Quiet takeaway suggests important Sheffield Wednesday attempt to reclaim their place in the city
Sheffield Wednesday have not been so embedded in the city over recent years.
As folk milled about and the hum of chatter filled Sheffield Wednesday’s soon-to-be transformed 1867 Lounge on Monday evening, music played out in the background.
Invitees had been gathered to hear centrally about the club’s new hospitality offerings and the packages available to those wanting a bit of something extra from their matchday experience. A question and answer session would follow and would welcome new sporting director Simon Wilson to the club.
Settling into a media spot at the back of the room and humming along to that background music, a theme emerged; The Human League, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Self Esteem, Reverend and the Makers. The tracks chosen were dipped in steel and came in a shade of blue. It was safely assumed to be no accident.
Beyond the excitement of a forward-thinking corporate offering, headline takes from the evening were, as ever, football-dominated. Wilson publicly backed Henrik Pedersen to put any question of that storyline to bed and spoke of transfer strategy. The club would look to re-engage with its former players, the kit will arrive just ahead of the season start and further efforts will be made to improve the stadium.
Another line or two was more subtle, not quite as sexy, but could prove to be as important as any other. As one of the city’s richest and most vital institutions, a Wednesday ran by Dejphon Chansiri was not nearly as Sheffield-friendly as it could have been. Over the years The Star has heard of local business talents offering-up their services to Chansiri - only to be met with a cold hand.
For reasons yet to be fully explored, an overwhelming percentage of the city’s more recognisable artists and entertainers are Wednesdayites and it’s understood that efforts have been made to reach out to those lapsed in their support and patronage of the club. And as so clearly evidenced on Monday evening, so too the wider Sheffield business community.
This column has often argued the obscenity of Sheffield’s quietness on its own monstrous scale of achievement. Compared to the likes of Manchester, Liverpool and others, the Steel City is shy in its celebration of its position as a genuine cultural powerhouse. It can be better tapped into and with the creative weight of the city blue in persuasion, the fact of the matter is that Wednesday’s position to shout up is better than that at United. The new guard seems keen to do so.
“Sheffield is amazing,” CEO David Bruce said in a presentation that unveiled the new ‘premium’ fan offerings. “I’ve been amazed with what I’ve seen and felt. I didn’t know what I was coming into and it’s a brilliant city with amazing people, they’ve been really welcoming and brilliant to me. I’m looking forward to moving here in July with my family.
“We want to make sure this club reeks of Sheffield. It should, because if it does, it’ll take us to the next level. There is so much good in the city and it is about how we can find a way to connect the football club to local businesses and take things to the next level. We want Sheffield Wednesday to reflect what Sheffield is great at, but also what it’s going to be great at.
“You think about culture, entertainment, manufacturing, great people, the healthcare industry, there is so much going on in Sheffield that makes this place special and we want to be the club that shouts loudest about that and expresses that in the right way for a new, modern generation and in a new context. It’s really important for a football club to do that and if we can do that, we will rise with it and the city can rise with us. It’s two sides of the same coin.”
Any city’s football clubs should be bathed in its community and take its position as a vital cultural totem incredibly seriously. The old order took it for granted and while there are clear, cold business advantages to repairing that relationship, there’s a deep cultural responsibility to ensure the club reflects, works alongside and celebrates the community it relies upon. When investigating Bruce’s record at Sunderland, word back was that he took all this very seriously and was successful in building bridges damaged by the previous regime.
Take-up on the hospitality offerings have been strong, we gather, and the evening seemed to land very well. Record season ticket sales suggest a monster buy-in from the floor and momentum behind the club is snowballing. Sheffield Wednesday should reflect the best of Sheffield. While it wasn’t the sexiest line to come out of the event, it may well prove to be one of the most important.