Glenn Loovens on his Sheffield Wednesday bond, puzzle pieces and his Hillsborough return

The former Owls captain is showered and fresh as he takes some time to talk to us in the reception at Hillsborough… He’s just completed another 90 minutes on the hallowed turf at S6, and – unlike some of the others – still looks fighting fit.

He was one of five former skippers in the starting XI as a team of Wednesday legends went up against a team of Czech Republic counterparts in a charity game part-organised by Daniel Pudil, and Loovens, as one of the youngest there, had to get through the full game.

Now 38, the towering Dutchman looked very tidy having been asked to start in the heart of midfield, but dropped back into his familiar centre back position – where he played 150 times for the Owls – due to a couple of injuries elsewhere.

“It was good to be back!” he told The Star. “It was good to see a lot of familiar faces, and a familiar ground… I had a great time here - played here the longest of anywhere in my career - so yeah, it was nice to be back, and for a good cause as well.

“There were some really good players out there for both sides, and even though the age is creeping in, you could see the quality and it was a good watch for everyone.

“I said to Lee Bullen, you can see where the responsibility is in the dressing room - because all the centre halves turned up!

“At the start we had seven centre halves on the pitch, and me in midfield, but we’re the leaders… It’s good to play these kinds of games, that mean something, and I hope we raised some good money and can help them.”

And raise money they did, over £20,000, with around 2,000 making the trip to S6 in aid of Weston Park Cancer Charity and Real Top Praha in Pudil’s native Czech Republic – they got to see seven goals as well!

The experience in general brought back some good memories for Loovens, who spent almost five years in Sheffield, and he admits that it’s a city that will always be close to his heart.

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“I enjoyed playing over here,” he says. “We had a good team and the football was good… Obviously we bonded with the fans, and I met some lovely people outside of football in Sheffield as well. It was a really enjoyable stay, and I love coming back here.

“I think the supporters here really want honesty and hard work, which I can really relate to - it’s the way I’ve been brought up, and when I came into football at Feyenoord it’s the same. So I related to the fans here.

“There was a mutual respect there, and things just clicked straight away for me.

“But like I say, it was also off the pitch as well. I met some great people, my daughter was raised here, so all in all it was a great five years.”

A daughter raised in Sheffield… Is there a twinge of a Yorkshire accent in her Dutch?

“If you give her a bit of time here, I’m sure she’ll be speaking Yorkshire!” he said with a smile.

Sadly though, Loovens and that special team of 2016-2018 didn’t get what they were chasing as they missed out on the Premier League in the play-offs – not once, but twice.

The former skipper obviously wishes things had gone different, but recalls a strong bond in the group at the time.

He explained, “I think in the first year we played some really good stuff, and a lot of people didn’t expect us to be that far… The success was kind of scheduled to be the year after, but we gelled so well - and the puzzle pieces just fell in naturally. That resulted in a very good year, even though we lost in the final.

“For the second year, we played more pragmatically. We got more points but the football wasn’t as good as the year before - everything was fine.

“Obviously it was another year where we didn’t get promotion as well though, and the year after was a disaster. I think at one point we had like 14 regulars out with injuries and it was one hit after another and we never got going. That all resulted in Carlos leaving.

“In a team you always have people that you get along better with than others, but we all got on really well - we did a lot outside football with each other, and that helped. We had a strong connection, and it made our bond stronger on the pitch.”

But what now for the ex-Celtic and Sunderland man? His boots have been hung up for a few years now, is a coaching stint on the cards?

“At the moment I’m working for an agency, which I’m enjoying,” he says. “I do a bit of recruitment, but also some follow-up with players and speak to the clubs. I’m meeting a lot of new people, extending my network, and I’m enjoying it. We’ll see what happens in the future, but I’m in the right place.”

Hopefully he remembers his time in Sheffield when they end up with a young starlet on their books…

“There are always good players in Belgium and Holland - we’ll see what the future brings!”

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