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!

2003/04: Season as yet untitled...

What’s more grim than losing a relegation battle? Read on to find out!

For the owls first season in the third tier in my lifetime Chris Turner kept a good deal of the side from the previous campaign but adding Graeme Lee and Paul Smith from his previous club Hartlepool in the summer and then continuing to add to it over the course of the season, many of them gaining infamy with the Wednesday faithful. The likes of Adam Proudlock, Guylain Ndumbu Nsungu (local boy dun good?), Kim Olsen, Mark Robins, Brian Barry-Murphy and Ola Tidman arrived whilst Shefki Kuqi, Grant Holt and Lloyd Owusu departing over the course of the next 12 months. 

These summers soon roll around. I’d completed college and was looking at what my next step would be. I’d moved into a flat with the missus and we’d just returned from an excellent holiday in Zante when the owls kicked off the new season with a win at Swindon - Could it be that we'd finally turned a corner? 

The opening day Swindon victory was the first of a fine set of results in the early stages of the season giving rise to some optimism!

13th Aug - Owls 2-2 Hartlepool
We went along as it was Turners previous club. We lost on penalties. Don't worry though, as we had bigger fish to fry this season.

6th September - Just a single defeat in the first 7 games. The last of the run was a home game against Tranmere. Wednesday won 2-0 with goals from Paul Smith and former Manchester United winger Terry Cooke. It wasn’t a classic but it ushered in a belief that Wednesday could maybe mount a challenge! 

18th Oct - Owls 0-0 Rushden & Diamonds
Did that just happen? 

22nd Oct - Owls 1-3 Plymouth
Any early season optimism was soon beginning to evaporate as results began to turn. Paul Sturrock brought his table topping Argyle side to Hillsborough and played us off the park. That was a marker for how far away we truly were! 

9th Nov - FA Cup 1st round - Owls 4-0 Salisbury
Fuck knows what they were, Adam Proudlock helping himself to a hat-trick I believe! 

29th Nov - QPR 3-0 Owls
Long drive down with Russell’s dad. I think they scored early. We were never in it. 

9th Dec - LDV Vans Trophy - Carlisle 0-3 Owls
The hosts were struggling in the fourth division. I sat in a pub with home fans chatting pre-match and they already were expecting to be relegated from the football league that season (Spoiler - They were). Veteran Mark Robins and Grant Holt amongst the scorers on a night I got a phone call from work asking where I was, as I’d not turned in (I’d not checked the rota as I rarely worked midweek - Ooops). 

17th Dec - FA Cup 2nd round replay - Owls 0-0 Scunthorpe
Out of another cup on penalties. What the fuck is happening to my club? It's beginning to slip away already...

20th Dec - Owls 0-0 Chesterfield
By this stage I think I’d been to as many away games as home. The laborious nature of seeing clubs come and play up at Hillsborough in what for many of those players would probably have been their cup final was beginning to get me down. I remember being sat with a pint of Guinness pre-match chatting to James and Russell asking was there something deeply rotten at the core of the club? Like a curse or something has befallen us? The game was shite. However I was going out that night with the guys from my new employers, despite having not yet started.

Christmas 2003 - I started a new full time (proper) job on the 29th December. I also got engaged. Still no league win however since the 4th October. When we did finally win again after 12 games many, myself included, had began to seriously question the manager and the players at the club. 

January came and went in a blur. A flurry of new faces came and went as Turner tried to get the side going again. A trio of wins on the bounce in February, the last of was a 1-0 win over Bristol City courtesy of a late late Dean Smith goal (which I missed as me and the missus had left early). 

25th Feb - LDV Vans Trophy Northern Final 2nd Leg 
We’d lost the 1st leg but hopes were high as 21,000 people shuffled into Hillsborough on a cold evening in hope that we could overturn the 1-0 first leg deficit (where we’d played quite well by all accounts). Ola Tidman started in goal, his most notable contribution, aside from his fabulous hair, was failing to catch a pigeon that he tried to remove from the pitch. He got injured and was replaced by Rob Poulter for his only senior Wednesday appearance (I believe - ?). Meanwhile Kim Olsen did his best interpretation of a footballer. He really was shit. I’m sorry, but he was awful. 

7th Mar - Chesterfield 3-1 Owls
A low low moment. These truly were the end of days. Many who were there will testify it was amongst the worse performances of the season. I remember remarking that Ndumbu-Nsungu aside there wasn't an ounce of talent in the squad!

27th Mar - Owls 2-1 Brighton
Mark Robins with a late winner for Wednesday. The terrible run of form had left us sat in mid table, but with a set of winnable fixtures remaining anything was still possible! It's incredible what a result can do.

12th Apr - Notts County 0-0 Owls
The short train journey to Nottingham to face league struggler's Notts County. Stood on the away terrace, pissed up to witness another 0-0. Alan Quinn was sent off late on in another shite game. This season needed to end quickly as we were sliding down the table and we desperately needed a clear out. We should have enough points to stay up, but we weren't going up.

24th Apr - Owls 0-1 Colchester United
What the fucking hell is a Colchester? This had been a season of bleak footballing towns coming to Hillsborough and helping themselves to the points. This game stands out in my memory as I believe it was the stage for the infamous ‘black balloon protest’ organised by Owlstalk and other fans group members, against the running of the club by the board and chiefly Dave Allen, who were all complicit in seeing us sink from Premier League to close to the fourth tier of English football. However former Chelsea owner Ken Bates was believed to interested in purchasing the club - Out of the frying pan into the fryer?

8th May - Owls 1-3 QPR
Rangers secured the win they needed for promotion in our back yard in yet another dismal display. It looked like many of the players had already been told they were being moved on. This result competed a run of 7 winless games, a fourth successive defeat and a 9th defeat in 13 fixtures. Jon Shaw, the expected next big thing  scored the Wednesday goal in what turned out to be the final game for many of the squad. Kevin Pressman bowed out after a long proud career at Hillsborough as Chris Turner, who was the first Wednesday manager to survive the whole season since 1998/99, began re-shaping his squad. He’d already added goalkeeper David Lucas and a young Irish winger Chris Brunt before the season ended. But out went some of the players who’d been with the club for some time along with many of Turners own signings as he looked to overhaul a clearly mentally weak squad. 

We ended the season down in 16th. Our lowest league finish I believe (give me an 'I was there when we were shit!' badge), but we stayed up! Onwards to next season then. The summer that followed this season would not only see a huge clear out but enough optimistic words were muttered to encourage my new fiance to get a season ticket with me and Russell, however this is where James got off the Wednesday train, sadly rarely to the seen at Hillsborough again. His match day appearances had become more and more sporadic and pretty much not at all since Christmas. But this fresh start prompted the new trio to move seats from the centre to the side of the Kop, where I reside to this day.

I ended the season with a holiday to Mallorca booked and a busy summer ahead. My employers were sending me back to college to gain further qualifications and I was finding my feet in my new job.

So then - memories of this god awful season? Or has everyone managed to banish it from their minds? 

@maplo16

2002/03 - Europe in 5 years!

So after the short break the new football season soon rolled around. But I have to confess I have conveyed a little white lie in the past. As despite attending a fair number of games I didn’t renew my season ticket! Now before anyone says anything, yes I did not believe in the manager, I felt the club was in a mess and being run into the ground, but it was purely and simply because I had managed to con someone into offering me a job. So the job initially was working Saturdays in Burtons Menswear in Chesterfield (the original store as founded by Montegue Burton himself I might add). Having started in the run up to the 2002 World Cup I had settled in nicely and made some new friends, one James (a Juventus fan and Italian football nut) I still converse with over twitter on a pretty regular basis. Sadly however this and my studies meant that Wednesday had to take a slight back seat role over the next 12 months or so. But I was earning now and at 17 years old the majority of my income went straight into the local landlords profits (it was still a different world back then)!

Pre-season came and went, A 2-2 home draw with Middlesbrough and a game against Newcastle the highlights. 

Wednesday had ‘strengthened’ the squad adding the much maligned Jon Beswetherick and adding firepower in the shape of Brentford’s Lloyd Owusu and Chelsea loanee Leon Knight to the squad. The owls squad would evolve over the course of the season with several comings and going’s, and a host of loan signings coming into the squad to try and help the struggling owls.

10th Aug - Stoke 0-0 Owls
Newly promoted Stoke City. A goalless draw. An uneventful game which didn’t really set the scene for how the season would unfold. Wednesday would go on to fail to win a game in August, in fact they only won 1 of the first 13 league games and would only register there third win of the season on Boxing Day! 

1st Sep - Owls 2-0 Blades
Who of a Wednesday persuasion cannot remember this game? The previous season Sheffield derbies had finished goalless. As always when the local rivals came to Hillsborough their was expectation in the air, however the game was pretty evenly balanced until the owls decided to throw on summer a signing for his debut. Striker Lord Owusu headed home with his first touch of the ball, then promptly vomited on the pitch (turns out he was allergic to our grass?), and soon after Kuqi’s flying header wrapped up a 2-0 victory for the owls over Sheffield United. Watch - Owls 2-0 Blades

I’d been present for the Rotherham defeat previous, and followed that up with consecutive goalless draws against Leicester and Palace before going on an attendance hiatus. Wednesday had won only 1 more game by the time I attended the Millawall tie. 

30th Oct - Owls 0-1 Millwall
The crowd were angry. The performance was poor. Millwall to be fair were equally as poor but Steve Claridge shinned in the only goal of the game which proved to be the last one of Terry Yorath’s reign, he left the club that night. 

Following the Millwall defeat Wednesday only picked up two points from the next eight games however they did appoint a new manager. Ex-Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Turner returned to the club after a successful spell managing Division 3 Hartlepool United. I remember watching his press conference on Calendar that night, then reading the transcript on the fledgling SWFC website, unable to quite get my head around his major quote. He said “The aim is to be in Europe in 5 years” - Wow!

Turners first win came on Boxing Day, and sparked a mini upturn in form of three wins four games, including the rare feat of coming back from two goals down at home to Reading to win 3-2! Did Wednesday have it in them to turn it around for the third season running?

7th Jan - Gillingham 4-1 Owls
The weather had been poor and lots of the country was covered in snow and ice. Our away tie at Gillingham had been called off and re-arranged for the Tuesday night. So we travelled down and given our poor form it was more in hope than expectation. Stood on the terrace in the cold and with snow on the floor in places spirits were as you'd expect, especially as we named a weakened (!) team. Anyway we were thoroughly outplayed in a 4-1 defeat. Long drive home that... Watch - Gillingham 4-1 Owls

17th Jan - Blades 3-1 Owls
You might think why do I point this out as a moment that sticks in my mind from this season? Well firstly we were torn apart, literally outplayed and kicked off the park by a rampant blades side chasing the play offs. It was the day I saw the truly nasty side of the game as a young girl was hit by a flare thrown from the home end close to where we were stood. And it was also the first game without talismanic striker Gerald Sibon. Despite what people’s opinions were he was the one who had that bit of something about him, that bit of magic, that may just have told in the run in. 

That result was the start of a wobble that saw us take three points from the next six games. Hardly the great escape! But don’t worry as Turner was about to bring in Grant Holt, and unknown striker from non-league Barrow! 

1st Feb - Owls 0-4 Wolves
Absolutely fucking dire. We followed up the Steel City Derby defeat with a spineless home defeat vs Wolves. Adam Proudlock, who had spent time early in the season on loan at Hillsborough, returned to haunt the owls and helped himself to a goal. Sad times.

5th Mar - Owls 5-1 Coventry
From memory this was an evening game? And wasn’t Wednesday legend Roland Nilsson the Coventry manager? If he was he was clearly doing us a favour! Wednesday ran riot to relight the flames of hope, putting on a five star performance from start to finish, fans were leaving singing ‘the football league is upside down..’ But if I’ve not mentioned it yet, it’s the hope that kills you! We won none of our other five games in March, meaning April had to be special!

So the month changed and Wednesday seemed to suddenly realise this was it - the final countdown was on. A home win over Wimbledon and a shock win at Champions Portsmouth started the month, but then a goalless home draw with bottom of the table Grimsby saw us go into the bank holiday tie at fellow struggler's Brighton having to win!

21st April - The day before my 18th Birthday. Wednesday travelled in droves. We can beat these! It’s Brighton for Christ’s sake! 

Brighton 1-1 Owls

A limp, gutless performance from Wednesday. Grant Holt grabbed his first goal for the club, but the players looked clueless, like they couldn’t cope with the sheer enormity and the pressure of the situation. Big moments needed big players to step up. And sadly we had a team devoid of quality, devoid of passion and devoid of character! A squad of youngsters, misfits, freebies and loanees! At the final whistle everyone of a Blue & White persuasion was hurting. I looked around at my girlfriend stunned. Some blamed the players, some blamed the manager, others blamed the board. In three season outside the top flight we’d had four full time managers and had fallen through the trapdoor into Division 2 at the third time of asking, with two games to spare! A decade post a league cup final win and we had now slipped to the third tier of English football. Europe in 5 years, don’t make me laugh! The only way we’d be in Europe would be on a club 18-30 holiday! It was a disgrace! And everybody knew it. 

The following weekend I chose not to go to Burnley for a dead rubber away game. We won 7-2. Isn’t it ironic! Watch - Burnley 2-7 Owls

 We closed the season with a 2-1 home win over Walsall to once again light the flames of optimism. That premier return ticket had at least two more years to wait, but all of a sudden maybe with the right additions we could make a fist of promotion at the first attempt, I mean we’re Sheffield Wednesday we’re a massive club at that level!

After a few weeks and the dust settled I couldn’t wait for the new season. A new look Wednesday side would emerge, with one of our own Chris Turner at the helm. Chris was used to operating at a lower level having started out and been relatively successful at Hartlepool in Division 3, so could be trusted to recruit wisely. 

Next year would be our year!

@maplo16

2001/02 - Everything Changes/Everything Stays The Same

After struggling for the majority of the owls first campaign outside of the top flight expectations were maybe suitably lowered going into the new season, although the late season rally had been enough to keep myself and others feeling enthusiastic ahead of the 2001/2002 season. After keeping Wednesday up Peter Shreeves remained as manager, whilst for me it was all change! 

That summer I left school! And I got a girlfriend (I know, an undatable like me!). Myself, Russel and James has enrolled into college for the September. I was studying Engineering, Russell was doing something to do with IT and James was doing something that involved him doing bleep tests every week and spending a lot of time in fields! As you’d expect then life was changing. Out went the bubble and security of school as we stepped out into the real world. In those early college days we were constantly being reminded by lecturers that we weren’t at school anymore, yet chastised when we went to Weatherspoons for a liquid lunch, sometimes not making it back to college for the afternoon sessions. But being out in the big wide world was an eye opener, and despite a season travelling all over watching Wednesday, I suddenly began noticing and became aware of things that had previously passed me by. 

But anyway we’d renewed our season tickets and this time the ticket was supplied in a white wallet, the negative of the previous seasons. Surely this season would be better? 

Pre-season saw several replaced big earners such as Jonk, De Bilde & sadly Des Walker leave and replaced them with more moderate additions such as Paul McLaren, loanee Paulo Bonvin & ‘Super’ Danny Maddix, whilst also leaning on the youthful players who broke into the first team the previous season.

Wednesday played Derby and Spanish side Alaves, fresh from their UEFA Cup final appearance against Liverpool, in friendly games to get the supporters in the mood for a second tilt at the First Division. 

The owls kicked off the season at home to Burnley in a televised game, being shown on TV on the ultimately doomed ITV Digital platform. Wednesday, wearing for me one of the worst kits I’ve ever seen us use, had beaten the visitors during the decent end of season run the previous season yet turned in a pretty insipid display in this opener. From memory Chris Stringer saved a penalty however it was re-taken after he was adjudged to have come off his line. We eventually went down to an opening weekend 2-0 defeat. 

Wednesday limped on through the early parts of the season in pretty much the opposite way they had finished he previous. A string of poor results ensued up to and including a 1-1 home draw with relegated Bradford (who featured ex Wednesday playmaker Benito Carbone amongst their ranks) and a 6-2 home defeat at a sun drenched Hillsborough against a rampant Manchester City. Boca Juniors loanee Paulo Bonvín scored early for Wednesday but City were far too good for the owls, with Ali Bernabia pulling the strings for Kevin Keegans side who eventually went up as champions!

https://youtu.be/UpV8Gtlo53k

Inevitably as is the Wednesday way we limped on winless in 11 before Peter Shreeves stood down, with Terry Yorath stepping up to take charge, initially on a caretaker basis. 

12th September - Wednesday faced Premier League opponents Sunderland in the Worthington Cup, and tossed aside their league form. After taking the tie into extra time the owls ran out 4-2 winners in a game that included the first of several stunning Wednesday goals during the cup campaign. 

https://youtu.be/WPVDdYzSdRw

20th Oct - Owls 2-1 Walsall. And wouldn’t you believe it! Wednesday, despite going behind in the first half, ended the dismal run with Paulo Bonvin netting a last minute winner! This result triggered a mini revival that led to Yorath being appointed permanently, which to me was both an extremely lazy and poor decision, ultimately made on cost!

10th November - The girlfriend, obviously enthused by my passion for the club, asked to come to a game. Grimsby - 0-0. Nothing further to say. 

24th November - After another poor run the owls took on struggling Stockport managed by former owl Carlton Palmer. 5-0 to the owls, three goals coming in the last seven minutes. Had we turned a corner? 

19th December - A League Cup quarter final at Hillsborough under the lights saw Watford come to town and leave on the back of a 4-0 hiding by a rampant Wednesday. Matt Hamshaw score THAT goal! 

https://youtu.be/MGRzTAGQMrE

A six league game winless streak through December highlighted that aside from Gerald Sibon and Efan Ekoku we were desperately short of goals. During this run the girlfriend attended a 1-1 home draw with Millwall, where we conceded late equaliser, and a 5-0 defeat to Norwich. 

8th January - League Cup Semi-Final. Girlfriend yet again in tow. Ekoku on the scoresheet but the Owls eventually succumbed 2-1 to Premier League Blackburn Rovers, Brad Friedel in the visitors goal leaving a lasting impression. A goalkeeping injury crisis saw Paul Heald join on loan and playing well in the second leg, but the owls eventually succumbed to a 3-6 aggregate defeat. 

The barrel chested Shefki Kuqi soon arrived in the January sales, and scored his first goal in an away win at Burnley as the struggling owls began a run of form that would ultimately be enough to keep them up. Just. 

It may be that I had discovered beer in a big way, or maybe just my age, but the end to that league season is pretty much a blur, nothing else really stands out. 

Both Sheffield derbies finished as dull uneventful 0-0 bore draws. The season was wrapped up with a 3-1 defeat to Stockport and a 2-2 home draw with play off placed Wolves.

The clubs bleak financial position was now crippling apparent, we had carried a debt from our Premier League days, had just avoided another relegation with a squad containing players still on big wages, and had recruited poorly following relegation, and relied on a string of loan signings (Bojan Djordjic anyone?) at times to get a side out. 

I have no idea how, at 16, I funded matchdays, nights out (16 year olds going clubbing, wouldn’t happen these days but clearly in 2001 standards were maybe different) and college. I earn’t money labouring on the side at college and helping out my grandad doing odd jobs and tending his vegetable garden, but ultimately come the end of the season I knew I had a big decision to make. I was applying for jobs all over in order to finance my developing lifestyle. I’d was booked to go on holiday with the missus and her family, so needed cash desperately. My season ticket renewal had dropped through the post. As my life had changed the previous summer it was only beginning to develop further! 

What are your memories of this season? Please correct me if I’ve gotten any details wrong. Other than the league cup run it was pretty forgettable. As I looked back on the previous season with a degree of fondness what I recall of this time was just dirt! The youthful optimism being quickly replaced with ‘Is it really like this all the time?’

@maplo16

2000/2001 - The Premier Return Ticket?

2000/01

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)

https://youtu.be/Q1mi6FgyDTU

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