How the Rangers and Celtic Old Firm rivalry sparked one of the great Sheffield Wednesday bromances

But not in the Sheffield Wednesday changing room between two of the Owls’ key players.

Club captain Barry Bannan and key man Josh Windass sit on opposite sides of the Old Firm divide, with Bannan having grown up a passionate Celtic supporter and Windass having 73 matches for the Gers from 2016-2018.

The pair have developed a famous ‘bromance’ both on and off the field, combining both on the pitch and in South Yorkshire’s coffee houses to good effect.

“It was a bit of banter about the Rangers and Celtic thing at the start,” Windass said. “He’s moved now but we lived round the corner with each other before so we’d go for coffees.

“We have the same interests. We both love football and watch every game that’s on TV, we text most nights about whatever game is on and we’ll text on Saturday nights, usually about something I’ve done wrong in a game! He’s usually in a bad mood with me.

“It’s about the standards we set for each other. If he thinks I can do better, he’ll be the first to text me to say ‘What was that?’ or ‘Any chance you can do this?’

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“We have arguments about most games to be honest but it’s because we care about how what we do.”

Together with the likes of Lee Gregory, Michael Smith and others, Wednesday’s attacking options are among the most feared in the division.

And such is the near-telepathic connection between the two pals, there are no need for words when setting up an attack.

“A player with the attributes I have I’d say is perfect for someone of Barry’s quality,” Windass continued. “He’s got vision, he can pick passes, he can score goals.

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“I’ve said a load of times before, it’s about eye contact with us. It’s the same with Greggers and some of the other boys, we work off eye contact.

“A few of us have played together quite a bit now so you get to understand each other’s movements inside out.

“I’ve never been one for speaking too much on the football pitch, eye contact does a lot of talking and we’ve got that in abundance.”