“Coming to a club like this is amazing”

Owls manager Dave Challinor says they have a ‘really good chance’ of achieving something ‘special’ in the long-term.

Sheffield Wednesday have been under the ownership of Arise Capital Partners since May and now they have a new manager in Challinor, who has been in the building for just over a week and taken charge of his first match.

A total of £11.5m has been spent on stadium and training ground improvements, while 18 players were signed over the summer. Challinor has worked his way up the leagues and the opportunity at Wednesday is one he has arguably earned and deserved, although the former Tranmere Rovers defender was humble when that was put to him.

“It’s hard to say earned,” he told The Star. “I think you don't go into football thinking that way. You sort of deal with the task that's in front of you. I've worked really hard, along with many other people, this isn't just about me. I've brought two brilliant coaches with me. There are already brilliant people at the club. I'm not big on individual. I'm not big on hierarchy or what I say goes. I love challenge. I love people to question what we do. It's our jobs of the coaches to initiate debate, whether that be across performance or across medical. We're all in it together.”

After putting in the the hard work down in the lower leagues at Colwyn Bay, AFC Fylde, Hartlepool United and Stockport County, coming to Wednesday is his biggest job yet and one he is determined to grasp.

"Coming to a club like this is amazing, but that's only the opportunity,” he explained. “It's now about making the most of that opportunity. I think we have a really good chance to do something special here over the long-term.

“Simon Wilson is a brilliant strategist and has a record of putting and formulating plans that are successful. And I have no doubt that he'll do that here. This is starting with a clean slate. You can see the work that's been done here, the work that's been done at the training ground. There's loads and loads of things that can happen. Obviously, we're tasked with making sure the development on the pitch happens, which I'm positive that they will.”