José Semedo on THAT Sheffield Wednesday photo with Chris O'Grady

The 2011/12 season was one to remember for Wednesdayites everywhere as they completed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes to leapfrog local rivals, Sheffield United, and secure automatic promotion back into the Championship.

Fans will have so many amazing memories of that campaign under Gary Megson, but there’s one moment in particular that still gives their Portuguese ex-midfielder shivers when he thinks back.

“Now you talk about it, I remember it and I have goosebumps on my arms,” he told The Star. “It was a really big journey. Before we played against them we’d had a really tough time with results… Our ambition was to go to the Championship, and we were starting to lose places.

“When we played against them they had two games, and possibly six points, in hand. We needed to win to go level with them, but even then they’d have two games in hand.

“We truly believed that if we won, they’d be under pressure for their games in hand and anything could happen.”

It was February 26th and the Owls had lost three games on the bounce in League One, they were losing ground and defeat would’ve been another nail in their coffin with regards to their fight for automatic promotion.

“That game was a turning point for us in the season,” Semedo said. “We’d been through a lot of things, and that was a game where the manager was under pressure… If we’d lost, we’d heard before the game some rumours about his future. He was the man who brought me to the club.

“Before the game, I told the team when we got on the pitch, ‘Whatever happens today, there has to be only one winner – Sheffield Wednesday’. I told them we couldn’t lose or draw, and that there was a full stadium there to watch us and see us win.

“When I saw that goal go in, I was emotional. I went down on my knees to thank God for that big moment. I was wishing throughout the game for that moment.

“That was the most important season in my life.”

This article was first published in October 2020.