It feels like fans are starting to get their Sheffield Wednesday back… - Joe Crann’s column

Now though, with the first home game in League One on the horizon, everything seems different. It seems, dare I say, positive?

And there’s a number of reasons for that…

Darren Moore is a big factor. I don’t remember an appointment that was so widely condoned by the fanbase. Even with Steve Bruce, I’m not sure anybody saw him as a man that they’d happily see in charge of the club for years to come. But with Moore, everyone is part of the project now.

Another is Liam Dooley. I’ve seen first-hand how hard the Owls’ new young Chief Operating Officer works – and you can see with all of the things that have happened in the last couple of months that the club are already seeing the fruits of his labour.

He’s not alone, of course. He’s working with a team in the background at Hillsborough. But with the new kit launch, the ‘Evening with Darren Moore’, the across the board dropping of ticket/box prices, and increased sponsorship options – it feels like Wednesday are desperate to find their roots again.

It was needed. Nobody would argue against that. But Dejphon Chansiri looks to be backing his appointments with what they need to thrive, and – on the face of things so far – it seems to be working.

The corporate boxes – many of which have stood dormant for years now – are apparently almost sold out. Season ticket sales are among the highest in the entire division. There’s been a clamour for new Macron kits after a very successful kit launch. Matchday prices were given the thumbs up by most of the fan base, and the recent ‘Evening with Darren Moore’ went down a treat and gave some supporters the opportunity to get to know their gaffer better.

And that’s before you even look at the actual football dealings.

Chansiri absolutely cannot be accused of not backing Moore to the hilt over the summer. Not only has the recruitment – spearheaded by the Owls boss and Head of Recruitment, David Downes – been impressive, but new contracts for Josh Windass and Sam Hutchinson shows that the club is being proactive in terms of protecting their assets and keeping their players happy.

It’s all been very low-risk, potentially high reward. So if nothing else, the Owls won’t find themselves in the same kind of financial mess that came about because of their last promotion push (out of the Championship).

It’s early days, obviously. And we all know how quickly the tide can turn. But the work being done at Hillsborough right now does suggest a change for the better, and should have long-term benefits to everybody involved.

At his event at S6 last week, Moore referred to the club as a family – a family that everybody associated with SWFC belongs to. And for the first time in a while, it’s starting to feel that way.

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