still sung about loudly at every game today; 'Hark now hear, The Wednesday sing, United ran away...and we will fight, forever more, because of Boxing day'

The Semi-Final Match; an FA Cup Semi-Final match which took place at Wembley on 3 April 1993. Initially, it was announced that the match was scheduled to take place at Elland Road but this was met with dismay by both sets of fans, due to the huge number of supporters wanting to see the match, after a re-think the Football Association decided to switch venue to Wembley. A crowd of 75,365 supporters made the trip down to London to watch Wednesday beat United 2–1 after extra time in a match which Wednesday dominated heavily and the scoreline belies the reality of the game. However, Wednesday went on to lose against Arsenal in the very late stages of extra time of a replay, after the first game had ended 1–1.

Of the most recent ten encounters, Wednesday have won 4 matches, whilst United have won 3. On 7 February 2009, Wednesday beat United 2–1 at Bramall Lane. This, on the back of a 1–0 victory for Wednesday at Hillsborough earlier in the season, gave Wednesday their first double over United since the 1913–14 season, a 95-year wait.

Other rivals include Leeds United, Barnsley, Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers and Chesterfield.

Honours

League

Cup

League history

Since being elected to the football League in 1892 Wednesday have spent the majority of their history in the top Level of English football (66 seasons)
35 Seasons have been spent in the second Level and only 9 seasons have been spent in the third Level. Wednesday have never played below level three since becoming a football League club.

 *After formation of the Premier League, 1992–2004, Division 1 was the 2nd Tier league, and Division 2 was the 3rd Tier league

European record

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1961–62 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup First round France Lyon 5–2 2–4 7–6
Second round Italy Roma 4–0 0–1 4–1
Quarter final Spain Barcelona 3–2 0–2 3–4
1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup First round Netherlands DOS 4–1 4–1 8–2
Second round Germany Köln 1–2 2–3 3–5
1992–93 UEFA Cup First round Luxembourg Spora Luxembourg 8–1 2–1 10–2
Second round Germany Kaiserslautern 2–2 1–3 3–5
1995–96 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group Stage Switzerland FC Basel N/A 0–1 N/A
Poland Górnik Zabrze 3–2 N/A N/A
Germany Karlsruher SC N/A 1–1 N/A
Denmark AGF Aarhus 3–1 N/A N/A

Records

Historical league position since 1892–93

Wednesday's biggest recorded win was a 12–0 victory over Halliwell in the first round of the FA Cup on 18 January 1891. The biggest league 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 accumulated their highest league points total in the 2011–12 season when they racked up 93 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. (Manchester City won the FA Cup that season)

The most capped Englishman to play for the club was goalkeeper 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.

The fastest sending off in British League football is held by Sheffield Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman – who was sent off after just 13 seconds for handling a shot from Wolverhampton's Temuri Ketsbaia outside the area during the opening weekend of 2000.[68]

The fastest shot ever recorded in the Premier League was hit by David Hirst against Arsenal at Highbury in September 1996 – Hirst hit the bar with a shot clocked at 114 miles per hour (MPH).

Former players and managers

Former players

A list of former players can be found at List of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players.

Player of the Year winners

Year Winner
1969England John Ritchie
1970England Peter Eustace
1971England Peter Grummitt
1972England John Sissons
1973Scotland Tommy Craig
1974England Mick Prendergast
1975England Eric Potts
1976England Eric Potts
1977England Chris Turner
1978England Tommy Tynan
1979Scotland Ian Porterfield
1980Wales Jeff Johnson
Year Winner
1981England Mark Smith
1982England Gary Bannister
1983England Mel Sterland
1984England Gary Shelton
1985England Imre Varadi
1986England Martin Hodge
1987England Lee Chapman
1988England Gary Megson
1989England Lawrie Madden
1990England David Hirst
1991England Nigel Pearson
1992England Phil King
Year Winner
1993England Chris Waddle
1994England Des Walker
1995England Peter Atherton
1996Belgium Marc Degryse
1997Wales Mark Pembridge
1998Italy Paolo Di Canio
1999Italy Benito Carbone
2000Sweden Niclas Alexandersson
2001Netherlands Gerald Sibon
2002Republic of Ireland Derek Geary
2003Republic of Ireland Alan Quinn
2004Democratic Republic of the Congo Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu
Year Winner
2005Scotland Steve MacLean
2006Republic of Ireland Graham Coughlan
2007Republic of Ireland Glenn Whelan
2008England Mark Beevers
2009England Marcus Tudgay
2010England Lee Grant
2011England Neil Mellor
2012Portugal José Semedo
2013England Lewis Buxton
2014Scotland Liam Palmer
2015Republic of Ireland Keiren Westwood

Notable managers

As of 15 February 2008.[69]
Only managers with over 200 games in charge are included. For the complete list see List of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers.

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

Dickinson, who was in charge for 29 years, is Wednesday's longest-serving manager, and helped establish the club during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Brown succeeded Dickinson and remained in charge for 13 years; in 1930 he secured their most recent top division league title to date.

Taylor took over during the Second World War and remained in charge until 1958, but failed to win a major trophy, even though Wednesday were in the top flight for most of his reign.

Charlton took Wednesday out of the Third Division in 1980 and in his final season (1982–83) he took them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Wilkinson succeeded Charlton in the summer of 1983 and was in charge for more than five years before he moved to Leeds United. His first season saw Wednesday gain promotion to the First Division after a 14-year exile. He guided them to a fifth-place finish in 1986, but Wednesday were unable to compete in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup due to the ban on English teams in European competitions due to the Heysel Disaster of 1985.

Francis took over as player-manager in June 1991 after Ron Atkinson (who had just guided them to Football League Cup glory and promotion to the First Division) departed to Aston Villa. He guided them to third place in the league in 1992, and earned them a UEFA Cup place. They finished seventh in the inaugural Premier League and were runners-up of the FA Cup and League Cup that year. He was sacked in 1995 after Wednesday finished 13th – their lowest standing in four years since winning promotion.

Players

As of 30 April 2015

First team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Republic of Ireland GK Keiren Westwood
2 England DF Lewis Buxton
3 England DF Joe Mattock
4 England MF Sam Hutchinson
5 Netherlands DF Glenn Loovens (captain)
6 Portugal MF Jose Semedo (vice-captain)
7 Scotland FW Stevie May
8 Scotland DF Liam Palmer
9 Austria FW Atdhe Nuhiu
10 Scotland MF Chris Maguire
13 Northern Ireland FW Caolan Lavery
15 England DF Tom Lees
17 France MF Jeremy Helan
No. Position Player
18 Guinea DF Kamil Zayatte
19 Democratic Republic of the Congo MF Jacques Maghoma
20 England MF Kieran Lee
27 Wales MF Lloyd Isgrove (on loan from Southampton)
28 Romania FW Sergiu Bus
33 Portugal MF Filipe Melo
35 France DF Claude Dielna
36 Belgium DF Marnick Vermijl
37 England MF Lewis McGugan (on loan from Watford)
43 England GK Chris Kirkland
44 Slovenia DF Dejan Kelhar
48 England FW Will Keane (on loan from Man Utd)

Development squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
— England GK Cameron Dawson
— England GK Joe Wildsmith
— England DF Brad Beatson
— England DF Will De Havilland
— England DF Matt Young
No. Position Player
— England MF Ryan Croasdale
— England MF Ryan Meadows
— England MF Jack Stobbs
— France FW Franck Betra

Academy

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
— England GK Ben Jackson
— England GK Brad McDonagh
— England DF Spencer Brown
— England DF Jack Lee
— England DF Josh Murray
— England DF Connor O'Grady
— England DF Matt Penney
— England DF Josh Stachini
— England MF Warren Clarke
— England MF Mason Duffy
No. Position Player
— England MF Connor Kirby
— England MF Jordan Lonchar
— England MF Jake Nicholson
— Scotland MF Fraser Preston
— England MF Lewis Price
— England FW Joe Cook
— England FW George Hirst
— England FW Joe Nuttall
— England FW Devante Rodney
— England FW Freddy Tracey

Coaching staff and support staff

First team

Role Name
Head coachEngland Stuart Gray
SWFC coachEngland John Deehan
SWFC coachScotland Lee Bullen
Head of goalkeepingEngland Andy Rhodes
Fitness coachEngland Andy Kalinins
Head physiotherapistEngland Paul Smith
Assistant physiotherapistEngland Kevin Mulholland
Assistant physiotherapistEngland Stephen Gilpin
MasseurEngland Ben Parker
Club doctorEngland Dr Richard Higgins
Sports physicianEngland Dr Alastair Park
Club osteopathEngland Sam Morris

Academy

Role Name
Academy managerEngland Dean Ramsdale
Head of coachingEngland Neil Thompson
Development squad head coachScotland Lee Bullen
Lead professional development phase coachEngland Steven Haslam
Professional development phase coachEngland Max Wragg
Youth academy lead coachEngland Nev Burbeary
Youth development coachEngland Ben Wilkinson
Foundation phase lead coachEngland Matt Burton
Academy coachEngland Danny Cadamarteri
Academy coachEngland David Hirst
Academy goalkeeping coachEngland Nicky Weaver
Coach developerEngland John Williams
Interim head of sports science and medicineEngland Ash Fickling
Academy physiotherapistEngland Mike Hickson
Academy lead sports scientistEngland Chris Hattersley
Academy sports scientistEngland Jordan White
Sports science internEngland Jack Green
Head of performance analysisEngland Jack Patchett
Head of recruitmentEngland Ken Ryder
Head of education and welfareEngland Dan Potts
Child protection officerEngland Richard Groves

Chairman and directors

Role Name
ChairmanThailand Dejphon Chansiri
Vice-chairmanEngland Paul Aldridge
Sporting directorEngland Adam Pearson
Sporting directorEngland Glenn Roeder
Chief operating officerEngland Paul Bell
Finance directorEngland John Redgate

References

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  2. ↑ Sheffield Wed | Club | Hillsborough | Hillsborough | Hillsborough
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Hillsborough Stadium". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Farnsworth, Keith (1995). Sheffield Football A History: Volume 1 1857–1861. Hallamshire Press. ISBN 1-874718-13-X.
  5. ↑ "The Cromwell Cup". Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
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  69. ↑ "SoccerBase".

Further reading

External links

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