Iorfa, Bannan.. or O'Grady? VOTE for your Sheffield Wednesday personality of the year
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There have been high points; Leeds away, cup heroics at Brighton, that last-minute winner against Charlton, but ultimately this has been Sheffield Wednesday’s annus horribilis.
But a 2020 that has delivered only seven league wins so far is almost history and now is your chance to vote for your ‘Sheffield Wednesday Personality of the Year’.
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Hide AdWe’ve got a defender, a captain, a top scorer and a philanthropic youngster to choose from. Choose wisely!
Scroll down to the Tweet at the bottom of this article to place your vote – which closes at 5pm on Sunday December 27. Aaaand the nominees are..
Dominic Iorfa
An obvious nomination. Iorfa is Wednesday’s reigning player of the year having enjoyed a coming-of-age 2019/20 season from which he emerged as one of few players with an enhanced reputation.
The big 25-year-old, who completed his successful transition from right-back to centre-half as we turned into 2020, was at the heart of Wednesday’s better performances, his display in keeping Leeds’ free-flowing attack at bay on January 11 particularly memorable.
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Hide AdA dalliance in midfield hinted at something new heading into 2021, but a cruel blow followed, with Iorfa having to have surgery on a ruptured achilles that will see him out for the remainder of the season.
Barry Bannan
In the 2019/20 season only West Brom’s Matheus Pereira created more Championship chances than Bannan. In 2020/21 he has been directly involved in eight of Wednesday’s 11 goals. He’s absolutely and undeniably integral to everything Wednesday are and hope to be.
Handed the captaincy by Garry Monk in the summer, Bannan had battled on through a nasty groin injury in the early stages of the year, taking injections to get him through. It’s just one example of just how much the Scot cares for the club he has been at since 2015.
Josh Windass
Narrowly squeezed out Massimo Luongo as the third player nomination, with the popular Aussie having suffered one-too-many injuries despite some quality displays. The energetic forward joined the club initially on loan at the end of January and did enough to convince Garry Monk to purchase him from Wigan for £500,000.
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Hide AdWindass is the club’s top scorer in 2020 with seven goals across all competitions and has worked hard in difficult circumstances at times, foraging up front on his own for much of the year. Support is on its way, you’d think.
Shay O’Grady
Simply put, Shay O’Grady is a little Sheffield Wednesday legend. The 10-year-old Wednesdayite has raised over £20,000 for Bluebell Wood Childrens’ Hospice this year, £34,000 in total. It’s an incredible sum of money that puts him among the biggest charity fundraisers in Yorkshire.
His highlight of 2020 came back in February when he took on a 6000-metre swim, a 14-mile walk and 14-mile bike ride to arrive in time for kick-off to watch the Owls at Barnsley, for which he raised £11,200.
The club and players – at both Wednesday and Sheffield United – have helped him throughout the year by donating items for auction and Shay also cycled the equivalent distance of Sheffield to Wembley by peddling from Hillsborough to Bramall Lane every day for 23 days, raising over £2,000.
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Hide AdHe’s also raised £500 for Sheffield Children’s Hospital to have a Christmas star emblazoned on the building and has big plans for more fundraising events in 2021.
You can read more and donate to Shay’s effort via his fundraising page HERE.