How Tramlines Festival could bear an impact on Sheffield Wednesday’s preseason plans

In pre-Covid times, the club had routinely hosted a preseason friendly at Hillsborough the weekend before the season.

That may well have been a consideration this time out, but the bringing forward of the League One season to July 30 means the final free weekend of the season – July 22-24 – clashes with Tramlines.

The Tramlines Festival, now into its 14th year save for Covid cancellations, takes place on Hillsborough Park just over the road from the stadium.

Local authorities are extremely unlikely to allow both events to take place on the same weekend, leaving Wednesday fans hoping for a weekend return to S6 ahead of the season disappointed.

It may be that the club look into the possibility of a midweek fixture as clubs seek to put plans in place over the coming weeks, though nothing has yet been confirmed.

The Owls currently have two friendlies scheduled, at non-league Alfreton Town on July 2 and at League Two Harrogate Town six days later.

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Wednesday will then jet off to Portugal for a warm weather training camp the next day. Low-level training matches may take place, though these will be played behind closed doors.

Any preseason friendly in front of fans at Hillsborough would be the first time the club have been able to lay on a fixture of its kind since the visit of La Liga outfit Espanyol in July 2019, when the visitors scored late to earn a 2-2 draw after goals by Steven Fletcher and Fernando Forestieri.