Exclusive:Dejphon Chansiri, Ryan Reynolds and his exit - Wrexham man Josh Windass breaks silence on Sheffield Wednesday
In an exclusive interview with The Star, former Sheffield Wednesday star Josh Windass has spoken about his departure from the club for the first time.
The attacker signed for Championship colleagues Wrexham shortly after a shock Hillsborough exit was facilitated by the mutual termination of his contract along with fellow promotion winner Michael Smith, now of Preston North End. Both players exercised options to push through on the cancellation of their deals having been paid late several times over the course of the previous months amid still ongoing financial turbulence at the club.
Windass, 31, is a modern icon of Wednesday having become the club’s most prolific figure of the current century thanks to a record of 53 goals and 23 assists across his 182 appearances for the Owls. His diving header at Wembley in May 2023 took the club back into the Championship in dramatic circumstances as Wednesday beat Barnsley 1-0 in the League One play-off final. A formative five-and-a-half seasons at S6 are ones he looks back on fondly.
“It was incredible,” he told The Star. “I feel like I did really well for them and they were really good for me. In terms of the supporters, players and managers I worked with, I hope I've got that relationship you’d want after such a long time at one club. All the physios, masseurs, Ash the kit man, they're amazing. The time I had at that club was great for me and I'm really happy to be where I am now, but I'm also so grateful for what the club gave me across those five years.”
The difficult nature of Windass’ double departure with Smith served as a landmark moment in what has continued to be a desperately difficult summer at Wednesday that has seen him and a host of other key names move on from the crisis club.
The ex-Rangers man had alluded to fresh contract talks midway through a final Owls season that returned a career-high 13 Championship goals and despite later seeming to suggest a likely exit at the end of his one-year deal, May saw a year’s option on his agreement with the club extended into the current campaign. Two months later his deal was terminated and his long Wednesday spell was over.
“I had a conversation in the January about it (a new contract),” he told The Star on the confusion around the status of his Wednesday future in the second half of last season. “When I signed my contract last summer, I took a bit of a pay cut because the season before I had an injury. That was on the terms that if I was playing a lot and scoring goals, I would be offered a new contract.
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“For whatever reason that never materialised and so I lost the trust behind that plan. The word was broken, so I just carried on playing and did my job. I knew from then that at the end of that season it was time to leave, I did my job and gave it everything but that promise was broken. I decided to move on and I'm delighted to be here (at Wrexham) now.”
The display of solidarity shown by Wrexham supporters towards Wednesday’s plight earlier this month offered a glimpse towards the club’s history beyond the more glitzy recent showbiz image brought about by documentary crews and the Hollywood touch of actor owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.
Some Wednesdayites were surprised by Windass’ choice of club following his Owls exit but it’s clear he sees a potential route to the Premier League in North Wales, a feeling backed by the multi-million pound signing spree that brought in the likes of internationals Nathan Broadhead, Keiffer Moore and Conor Coady as well as Ben Sheaf, Callum Doyle, Lewis O’Brien and Dominic Hyam.
On Wrexham’s owners, Windass said: “They're great guys. They both sent me a little text after I got injured and that, which is a nice touch. They're really personal and you wouldn't think Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds when you speak to him, he's just the nicest guy. They ask about my family and stuff, nothing about football, they're just genuine fellas.
“They've been winning non-stop for three years and now to get here where the next step is the promised land as they say. If I can do that it would be great. I've been trying to do that in the last few years with Wednesday but obviously it wasn't to be. I've come here and there's a group that has had so many millions on them to give it a crack, that's what I'm here for.”
Windass is expected back from injury in the next couple of weeks and will hope to jump back into an opening flash of form that saw someone with the experience of Coady publicly express the impression he had made on his new teammates. Wrexham’s spend of more then £30m represents a summer that has so coldly contrasted with that of Windass’ former club, where many of his best friends in football have continued. The Owls’ struggle is one that the 31-year-old is keeping a close eye on with no little anguish.
Asked whether the situation at Wednesday hurts him, he said: “It does. When I was at the club I got on with the chairman and his family. It’s easy for me to say now and I know I might get hammered by the fans for this, but I do believe they care about the club. The way it’s been run the last couple of years, it might be difficult to believe that, because of the trouble they’re in. Obviously the situation seems to have got on top of people.
“Everything in football comes in cycles and Sheffield Wednesday will turn it around. A club with that fan base of that size, it's inevitable that that club will turn around one way or another. It's a strong team, though obviously the depth isn't where you'd want it to be. The team they have out there with the experience of Baz, Max, Yan is going to be good. But it's sad, you want to see a team like that doing what we (Wrexham) are, but obviously that's not always the case.
“I want the club to do really well. If we were fighting it out for first and second that would be amazing, if we were both fighting for the play-offs that would be amazing. But I just want the club to get back on its feet and you can see with the supporters, they deserve that.”