2011/12 - Wednesday Risen!

We sat on the verge of a glorious promotion having overturned a deficit to move ahead of our local rivals. However my build up didn’t exactly go to plan.

4th May - The night before... 

Sat at 10:30pm in an A&E department with my four week old daughter. She was eventually diagnosed with a hernia and referred to a specialist. Great start to the weekend. After years of drama on and off the pitch why was I surprised?

On the day of the game I was up early with my little girl. It was a bright warm day, the sun shone high in the sky. Things looked good. Too good for my liking. I logged onto my rarely used betting account and put money on every possible scenario where Wednesday messed this up. I had seen far too many times us being able to snatch failure from the jaws of victory!

I set off early with my lad, to beat the traffic, it was a good idea.  Arrived about two hours or so before kick off and there were already thousands of fans mulling around outside. Shirts of this and yesteryear were out on show. In the build up it had become clear that this would be a sell out, with the visiting Wycombe fans, who faced relegation, being forced into the cheese wedge in the uncovered corner of the ground. 

The crowd was big. The crowd was tense. The crowd was expectant. 

We all know what happened that day!

Our neighbours and promotion rivals were away at Exeter City. On 24 minutes they were a goal behind, and as the news began to filter into Hillsborough Michail Antonio put the owls in front! And then on 36 minutes news came through that Blades striker James Beattie had received a red card, the blades down to ten men in a must win clash. The dream was on. However just before halftime the blades found an equaliser. The race was finely poised. 

The second half kicked off and within minutes the blades had turned their tie around and now led. A hush fell across the ground momentarily. Wycombe we’re doing their best in the tie but Wednesday were pretty comfortable, then on 52 minutes loan striker Nile Ranger knocked in a goal at Hillsborough to extend our lead. Cue an eruption from the crowd. The party started. The action became pretty irrelevant as the fans just waited for the full time whistle. Even a last minute equaliser at Exeter, that certainly ensured our promotion, went unnoticed. 

5th May - Owls 2-0 Wycombe

At the full time whistle a roar from the crowd preceded a pitch invasion and scenes at Hillsborough I had never seen before. We had secured promotion back to the Championship under Dave Jones, with a Gary Megson squad!

What a day! And certainly what a night! Quite possibly one the best feelings ever experienced! For me this topped the victory Cardiff in 2005. This was our rising!

Promotion!

2011/12 - Wednesday Rising - Part 2: A strong run-in!

On the 2nd of March Milan Mandaric unveiled Wednesday’s fourth permanent manager since the beginning of the 2009/10 season. Former Stockport County, Cardiff City & Southampton manager Dave Jones was appointed as the main to refocus the squad ahead of the final thirteen matches on the run-in. 

3rd Mar - Rochdale 0-0 Owls

Jones first game of his spell went pretty much the same way as the previous few. Pretty unimaginative from Wednesday in an even game where our fragile confidence was clear for all see. 

6th Mar - Owls 4-1 Bury

Jones’ first home tie of his tenure saw a comprehensive victory with goals from Madine, a brace from Antonio and a strike from Ryan Lowe against his former club. Back in the hunt?

10th Mar - Owls 3-0 Bournemouth 

And within a week Dave Jones seems to have fully turned the ship around - racing into a three nil lead within ten minutes against hapless Bournemouth. 

31st Mar - Owls 2-0 Preston

Two wins and a draw has catapulted Wednesday back into the promotion chase and they further strengthened their credentials as a brace from Gary Madine handed us the victory in this lunchtime televised game. 

6 Apr  - Bonus Arrival

Wednesday were going well at this point but as a family we received a bonus Easter holidays treat, as we welcomed into the world our daughter - born in the early hours of the good Friday ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Huddersfield! 

9th Apr - Owls 3-0 Oldham Athletic

Wednesday’s first home tie since the birth of my daughter. After seeing off fellow promotion chasers Huddersfield we were flying at this point just as our near neighbours, whom we were hunting down, had begun to falter. Madine, Llera - who was shining following his move from Brentford and Lowe with the goals. 

14th Apr - Colchester 1-1 Owls

One draw and eight wins in Jones’ 9 games so far. The unbeaten run continued but this was more of an off day for us. Having been playing so well a large contingent of Wednesday fans made the long trip to Colchester. Miguel Llera equalised in the second half after the home side had taken an early lead. 

21st Apr - Owls 2-1 Carlisle

This was the start of the turnaround! Not necessarily a game that many will recall however it is still one of my favourite games. Not because it was a classic but had Michail Antonio not snatched a 95 minute winner - following Carlisle’s late equaliser against the run of play - then maybe what was to follow wouldn’t have happened! The day previous our promotion chasing neighbours had lost their star striker Ched Evans - sent to Prison for an offence he has since been cleared of in the courts. His Blades side reacted by losing 1-0 at MK Dons. 

28th Apr - Blades 2-2 Stevenage - Turnaround complete!
Having been chipping away at the Blades points advantage in the previous 11 games Wednesday finally tipped the scales with a victory at Brentford - another goal from Llera and the only goal of his loan spell for Keith Treacy. All eyes turned to the late kick off in S2. The blue half of Sheffield were overjoyed as Stevenage went into a two goal lead just after half time. The Blades battled back but could only get it back level at 2-2 - handing the advantage firmly to the owls going into the final round of league games of this season! 😬 - I’m not nervous, you are!