So year the new millennium came. And so did a change of division for the Wednesday following relegation from the premier league (it’s important at this point to point out that within the previous decade the owls had won a major trophy, competed in two further finals, posted premier league top half finished and competed in European competition). Hopes and expectations were high as Wednesdayites sauntered down to Hillsborough to collect their Premier Return Tickets (more on that to follow).
The trio of myself, Russell and Ashall were regularly joined by Evo and Lee for the new season where Wednesday had poached young manager Paul Jewell from then Premier League Bradford and managed to retain a group of players containing multiple expensive internationals in the form of Dutchman World Cup midfielder Wim Jonk, Gilles De Bilde, Andy Hinchcliffe and Des Walker!
However as I sat on the crumbling Saltergate terrace in the sun to soak up Wednesdays pre-season fixture at Chesterfield the feeling of all not being well began to creep in. A scratch squad of fringe players and youngsters limped lifelessly through the fixture, eventually losing 2-1. The summer transfer business remained rather uninspiring but that still didn’t dampen my excitement, it was after all the first season I had held a season ticket. I was 15 and would be travelling to games with my mates every week! What a ride this was going to be!
As I scanned the fixture list and saw footballing backwaters such as Tranmere, Crewe & Grimsby a feeling of ‘We’ll be up by Christmas’ had taken over. I mean what even were a Crewe Alexandra?
Wednesday signed off pre-season with a fixture against Dutch giants PSV further fuelling the ‘Big-Club’ feeling that permeated my young mind. Meanwhile the major summer transfer business consisted of Michele Di Piedi, an Italian who joined on a free.
13th August - Opening game - Wolves away. I think like lots of people I can remember the exact circumstances of Wednesdays fist game back in the Football League. Cheers bar, Ingoldmells, middle of my summer holiday. Sat surrounded by blue and white shirts. 13 seconds in Pressman sees red. On comes a rookie kid who didn’t even have a shirt number in the shape of Chris Stringer (whatever happened to him?). This was clearly a sign of things to come! The owls battled on with ten men for 90+ minutes and held on for credible 1-1 draw. Fuel for the fire, if we can play with ten men and still get a draw this season was going to be better than I imagined!
I soon came crashing down the following Saturday. The owls hosted Huddersfield. Me, Russel and James walked to the ground singing songs about promotion and going up. Then the game kicked off. Decent crowd, bright day. Wednesday had added to their ranks. And it was debut boy, loan fullback Simon Grayson who presented Huddersfield with their first chance in what was a torrid debut. We lost 3-2 and put in a pitiful performance. The crowd were already uneasy about the appointment of Paul Jewell, and as the games wore on it became clear that the club was in a mess!
During a wretched run Jewell continued to shape his squad (no transfer windows in those days) and oversaw the arrival of a mixture of journeymen and lower league players, to complement a youthful mix, to bulk out a squad crippled by injuries to the big name earners. Sometimes I think I didn’t give Jewell a fair crack of the whip, but then I remember he was in charge when we lost 5-0 at home to Wimbledon then 4-2 away at Stockport County! Truly heady days!
1st November - The Ekoku game. The owls hosted our city rivals in what was the first derby game I attended. It was fierce. It had it all. And it had Efan Ekoku netting an extra time winner! Walking out of the game singing about ‘Beating the Scum 2-1’. A footballing education.
The owls continued to shoot themselves in the foot, bobbing along with a string of poor results, with the next big game on the horizon!
16th December - The Steel City Derby. The first time we had met in a league game for some years. Neither side were sparkling. Paul Jewell was sent to the stand for complaining after a lad I went to school with (who was ball boy) through an extra ball on the pitch. Ian Hendon’s deflected free kick was our only bright spot in a 1-1 draw.
30th December - The Con Blatsis game. My first competitive away game outside of Sheffield. Myself and Russell took the Intercity Owl for the first, and only, time. With a backpack stuffed with pornography (I don’t remember why) we meandered our way to Huddersfield’s shiny modern McAlpine stadium to witness a shocking 0-0 draw, with mercurial Marmite figure Germans Sibon seeing red. The abiding memory of the game I have is seeing the line up and hearing the name of our loan centre half, who nobody knew we’d signed, Con Blatsis. Now he was rather forgettable in season where we must have easily used 50 players, but he went down in our circle of friends as a bye-word for ‘going on the pop’. For me easily the most obscure Wednesday player, if you’re looking for a pointless answer.
27th January - Southampton - The Dell. My first defeat on the road following Wednesday. Russell’s dad was on driving duties taking the time, Russ and James on the trip to The Dell, where an inspired James Beattie was too much for first division Wednesday. Andy Booth (back from a bizzare 4 game loan spell at Spurs) netted for the owls but I remember little more, in part due to the guy in front smoking weed all the way through the match!
13th February - Tranmere & the turning point! After a 4-1 reverse at Wimbledon Paul Jewell was sacked. I was convinced at this point we were both doomed, but could still make the play-offs with a good run! Tranmere at home. Must win. In my mind I always though Norwegian steady-eddy Trond Egil Soltvedt scored the winner, but a quick google search confirmed it was in fact that man Ekoku! 1-0. Happy valentines. The owls were on the up!
21st February - Forest away - Don't remind much about the game aside from the scenes! When Gerald Sibon drove a low shot from distance past the forest keeper for the 1-0 win. Just reward for the 1-0 home defeat. We were jumping on the seats, one mate ended up taking his seat home (sorry Forest), and after some pop got involved ourselves involved with some yoofs on the Trent bridge heading back to the station
Peter Shreeves continued to work wonders with pretty poor squad, Ekoku the goal scorer we’d clearly been lacking. A 2-1 home reverse to our neighbours, in which Sibon scored the best and often forgotten goal of the game in early April with reverse at Stockport!
(Sibon Goal)
16th April - Fulham away - first match day in the capital. Russell’s dad drove us to London then dumped us for a day in Soho, whilst we took our self underground and overground to Craven Cottage. If I remember correctly Fulham were already up so chose to give their back up American goalkeeper his debut, and he promptly fumbled a Sibon corner into his own goal, to earn the owls a creditable 1-1 draw.
The owls signed off the season with a goalless draw at home to Crewe, but the owls had already secured survival thanks to a run of 8 wins from 15 matches under Shreeves. I liked Shreeves, a quiet bloke, who has stepped in as caretaker and the end of the previous season but had this time been successful in his attempt to stave off relegation.
Despite the shower of a season I look back on that first season as an eye opener and a learning experience. 15/16 year old lad going to the match every week, travelling away, drinking pints (it was a different world back then). Exciting young players were coming through such as Geart, Alan Quinn, Marty Hamshaw and Owen Morrison. Ekoku and Sibon has been amongst the goals whilst some Lowe league boys had been added with the signings of Ashley Westwood and Soltvedt and the loan return of hero of old Carlton Palmer (which was seen at the time as a major success).
Sadly this also proved to be the final season at Hillsborough for the legend Des Walker, who is still one of my favourite all time wednesday players.
What memories do you have of Wednesdays first season outside the premier league since the league cup winning season of 1991? We had failed to bounce back at the first attempt, but roll on 2001/02 I said...
@Maplo16
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