2009/10 - Paradise Lost - The year Sheffield Wednesday tried to eat itself

After the satisfactory conclusion of the the previous season it was looking like more of the same for the owls. Brian Laws was again being asked to work wonders under tight financial controls, however was able to bring in established championship players in the shape of Darren Purse and Tommy Miller - both on frees. It’s worth noting now that the squad was beginning to take a different shape with the majority of the promotion winning side, a team packed full of character, having moved on. 

The club, under Lee Strafford’s chairmanship, was looking to encourage more supporters through the doors and took the option to gift the shirt sponsorship to the children’s hospital in a move that was widely applauded. 

Preseason took in a trip to Malta for the boys. Despite my pleading I was unable to get a ticket out. 

8th August - Owls 2-2 Barnsley

An opening day tussle with our near neighbours Barnsley ended in a point apiece after Wednesday blew a two goal lead given to them by Jermaine Johnson and Michael Gray, who had signed permanently on a free from Wolves.

22nd August - Owls 4-0 Scunthorpe 

A game that lives long in the memory in our household. My sons first game saw Wednesday take on Scunthorpe United. The home side coming away with a large margin of victory. Goals from Richard Wood, Jermaine Johnson, Marcus Tudgay and Darren Potter sealed the result with Luke Varney, having returned for a second loan spell, excelling for the owls. 

18th September - Blades 3-2 Owls

A relative shock in this derby as Wednesday, who Laws had maintained a decent record against, were blown away in the first half by a rampant blades side. The highlight from our perspective was a stunning long range strike from the unpredictable Esajas as the blades put us to the sword. 

26th September - Owls 3-1 Cardiff

Goals from Esajas, Varney and Clarke saw Wednesday win our second home game of the season against a Cardiff side reduced to ten men in the second half. This victory came was a rare bright spark that was set against a dark personal period. 

29th October - Dead Wood

Owls captain Richard Wood, a homegrown product who shone during the promotion campaign rejects the offer of a new contract from Wednesday so is transfer listed. He leaves the following month to join Coventry, initially on loan. 

7th November - Owls 1-2 Coventry City

The owls went down late on to a Coventry winner after Jermaine Johnson had drawn Wednesday level. The tie is best remembered for the booing Richard Wood, who had turned down a new deal at the club, received when he came on as a late substitute. 

26th November - Recruitment - Tom Soares

Signing on an initial months loan was the rather exotic sounding Stoke City midfielder Tom Soares. Although he sounded exotic he truly wasn’t. After initially impressing Brian Laws he extended the loan spell until the end of the season, going on to make 25 appearances and scoring twice. 

28th November - Owls 0-4 West Brom

Chris Brunt received a warm welcome on his return however that was as good as it got as his new club West Brom, freshly relegated from the premier league, took apart an awful Wednesday side. I left the moment a rampant West Brom tucked away their fourth. 

5th December - Owls 0-2 Reading

New loan striker Warren Feeney came on as a substitute in a dismally disappointing defeat to fellow struggler Reading who were improving under new management. A new real low point both following Wednesday and personally. I was left very pissed, and left well before the end but it wasn’t really about the football at this time - I was struggling with my own ‘off-field’ issues and the football and ale didn’t help. I’ve heard it said that if you wrote a book of your life there’d be pages you’d be uneasy about people reading, well this period of my life would include those pages. This was truly my nadir. 

13th December - Laws Goes!

A sad day as Brian Laws was given his marching orders after a heavy defeat at Leicester and following a run of no wins in 9. The poor run was inexcusable however due to the piss poor running of the club and perilous financial situation he was dealing with both hands ties behind his back in the dark. Academy boss Sean McAuley was again asked to take the reigns on a temporary basis. 

19th December - Owls 0-2 Swansea City

In the aftermath of Brian Laws’ sacking the hoped for bounce failed to arrive as Wednesday weakly fell two goals behind inside the first half to make it five consecutive defeats. Much more improvement was needed. 

26th December - Owls 2-2 Newcastle

It’s not a win but it’s still a positive result. Wednesday grabbed a point at home against Newcastle, relegated from the premier league for the first time. It may not have been three points but the performance was considerably more positive than it had been of late, however this was now 11 games since the last victory. 

2nd January - Owls 1-2 Crystal Palace

This FA Cup tie saw Wednesday put out a second string side and weakly limp out of the competition. 

8th January - A new Alan in town! The owls appoint former Preston North End manager Alan Irvine to replace Brian Laws. 

23rd January - Owls 2-1 Peterborough 

It may only have been January but the owls sneaked the victory in this relegation six pointer with two second half goals from Marcus Tudgay. This victory made it three in a row for the owls new gaffer. Was a late surge for the play offs beyond us? 

30th Jan - Owls 2-1 Plymouth Argyle

Alan Irvine continued his recent good run with a victory over Plymouth. Two first half goals cancelled out Rory Fallon’s early strike. 

16th Feb - Owls 0-2 Doncaster

A cold Tuesday February night saw Doncaster play us off the park. They were far the better side. The dark clouds were again forming over Hillsborough as despite a decent start a number of bad habits had begun to sneak back in. 

27th Feb - More recruits - Eddie Nolan

Owls manager Alan Irvine was reunited with his former fullback Eddie Nolan who signed on loan from Preston North End until the end of the season. 

24th March - Owls 2-1 Watford

Loanees Eddie Nolan and Luke Varney (yes for a third time) we’re on the scoresheet as Wednesday recorded their first victory in five and second in nine games. Wednesday we’re in a relegation battle however given the experience and guile in the squad we should have had enough. Personally off the field thankfully things were starting to move in the right direction for myself. But the owls were still very much stuck in the mire

18th April - Owls 1-1 Blades

Wednesday’s penultimate home game of the season was the steel city derby. The game didn’t live up to the spectacle of recent fixtures. Lee Williamson snatching the blades a point after Darren Potter’s opener. Just two games to go in the relegation fight having picked up two points in the previous four games since the Watford tie. 

2nd May - Owls 2-2 Crystal Palace

Wednesday had lost our away tie in Cardiff the week before, however Palace had missed the chance to make themselves safe during the week, only drawing with West Brom. This meant the tie was a winner takes all affair. We needed to win, but a draw would be enough for the visitors. The crowds were out on a warm day in Sheffield. Everyone was anticipating another great escape from Wednesday. We may have been poor but we had a smackering in talent in the side and had players who had risen to the occasion before. Surely we wouldn’t go down again for the second time within the decade? Nobody was expecting it. The BBC even put it on as a live game such was the magnitude of events.  And then the game starts.

Familiar foe Alan Lee netted for palace on 24 minutes, but after some pressure Leon Clarke, in one of his better games of the season, equalised - then subsequently had to be substituted after breaking his toe kicking an advertising board. The pillock. He was replaced by midfield loanee Tom Soares with Tudgay pushing further forward in the reshuffle. At half time the mood was still buoyant. We were well in this tie. A Wednesday goal would raise the roof!

An hour gone and Darren Ambrose strikes. 

1-2 - Oh shit. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Wednesday then huffed and puffed, the crowd, initially flattened, did their best to rouse the boys. Francis Jeffers replaced loanee fullback Eddie Nolan after 75 minutes as Wednesday went gung-ho. 

Then hope. 88 minutes on the clock. Another scramble and captain Darren Purse taps home at the back post. 2-2 - Game on?

Sadly it was too little too late. The referee blew and we were down. Again. Facing League One football for the second time in my lifetime. Obvious cheers from the visitors in Leppings Lane, and some nobs decided to pitch invade, prompting some scuffles on the pitch. But that was it. This really did put the club in the shit. 

Listening after the game three time loanee Luke Varney did an interview where he gave his heartfelt apologies, stating he’d love to come back one day. But it wasn’t his fault, and in fairness the players just hadn’t been good enough. Had it not been for Palace receiving a ten points deduction for going into administration we would have been down weeks ago anyway. The problems had set in years ago. Sturrock and Laws were being asked to perform wonders on a shoe string budget, their best players sold off and the money not re-invested properly. The over reliance on loan players was all too clear to see too. 

We slumped away after the game. Lamenting on the failings of the club I’ll never forget that radio Sheffield decided to end the broadcast with the Oasis song ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’. Cheers for that, whichever piggy producer made that decision. Well done. 

Two weeks later Lee Strafford resigned as chairman to be replaced in the interim by former manager and Sheffield resident Howard Wilkinson, having failed to garner the support he wanted from the other members of the board. He would later lift the lid on the goings on and fall outs in a series of online releases. 

At the end of a turbulent decade the owls were changing division again. Relegated. Where do you go from here?

2008/09 - A Sheffield Double! Making steady progress

The 2008 season was one to enjoy, however for research I relied heavily on the internet as much of the season is a blur as in the pre-season my wife and I welcomed a new Wednesdayite into the family. This led to a serious shifting of priorities, with away games sporadic at best - what was once a way of life became an unlikely treat!

After a season blighted by injuries, and disruption I went into the season confident that having manoeuvred the club through choppy waters Brian Laws would be the man to continue performing miracles with the talent at his disposal. 

Unfortunately financial mismanagement continued to blight the club. Having lost key players the previous season Laws was effectively being asked to work miracles with one hand tied behind his back. The loss of Brunt and Whelan previously had freed up funds but these were being swallowed up by loan players brought into to supplement a shallow squad. 

Headline summer signings included midfielder James O’Connor and Chelsea winger Jimmy Smith, who signed on loan. 

29th July - Chesterfield 1-0 Owls

Pre-season friendly, becoming a bit of a tradition here. I was there but have no recollection. I was probably drunk.

9th August - Owls 4-1 Burnley

For the first time since leaving the top flight in 2000 the owls sat atop of the football league - given it was only after the first game! Could this be the year!?! A rampant owls side tore into Burnley, with Akpo Sodje looking particularly hot! Sadly this was only a glimpse of what would be possible, the cult like figure of Sodje who Laws just seemed to be able to fire up, as Akpo went over with a knee injury. In truth he sadly never reached these heights again, although he had moments throughout the season. It’s a shame as he could just never stay fit. 

16th September - Reading 6-0 Owls

A low point. Readings a shit place to go for a stuffing. It’s like being heckled from a corporate box. A piss poor performance front the owls. Laws’ sides had a habit of when it didn’t click it was spectacularly bad. 

17th October - The white Cafu signs

Two days prior to the first Sheffield derby of the season Laws brought Lewis Buxton in on an intial months loan from Stoke City. He would leave the club at the end of the 2014/15 season. 

19th October - Owls 1-0 Blades

Brian Laws truly had the blades’ number. All the talk in the build up was whether Sodje would be fit to face the visitors again after terrorising them the previous season - alas he only made the bench that day. Kilgallon was, in hindsight, harshly sent off for the blades in a ding-dong encounter, but the winning goal was a lovely chip by Captain Steve Watson following Paddy Kenny’s poor clearance! 

8th November - Owls 1-0 Doncaster Rovers

Leon Clarke’s first half strike was the deciding factor in this tie, but the owls had to withstand heavy pressure in order to claim the derby victory. 

3rd January - Owls 1-2 Fulham (FA Cup)

Driving home from a call out at work on a Saturday morning. Unsure whether to attend for financial reasons I heard an interview with a Fulham player on TalkSPORT being slyly derogative about the club, so thought I’d show up to give the boys the support. Fulham, still in their premier league form, were clearly a class above and strolled despite our hard work. However another thunder bastard form Tommy Spurr (becoming a bit of a habit this!) made things interesting. 

7th January - Hello Mr. Chairman

Lee Strafford appointed the clubs new Chairman, replacing Dave Allen who had resigned in December 2007. 

9th January - Micky Grey becomes an owl

Wednesday completed the initial loan signing of England capped fullback Michael Gray from Wolves. 

17th January - Owls 4-1 Charlton Athletic

Was this a sign of things to come? Wednesday thrashed bottom of the table Charlton in the first home game since the owls unveiled local entrepreneur Lee Strafford as the clubs new chairman. And who was this wonder kid Darren Potter? Scored on his debut after signing on loan from Liverpool and displayed a lovely range of passing. Marcus Tudgay plundered two goals to continue his decent form this season and Franny Jeffers even managed to bag his first goal in 12 months.     

7th February - Blades 1-2 Owls

I’m not sure my 7 month old son knew what was happening. Glued to the radio listening to the game, having palpitations every time the radio Sheffield commentator mentioned they were breaking. I mean we’d never won there in my lifetime but after stunners from Spurr and Tudgay it was more obvious that Laws had the blunts’ number! 

I sat at home and listened to this tie on the radio with my growing son. I'm not sure he understood what was going on. But at least I'll have the memory of being with him on the day Wednesday ended a 95 year Bramhall Lane hoodoo!

17th Feb - Owls 0-1 Barnsley

A defeat. At home. To the Dingles...

That never happens.

20th March - Striker Luke Varney joins on a loan deal. More on him later.

21st March - Owls 0-0 Swansea
This goaless draw made it five without a win. And two wins in 9 since the steel city derby victory. This was shaping up to be a real up and down season.

3rd May - Owls 1-0 Cardiff 

After a decent season the clubs end of season form had trailed off - 2 wins from 10 games. Cardiff travelled to Hillsborough in search of a play off place, however had been thrashed the week before 6-1 by Preston. Preston had to win and Cardiff had to lose. The pressure was all on the visitors. Cue Jermaine Johnson’s fantastic volley to clinch a fantastic victory for the owls, yet again sending the home fans happy. The result saw the club finish the season in 12th - we were stereotypical mid table mediocrity, but after the drama of the previous season I was OK with this. Brian Laws had overseen an overhaul of the squad - losing a number of key players for financial reasons, battling on through injury crisis’ and bringing through younger players, hopefully he could continue that the following season.

Off the pitch Lee Strafford has called on the community to help the club out in return for on field investment. A number of initiatives were launched including on-line ticket sales for the first time in order to encourage supporters through the door. But I was confident in the job Laws was doing for the resources he had and being still fairly young and naive I was still thinking of when we returned to the top-flight rather than if. I mean we’re Sheffield a Wednesday. I’m sure next year would be our year!

2007/08 - It’s the Draw’s that kill you...

After ending 2006/07 on a high under Brian Laws and with no international tournament to dampen spirits Wednesday (or maybe just I) went into another season with relative optimism. With a mixture of experienced heads like Lee Bullen and Deon Burton, established first team players such as Glenn Whelan, Marcus Tudgay and Chris Brunt and promising young players such as Tommy Spurr and Mark Beevers in the squad it was hopeful Laws could continue the upward trajectory initially established by Paul Sturrock and maintained in Laws first months in charge and maybe launch another bid for the play-offs. 

Leaving the club was play-off hero Steve MaClean who joined Cardiff City at the end of his contract as well as Graham Coughlan, John Hills, Steve Adams, David Graham, Barry Corr and for the second time Chris Adamson. The Owls also dipped into the transfer market before the end of August to bring in Richard Hinds, Dutch winger Ettiene Esajas, striker Akpo Sodje and England international Francis Jeffers. 

The season preparations began under disruption as floods hit the Hillsborough area in July! The pitch was left underwater and large parts of the stadium were left requiring major renovation.

The clubs usually reliable pitch was left ruined to the point where it would never truly recover. The damage caused would not aid the clubs already perilous financial position. 

24th July - Chesterfield 0-2 Owls

I have no recollection of this tie whatsoever, the only reason I know of this pre-season friendly is I have a programme from it. Also my son had been born four days prior. 

11th August - Ipswich 4-1 Owls

Any early season optimism soon evaporated following a poor opening day showing against the tractor boys. Things didn’t improve much as Chris Brunt, another play off hero, left the club to sign for West Brom five days later for a fee of around £3M. It was to be the first of many setbacks for the owls in this particular season. 

28th August - Owls 2-1 Hartlepool

After overcoming Rotherham in the League Cup first round they then faced Hartlepool United in the second round on a cool August Hillsborough evening. Most of the 8,000+ crowd will have easily forgotten this drab tie in which an extra time goal from Yoan Folly settled the tie in the hosts favour. 

22nd September - Owls 1-0 Hull

A league win - Hooray!

After starting the season with six consecutive defeats in the league a first goal for expensive summer transfer Francis Jeffers settled this nervy tie for the owls. Seven days later the owls made it two in a row with a victory over Norwich city, this time Wade Small settling the televised tie. The game coincided with Jamaican centre back Michael Johnson making his debut after joining the owls on an initial months loan, a loan that was eventually extended to three. 

21st September - Graham Kavanagh joins on loan. He goes on to play 7 games during this spell, scoring once. 

26th September - Owls 0-3 Everton The League Cup run came to an end with a defeat to top flight Everton. The visitors secured victory with goals in the second half from James McFadden (2) and Yakubu. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7008021.stm

20th October - Stoke 2-4 Owls

A great win in Stoke but completely overlooked and marred by the horrible leg break sustained by Francis Jeffers following an utterly disgusting tackle from dirty bastard Ryan Shawcross, who went on to specialise in the act. 

27th October - Owls 2-1 Blackpool

After a shaky start to the season Wednesday began a run of six unbeaten with a victory against Blackpool. Richard Hinds with his first for the club securing the victory and also winning me a rare bet! 

10th November - Owls 5-0 Southampton

A fine victory for Wednesday who thoroughly deserved the points as they rolled over a limp Southampton side

During November controversial chairman Dave Allen resigned from the club, throwing the clubs future into disarray as he had loaned the club several million pounds in previous years despite his confrontational and fractured relationship with the fans. 

26th December - Burnley 1-1 Owls

We never lose at Burnley, courtesy of a Deon Burton penalty. It’s a draw this time. 

19th January - Owls 2-0 Blades

The first Sheffield derby of the season took place a long way into it! Akpo Sodje terrorised the blades all game and Marcus Tudgay wrapped up the steel city tie in our favour! This was only our second victory in 9 games!

22nd January - Owls 1-1 Derby (FA CUP) 

An FA Cup 3rd round replay was lost on penalties to Derby, Steve Watson bagging an equaliser in the tie. 

These were the early days of the January transfer window at Championship level. I went to bed fairly late on pleased that Wednesday had retained their key players. Sadly the next day I learnt that Glenn Whelan has been sold to promotion chasing Stoke City for a pittance. He was replaced by Graham Kavanagh, who returned for his second loan spell of the season. On the same date we secured the signing of striker Enoch Showumni on a two month loan from Bristol City. The Owls had already added former Manchester United midfielder Ronnie Wallwork earlier in the month on a deal until the end of the season - he went on to play only 7 games for the club. 

8th Feb - Adam Bolder - The midfielder signed on loan from QPR until the end of the season. 

21st Feb - Ben Sahar - The Chelsea striker signed on loan. He put in some mixed performances that didn’t give much of an indication to the career that he would go onto have at clubs such as Auxerre, Espanyol and Hertha Berlin. 

11th March - Colchester 1-2 Owls

Colchester is a long drive for a midweek tie! Wednesday continued their improved recent form with a win at their fellow strugglers in the tie that had seen the end of Paul Sturrock during the previous season. 

7th March - Frank Songo’o - Cameroon winger Songo’o joined the club on a short term loan from Portsmouth. He went on to represent Zaragoza and Real Sociedad before his career petered out. 

27th March - Bartosz Slusarski - The Polish U-21 striker joined the owls on loan until the end of the season and went on to score some important goals in the battle for survival. 

29th March - Owls 1-1 Stoke

Glenn Whelan returned to his former home as his new club Stoke City chased the points in their quest for promotion. Wednesday had used the funds from his sale to bring in a number of loan players and it was Cameroonian winger Frank Songo’o’s quick feet that pinched a point for the owls in a physical clash at S6. 

1st April - Owls 1-1 Coventry 

Avoiding defeat in our previous six games looked like moving Wednesday into a fairly decent position however this drab re-arranged fixture was in the middle of what was to become a horrendous run of 8 successive draws which would drag us right into the relegation battle. 

8th April - Blades 2-2 Owls

Wednesday, not for the first time, clinched a draw from the jaws of victory squandering a two goal lead. Both of goals came from loanee Adam Bolder, as we went on to draw 2-2 in the latest steel city derby. 

14th April - Owls 1-1 Plymouth

The final game in the drawing run was the re-arranged fixture with Plymouth Argyle. Wednesday struggled to break their opponents down and clinched a point with a brilliant distance volley from Tommy Spurr. Brian Laws lamented at full time that although we were unbeaten in 9 and had suffered 1 defeat in 13 it was the draws that were killing us. With three games to go Wednesday needed some big performances to drag themselves back over the line. 

26th April - Leicester 1-3 Owls

It was all on the line for the owls in this do-or-die tie with fellow struggler's Leicester who faced the prospect of relegation to the third tier under Ian Holloway. Wednesday duly did what they had to do in their striking orange away kit with goals from Slusarski, Watson and Clarke (who’s cheeky chip clinched it) putting our destiny in our own hands, sending us in the away end into celebration, whilst pushing our host into a grim situation. Sadly Lee Bullen pulled him hamstring in the game meaning he would be unable to make one final appearance at Hillsborough the following week. 

4th May - Owls 4-1 Norwich 

Wednesday had to win to guarantee our safety and in front of a packed Hillsborough the boys duly delivered despite going behind to a Darren Huckerby strike. The owls came roaring back with goals from Deon Burton (2), Sahar and Leon Clarke. All four sides of the stadium rightly stood to applaud Norwich’s former England striker Deon Dublin when he was substituted in the final game of his long career. At the final whistle the crowd cheered with relief as despite relegation fears the owls finished a respectable 16th, the form since the turn of 2007 saw the owls lose only six of the 24 games played in - just too many of those were draws! There were some tears of joy but also some tears of sadness as Wednesday’s 2005 promotion winning captain Lee Bullen bid the club a fond farewell after the game at the expiry of his contract.

This was also to be the last tie to date in which my better half was a season ticket holder as having moved into our new home during the previous season we soon took delivery of something that would change our world and influence my match going experience and habits to this day. 

20th July - Another Wednesdayite was born

2006/07 - A Law-Man In Town

My preparations for the 2006 season began with a honeymoon to Egypt with the new Mrs. M, following our wedding that July! And the major task of house hunting began... 

Paul Sturrock set about strengthening his squad on the limited budget chairman Dave Allen made available as the club continued to struggle financially. JP McGovern, David Lucas and Craig Rocastle from the victorious play off side departed along with a number of loan players who had helped us stay up the previous season. 

Back up goalkeeper Chris Adamson was released, then re-signed after the owls were left without a senior goalkeeper for pre-season!

Noticeable signings included Kenny Lunt, Yoann Folly and Wade Small on free transfers and Algerian international Madjid Bougherra. 

The owls also solved our goalkeeping issues by loaning Liverpool’s Australian youngster Brad Jones until January. 

29th July - Owls 1-2 Boro

Wednesday rounded off pre-season un-spectacularly with a home tie against the 05/06 UEFA cup finalists Middlesbrough, managed then by future England manager Gareth Southgate in his first management role. 

8th August - Owls 0-1 Luton

After failing to find the target the owls again drew a blank in a turgid home defeat. 

19th August - Plymouth 1-2 Owls

Wednesday scored their first goals in open play as they produced a surprising result, overturning Sturrock‘s old club on their own patch

23rd August - Owls 1-4 Wrexham (League Cup)

Wet. Very very wet. Lots of young lads. But very wet. 

14th October - Owls 2-1 Barnsley

Following the Plymouth victory it took six games for the owls to register their next victory. A very poor derby tie with Barnsley. Paul Sturrock, under massive pressure, was rescued by Chris Brunt’s late strike for a patched up owls side. A strike that clearly kept the Owls promotion winning manager in a job! 

18th October - Colchester 4-0 Owls

In front of just over 5k fans a gutless Wednesday slumped to a heavy defeat. 

After a poor start to the season Paul Sturrock was then relieved of his duties. Whilst in hindsight it was probably the right time the decision only heaped more criticism of the clubs chairman and prompted an impromptu Radio Sheffield's Football Heaven special. Paul was an affable guy who clearly connected with the fan base and has always been warmly welcomed back whenever he has reason to return to Hillsborough. 

21st October - Owls 3-2 QPR

A battling performance under caretaker manager Sean McAuley saw Wednesday battle to a home victory. Marcus Tudgay’s double got him off the mark for the season. 

18th November - Coventry 3-1 Owls

The owls had appointed Scunthorpe United manager Brian Laws as Sturrock’s successor after McAuley had led the owls to a mini revival. After an opening victory at Ipswich the owls slumped to a defeat on the road - with Wednesday having two men sent off in the prowess. A week later the Brian Laws led the owls in his first home tie, a goalless draw with Cardiff City 

23rd December - Owls 3-3 Southampton 

Fans were treated to a ding-dong Christmas treat of a tie. In a battling performance Wednesday dragged themselves back from a 1-3 deficit and bagged a dramatic late late equaliser via Goalkeeper Mark Crossley, the former team mate of Laws having been signed on loan in November. Wednesday fans went into the Christmas period in high spirits with the equaliser feeling like a win, and following a decent recent run of form since Laws’ arrival. 

30th December - Barnsley 0-3 Owls

A Boxing Day victory at Stoke continued the good form before a fantastic victory at Barnsley to complete the derby double. Another loanee Wayne Andrews (a Michael Antonio-lite) opened the scoring before goals from MacLean and Brunt completed the drubbing. 

7th January - Owls 1-1 Man City (FA Cup)

Another battling performance saw Steve MacLean’s penalty hold premier league Manchester City (prior to the big-bucks takeovers) at Hillsborough. Sadly the owls went down 2-1 in the replay at City, however the tie is fondly remembered for Lee Bullen’s goal in front of the travelling Wednesdayite’s. And if only Chris Brunt hadn’t slipped in the box!

20th January - Owls 2-4 Sunderland

A mini-slump (5 games without victory) continued as a rampant Sunderland, managed by Roy Keane and gunning for an instance return to the premier league, over ran the Owls with an impressive performance.

It was a mixed January transfer window for the owls with Bougherra effectively forcing through a transfer to top flight struggler's Charlton and play off hero Drew Talbot exiting to join Luton Town. Incoming were Leon Clarke from Wolves and rapid winger Jermaine Johnson from Oldham Athletic. However a single point from the turn of 2007 until the 24th Feb saw Wednesday perched in mid table prior to a home victory over Southend United which stopped the rot. 

3rd March - Leeds 2-3 Owls

A game fondly remembered by Owls fans. A bright day, a packed away end full of ale. Tudgay ridiculously sent off. Chris Brunt chipping the keeper from miles out. Happy days! And a debut for Steve Watson having joined on loan from West Brom. 

17th March - Owls 2-2 Wolves

Unbeaten since the Southend tie and having entered a run of positive form Wednesday entertained promotion chasing Wolves and Dick McCarthy. What in the record books was a decent 2-2 doesn’t note the disgusting behaviour from said Dick, who remonstrated with every decision and was successful in getting Frank Simek sent off for a tough tackle on the touch line. 

April went by in a bit of a blur for me if I'm honest as we completed the purchase of our first home. 

28th April - Birmingham 2-0 Owls

A fantastic end of season run saw us with an outside chance of making the playoffs, however that relied on us beating promotion chasing Birmingham. Sadly despite a valiant performance late goals from Cameron Jerome and Sebastian Larsson sank the owls. 

6th May - Owls 3-2 Norwich

We signed off with a final day home win over the canaries with goals from Jermaine Johnson and Deon Burton and an own goal from Kelvin Etuhu settling the result in front of a crowd of 28,287, sending the biggest crowd since January into the summer break in a positive frame of mind.

And for anyone interested - the wedding was fantastic!