Why Steve Bruce was left ‘baffled’ after Sheffield Wednesday's draw at Millwall

Sheffield Wednesday manager Steve Bruce has questioned why referee Tim Robinson ordered the Owls to play in their home kit against Millwall.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Bruce felt Wednesday's blue strip clashed with the Lions colours in Tuesday's goalless draw at The Den.

He stressed: "It was the referee's call. We were bamboozled at four o'clock when we got the phone call and the referee chose the blue and white.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I have always thought they (Millwall) played in dark blue so you better get the referee up here and question him. It was certainly a strange decision but there you go."

Owls manager Steve BruceOwls manager Steve Bruce
Owls manager Steve Bruce

Bruce said the Owls expected to wear their yellow kit.

"We were absolutely shocked that we didn't play in yellow," he admitted. "Apparently we have got a navy stripe down the sleeve and I think he (the referee) wasn't happy with that so you better go and ask him but I was baffled."

Bruce, firmly tongue in cheek, said: "For all the fans going home, I think that is the excuse. The colour clash is why we kept passing it to them!"

The 58-year-old criticised Wednesday's first half showing against lowly Millwall as the Owls struggled to create chances as an attacking force.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The first half left a lot to be desired," he said. "We changed the formation in the second and that helped us.

"The big thing to have when you come to Millwall is to have the courage to take the ball and we just got sucked into going from back to front far too early and didn't take part in the game at all in terms of trying to get a hold of the ball and trying to play.

"Any team of mine is always encouraged to play and I think we got that message across in the second half. All of a sudden, we were a different animal. It was good that we got the response because if we hadn't we would have got rolled over."

Bruce has also paid tribute to England's 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who died on Tuesday.

"I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of times over the years," he said. "He was a wonderful icon of the English game."

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.