2017/18 - Cakeballs of fire

These seasons don’t half roll around quickly!

After the bitter disappointment of a second consecutive play off failure (and the only time we’ve failed to get passed the semi final stage) we were in somewhat of a state of limbo. Carlos’ contract was up, we now had an inflated squad after gambling on a promotion push and the eerie spectre of FFP was beginning to be whispered amongst the fan base. And all this in view of our 150th anniversary! 

After some discussion it was late May before the announcement that Carlos would stay on for a third play off push. At the time I felt this was a good move. He’d done tried twice before but maybe a summer of working and moulding our expensive January signings would give us a march on our rivals? Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing. 

As it transpires it would be a disjointed summer. The club tried and failed to suitably strengthen the squad, with Carlos staying at one point they’d looked at 200 centre backs. And the players they did bring in failed to make much of an impact, at least initially. George Boyd was the only pre-season signing - the midfielder joining from premier league Burnley on a free. 

In August the club also added Dutch defender Joost Van Aken on a permanent, and loanees Frederico Venacio and Jacob Butterfield (who arrived in a bizarre loan/swap deal for Sam Winnall). 

Wednesday cleared some deadwood with the release of players like Sougou, Sasso, McGugan and Dielna. 

The club also finally said good bye to our promotion stalwart Jose Semedo. Well they didn’t actually, there was no announcement for the Portuguese midfielder who had been with us since 2011. It was left to him to announce he was linking up with a club in his homeland after not hearing from the club. 

Supporter unrest had grumbled on through the summer. Lack of recruitment, the kits being unveiled just days before the season started (owing to Chansiri bringing the manufacturing in-house under his own Elev-8 brand), and owls in the park being pushed back into September. 

Instead of the usual summer celebration of all things Wednesday we ended up with a damp day in September, an evening fire work display, and general apathy. However the massive cake ball has to go down as one of the more bizarre stunts in football history! In fairness this was followed up with a black tie evening featuring special guests from Wednesday’s history, and the unveiling of the fanatic fan made film ‘Our Wednesday’.

Preseason began with a strong team rolling out a routine 5-0 victory at Alfreton. The usual trip to Portugal followed before a promised marquee anniversary friendly transpired to be Glasgow Rangers who were given the north stand, and we played in last seasons away kit. 

8th August - Owls 4-1 Chesterfield EFLC

After an uninspiring opening day defeat at Preston we welcomed the Spireites to Hillsborough for the last competitive fixture between the sides to date. A strong Wednesday side easily swept aside the recently relegated League Two side. Fletcher, Hooper, Bannan and Hutchinson with goals. Sammy even donned the goalkeeping gloves at the end of the game for a short period. 

16th August - Owls 1-1 Sunderland 

After failing to to beat QPR we faced recently relegated Sunderland in this evening tie. A defensive error allowed Simon Grayson’s side in to score after four minutes, however we equalised through David Jones. At the time I said that this was a good result in an encounter that we could have won, yet seeing how their season went this would probably go down as a missed opportunity. 

9th Sept - Owls 3-1 Nottm Forest

Goals from Hooper, Fletcher and Kieran Lee moves us to within a point of the play off positions in the fledgling league table as we secured a win this televised Saturday evening game. Unbeaten since the opening day!

1st Oct - Owls 3-0 Leeds

Our first home game since a defeat to our local rivals saw the players to go some way to begin making amends as we hammered Leeds. Two first half goals from Gary Hooper and a Kieran Lee strike keeping us within sight of the upper reaches of the table. 

1st Nov - Aston Villa 1-2 Owls

It’s hard to remember this memorable victory came from this season! Adam Reach scored one of the best goals of the season one minute into the game. Rhodes scored to make it two in a dominant first half. 

15th Dec - Owls 0-1 Wolves

Moving day - We moved house on this day, luckily everything  was done and sorted so that me and the lad could set off for the match in time. 

A crippling injury list had seen Wednesday form drop off a cliff in November and December. As we welcomed the already run-away league leaders for this Pre-Christmas televised Friday night clash we were missing Westwood, Hunt, Lees, Bannan, Hutchinson, Forestieri and Fletcher amongst others. 

We competed well in the game and arguably deserved something from the game but it was settled by a wonderful strike from the divisions most expensive player Ruben Neves. Wednesday sat fifteenth and ten points off the play offs. 

A week later we were beaten at home by Middlesbrough. The following day, Christmas Eve, Carlos parted company with the club. 

1st Jan - Owls 0-3 Burton

Lee Bullen had taken charge of a Boxing Day victory at Forest, and I was hoping he could be the one to unite an unhappy fan base. Sadly we were treated to one of the single most gutless, heartless performances in many years. The sight of Jacob Butterfield strolling around the pitch like we were lucky to have him will live long in my memory! 

12th Jan - Blades 0-0 Owls

The first game of a new era! Wednesday unveiled unknown Dutch manager Jos Luhaky as the new man to take Hillsborough reigns. Famed for his decent record in lower league German football he caught many off guard by throwing a number of youngsters into the first team for his first tie - a steel city derby!

A nervy derby ended goalless thanks to heroic goalkeeping from Joe Wildsmith and last ditch defending. Our effort was not aided when captain Glen Loovens was sent off just after the hour! 

16th Jan - Owls 2-0 Carlisle FAC

A cold Tuesday night, in one of the coldest winters for a long time - and most sensible people stayed home. We entertained Carlisle United, who had held us to a goalless draw under Lee Bullen previously. The snow fell and the wind blew hard in a game where at one point I genuinely thought we would see and abandonment.

After going into a two goal lead against our lowly opponents I took the decision to leave on 75 minutes, a good move given the amount of snow on the road during my drive home. And my lad earned his ‘cold Tuesday night FA Cup replay badge’.

26th Jan - Owls 3-1 Reading - FA Cup

Wednesday scored our first goals under new manager Jos on another freezing cold winters evening. 

Wednesday did dip a toe into the transfer market to purchase Dutch central midfielder Joey Pelupessey from Heracles. The Dutchman was very nearly sent off on his debut after fouling on the edge of his own area after 8 minutes, but luckily only received a yellow card. Wednesday swept aside Reading - Atdhe Nuhiu scoring twice and George Boyd clinched it thanks to poor goalkeeping. A late undeserved consolation goal cake courtesy of a Dawson own goal, the ball arrowing back in off the post. 

17th Feb - Owls 0-0 Swansea - FA Cup

It had to be didn’t it - after leaving Wednesday Carlos has taken over at premier league strugglers Swansea - and would you believe it we hosted them in the FA Cup fifth round. A clearly emotional Carlos rightly receive a fairly warm reception Upon his return. A tight tepid affair was played out - the highlight being a great point blank save from Cameron Dawson in the Wednesday goal. We went in to lose the replay 0-2. 

30th Mar - Owls 4-1 Preston

Fernando Forestieri returned from a long injury lay off and was the catalyst for Wednesday securing a second successive win to move us 11 points clear of the relegation zone. Nuhiu, fast becoming a key part of Jos’ new look Wednesday, opened the scoring on 50 minutes and the equally improving Joao made it two merely minutes later. Preston pulled one back and pressed us hard, however a fantastic individual goal on 92 minutes gave us breathing space. The scoring wasn’t over though - Forestieri announcing his return with a great free kick on 96 minutes!

2nd Apr - Sunderland 1-3 Owls

Bank holiday Monday began with a few inch of snow on the floor. We set off for my first visit to the stadium of light to face struggling Sunderland who were scrapping to avoid successive relegations. 

On arrival it was not only wet but freezing cold, and we were seated high in the roof of the stadium!

After a goalless first half Joao’s opener was cancelled out a minute later. Seven minutes after that Tom Lees gave us the lead again. We nearly allowed Sunderland to equalise straight from the kick off again! And then another seven minutes later Nuhiu wrapped up a rare victory in Sunderland! 

6th May - Owls 5-1 Norwich

Having secured championship status against a back drop of poor form and injuries we faced Norwich at home on the final day. 

And in the baking hot sunshine any there was witness to Atdhe Nuhiu score the perfect hat-trick in a five goal demolition of the canaries. Forestieri and Venacio the other scorers in a game in which Norwich James Maddison limped off after 11 minutes. 

Our final league position was fifteenth - our lowest for some time, however given the injury situation Jos inherited he had done a decent job steadying the ship. Maybe next season we could kick on? 

There’s always next year... 

2015/16 - Stirring the giant

New Wednesday owner Deijphon Chansiri set about remoulding the club in his image with the announcement of his transfer committee. This group would be responsible for the the comings and going on the football side and would be made up of himself, head coach Stuart Gray, Glenn Roeder and former Leeds director Adam Pearson. This group was responsible for such signings as Dutch central defender Darryl Lachman.

The transfer committee was disbanded almost as quickly as it came together, and soon head coach Stuart Gray was also harshly dispensed with. As sad as I was to see Gray go given the job he had done with little resources it had a feeling of inevitability about it. Chansiri then allegedly formed a close association with sports agency Doyen, in a move that would controversially impact upon the clubs transfer activities for the next few years. 

So who would replace Stuart Gray - of course it was the little known Portuguese manager Carlos Carvalhal. After attempts to bring in several other targets including some bloke from Swindon and other British coaches news of the out of work Carlos began leaking out on local social media. He was officially appointed on 30th June. 

Pre-season was largely forgettable with the first chance to see Carlos and his (Chansiri’s) recruits was Owls in The Park. On a blistering warm Sunday afternoon Wednesday fans turned out to see playing staff new and old. 

On show were new signings Marco Matias, Lewis Price, Ross Wallace, Vincent Sasso, Jack Hunt, Alex Lopez and Lewis McGugan who returned permanently. 

It was also the end of an era with long serving fullback Lewis Buxton leaving. Also departing were Giles Coke, Paul Corry, Gary Madine, Jacques Maghoma, Joe Mattock, Rhys McCabe, Kamil Zayatte, Chris Kirkland and lovable rogue Chris Maguire. 

Wednesday further strengthened ahead of the season opener with the additions of Lucas Joao, Rhoys Wiggins and Modou Sougou. 

Anybody else excited!!!

8th Aug - Owls 2-0 Bristol City

The Carlos era got off to a flyer as the new look owls, boasting five summer signings in the starting line up, comfortably beat newly promoted Bristol City in the Hillsborough sunshine. Tom Lees opened the scoring and McGugan wrapped up the victory with a smart finish from a Ross Wallace cross. Great stuff!

11th Aug - Owls 4-1 Mansfield

A few days later a much changed line up saw Carlos give five full debuts to players. In what was a routine victory by a Wednesday reserve IX there was a real collectors item - a goal for veteran Jose Semedo! The game also saw first goals for Joao and Sougou, whilst Kieran Lee was also on the scoresheet. 

Transfer Bonanza!

At the end of August Wednesday strengthened the squad further with the loan signings of Michael Turner from Norwich and Watford fullback Daniel Pudil. Whilst Barry Bannan and Fernando Forestieri joined on permanent transfers. 

26th Sept - Brentford 1-2 Owls

Having gone six without a league victory since the opening day we went and won two in a row against southern opposition. We throughly enjoyed our day in London - Nuhiu dispatching a penalty following Tarkowski’s red card. Jeremy Helan was shown two yellows just after the hour, resulting in future Wednesday target Alan Judge notching an equaliser. But the impressive Joao broke through in added on time to notch the winner! 

3rd Oct - Owls 3-1 Preston

We followed the Brentford victory up with another to make it three in a row on a sunny October afternoon. Kieran Lee put us ahead just before halftime and Pudil doubled the lead in the second half. Preston pulled a goal back and put us under real pressure but having pushed everyone up for a last minute corner Lewis McGugan ensured the victory by chipping the retreating Preston goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from the half way line. 

27th Oct - Owls 3-0 Arsenal

Oh what a night! After 15 years in the doldrums we finally had a really big night to remember. Wednesday romped home against a mixed Arsenal side who had Petr Czech in goal, Debuchy, World Cup winner Per Mertesaker, Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini, Kamara, Trinidad World Cup hero Campbell, Ox-Chamberlain, Iwobi and Giroud. Throw in Theo Walcott who came off the bench to get injured and that’s a fairly strong reserve side. The Arsenal could not cope with our intensity and we took the lead through a superb Ross Wallace strike. Lucas Joao found the net just before half time and Sam Hutchinson bundled in a third just into the second half to make Hillsborough rock like it hadn’t in a long long time. 

In other positive news Wednesday announced the signing of Gary Hooper initially on loan, from Norwich, after protracted negotiations.

3rd Nov - Owls 0-0 Brighton

Wednesday played out a creditable goalless draw with Brighton in the midweek tie. A fine example of two good sides cancelling each other out in what was possibly a sign of things to come...

6th Dec - Owls 0-0 Derby

Having failed to win a game in November we started December goalless. We missed out on a chance to go back into the play off places but held third placed Derby at arms length. 

20th Dec - Owls 4-1 Wolves

One of my favourite ties of the season! We started slowly and after overplaying at the back gifted Afobe the opportunity to put Wolves ahead from the penalty spot. Wednesday came storming back however and equalised with a penalty of our own - Forestieri on the scoresheet. He then doubled our lead five minutes later. In the second half a sweeping team move that was one of my favourite goals of the season saw Hooper flick the ball back to Pudil who adjust his feet and found the top corner of the net! Gary Hooper scored a fourth to ensure we won our first game in five and to give us a first home victory over Wolves in forever!

9th Jan - Owls 2-1 Fulham

We secured our third win of the season over Fulham and second victory in a week over our opponents in this FA Cup third round tie!

January Transfers

Looking to kick on Wednesday added full back Joe Bennet and winger Aiden McGeady to the squad whilst the loans of Jack Hunt and Gary Hooper were made permanent. Meanwhile Darryl Lachman, Sergiou Bus, Jeremy Helan, Claude Dielna and Rhoys Wiggins we’re aloud to leave the club in loans and permanent deals. 

2nd Feb - Owls 1-1 Burnley

Wednesday put in a strong showing against promotion chasing Burnley. Andre Gray put the visitors one up before a second half leveller from Kieran Lee. We got a point but deserved more with Nuhiu playing particularly well.

13th Feb - Owls 4-0 Brentford

This tie was influenced early on when Brentford defender Barbet was sent off after five minutes for pulling Hooper back. After 12 minutes Forestieri gave us the lead, then an excellent finish from Hooper following Westwood’s long pass doubled the lead on the half hour. Lee wrapped it up on the stroke of half time, and substitute Lucas Joao scored a great fourth for the owls on 89 minutes to put gloss on the score line. 

5th Mar - Owls 0-1 Rotherham United

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard! Wednesday were out fought in this local derby. Rotherham with a team of hard working blokes continued their good record at Hillsborough, despite late Wednesday pressure. Four games without a win meant we needed a good run to kick on!

30th Apr - Owls 3-0 Cardiff

After four games without a win Wednesday were in danger of making a late slip from the play off a places. We took on Cardiff who, with a victory, could have closed the gap on our sixth place position to 1 point going into the final game!

After a goalless first half Gary Hooper followed up a rebound to give us the lead. A defensive error led to an own goal for the visitors on 75 minutes before Hooper wrapped up the contest in injury time to absolutely guarantee a play off spot with a game to spare!

7th May - Wolves 2-1 Owls

Carlos made 11 changes to his starting line up for the trip to Wolves and handed Jose Semedo the captains armband. It was expected to be his last game in the blue and white. Our lack of cohesion was exposed early on and we soon fell behind - Turner looked particularly poor. We went in at half time two goals down. 

Wolves were on the beach for the most of the second half, however we were awarded a penalty in the last minute. Despite calls from the large travelling contingent for Semedo to take it forgotten man Lewis McGugan stepped up and tucked the spot kick away.

After the game the away fans stayed to applaud the players involved and there was a large round of “We’ll never forget Semedo” - It would have been a fitting tribute. 

Onto the Play-Offs!

Brighton had missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference to Middlesbrough, who went up courtesy of a Jordan Rhodes goal. 

13th May - Owls 2-0 Brighton

The big game! An injury hit Brighton came at Wednesday from the off, however on the day Wednesday rode our luck and took our chances! Forestieri put the ball into the net on the rebound but it was ruled out for a tight offside, however we were in front on the stroke of half time courtesy of Ross Wallace!

An excellent move and finish from Kieran Lee on 73 minutes gave us an important two goal cushion against a Brighton side who, despite heavy pressure, were out fought by Wednesday.  The Wednesday fans even brought out the lights in a show of appreciation on another great night at Hillsborough!

16th May - Brighton 1-1 Owls

Watching the tie on TV I have never had to leave a room to calm down like I did against Brighton. I was having palpitations as Brighton peppered the Wednesday goal. It was an endless stream of chances as we struggled to hold them back! 

Lewis Dunk finally gave them the lead after nineteen minutes. Typical Wednesday!

But then after barely keeping the ball Ross Wallace popped up with an equaliser! Talk about against the run of play! Replays suggested that there was a foul during the goal but it stood. That took the wind out of Brighton’s sails a little. 

The second half was a lot tighter affair. Wednesday got to grips with Brighton’s play and despite still conceding a few chances we held on for a draw and a 3-1 aggregate victory! 

We were going to Wembley! 

Telling my kids to soak it all up as these days don’t come around often!  Wembley way. Packed with smiling Wednesday fans.The coach journey, soaking up the atmosphere. 

I met up with old friends who I hadn’t seen for some time. I had arranged to sit with our usual gang from the kop, behind the goal. My wife however was sat elsewhere in the stadium as our daughter didn’t have enough priority points to get a ticket until general sale. 

Having wandered around the area before kick off, checked out the fan park, seen the bus make the drive from the players hotel, and wandered across with some tinnies to the party on the green excitement was building. 

Looking at the stats we had drawn with every side in the play offs during the campaign. Hull had looked a strong side in the league encounters and probably had the better squad on paper. And it was our old chum Steve Bruce managing against us again. 

In the white hot heat of the Wembley we kicked off. Instant pressure from Hull. Relentless pressure. Much like the Brighton second leg it appeared we weren’t quite at it. Our big game players were fairly ineffective, nulled by the Hull tactics. Goalless at half time, mainly due to some good goalkeeping from Westwood. 

Second half was much the same, although we pressed a little more. Then the one moment of magic in the game - Diame spotted Westwood off of his line and smashed a shot from distance over his head. We huffed and puffed and carved out a few half chances but Hull were never struggling. Tactically we had gotten it wrong and the players hadn’t delivered their normal level of performance. Carlos and Atdhe cried on the pitch. We stayed behind like many others to salute the players for an excellent season where we had fallen short at the final hurdle. Premier return ticket not yet checked in. 

28th May - Hull 1-0 Owls

What more can I saw other than it was great atmosphere in Wembley. The fans were magnificent. We were down but not out. Bring on next season! We go again!