Sheffield Wednesday are making subtle, modern improvements around their facilities

The Owls’ training ground and changing room areas have been given a much-needed spruce up.

For many years Hillsborough and Middlewood Road have looked tired and been in need of some care and attention, as well as modernising. It won’t happen overnight, but the new owners have been determined to do what they can in a short space of time this summer to give the place new energy.

And that is exactly what they done. Announcing the improvements with a ‘pride in our identity’ message, the club has released images showing Wednesday’s iconic badge on the outside of their Middlewood base, while the changing areas have also been freshened up with the badge and players’ names, and club branding now appears on neat boards around the edge of training pitches. The changes may only be small but they represent more than that after years and years of declining standards.

Hospitality areas are also being given a facelift. The South Stand’s 1867 Lounge and Quixall Suite are undergoing renovations, the former transforming into ‘Hirsty’s Social’ with matchdays hosted by Owls legend David Hirst. The Quixall will become ‘The Quixall Club,’ a plush, high-end offering.

Chief executive officer, David Bruce, previously said: “It is a summer of investment. We have committed around £6m to improve the stadium and the training ground, which is a significant amount in facilities that dearly need it. It’s not going to be a lot of sexy stuff, but it’s going to be stuff that helps foundationally to move this club in the right direction.

“As David (Storch) famously said, the guy who owned the club before said we’d be in the Premier League within two years - David said we’d have running water for you next season. It shows you where we have to go to as a football club, you need these foundational elements in place before we can build and grow. And we want to build and grow this great club.”