“A grown man shouldn’t be crying” - Sheffield Wednesday fans on the plight of the club
In the aftermath of what has been an emotional season, amidst a cancelled takeover bid and a downbeat Sheffield derby weekend, I took a walk around Hillsborough and spoke to locals about their thoughts on Sheffield Wednesday at this moment in time.
“Deep depression at this great city club, I’m not a Unitedite but they’re making me feel like I am at this very minute.”
If a few words could encapsulate the mood being elicited following the confirmation of Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation from the Championship, it would only be right to begin with the words of a Hillsborough local and avid Sheffield Wednesday fan who shared his emotions on a decidedly downcast afternoon.
“How did you feel when the game kicked off?”, I asked. “It’s Roy Orbison, it’s over… I thought it was going to be a riot”, he said. Before continuing...
“A grown man shouldn’t be crying”, he stated as he lamented the state of his beloved club.
There's no way of getting around the fact that it has been one heck of a tough season, across the board.
Usually in situations where a club finds itself relegated, talk turns to beginning a post-mortem of sorts. But for the Owls that's not really necessary, it's something we've been doing all season long. Fans could have been forgiven for having already thrown the towel in before the Steel City derby even kicked off - the writing had been daubed (not merely written) on the wall for a while now.
“I was expecting a cricket score against Sheffield United”
Another local, who was taking a jog through the rain-sodden Hillsborough Park initially didn’t want to speak, but when I told him what I was doing he slowed to a canter before turning back. He wanted to have his say as well, and he had some thoughts on his beloved club.
“Well, going into the game I was expecting a cricket score, four or five nil just because of the difference in the teams, y’know? Their’s on paper is a lot stronger than ours, we’re just filled with kids and inexperience. I come away from the game and I know we lost 2-1 but it weren’t bad.
“After the first 20 minutes, I thought it was going to be five nil, six nil, it were going to be on the cards but fair play to the lads for sticking at it and not giving up. They could have easily downed tools, couldn’t they?”
“I go to every home game with my little lad, it’s very depressing going to a game when you know you’re not going to get owt. Luckily my lad still wants to go, but the last time they played United I think he missed the game after. But he stuck with it and still wants to go next year, so we’ll be getting a season ticket again.”
A father with his young family stopped to speak with me briefly, his better half carried on ahead with the kids in tow.
“Obviously dejected,” he says, “but we knew it was coming. It was something we expected as fans. Was I surprised? Erm, no. I think this season was just a write-off to be honest.
“It was just a shambles, it was great that we got him (Chansiri) out, eventually. The damage was already done. But it had been coming a long time. It’s something that y’know, I’ve got a child. I remember the glory days of Di Canio, Benito Carbone, those days are long gone.”
He releases a nervous laugh as he looks over his shoulder at a football stadium he clearly cherishes, where many dreams have been realised and subsequently crushed over the years.
“I’m looking to see what happens with the takeover. There’s still a bit of an um ahh about that,” he said.
“I’m hoping that we can rebuild for the future. That we can get somebody in, stabilise the club and start building.”
Hope remains at Sheffield Wednesday despite the misery
It’s a theme that came up time and time again as I spoke to some more fans of their local club, despite the prolonged period of uncertainty and dire straits, one of hope, one of rebuilding. A relief even that confirmation of the club’s fate came sooner rather than prolonged further - even if that confirmation came from the boot of their bitter rivals.
Another Wednesdayite chose to share his thoughts, after taking a brief moment to take in the question he answered.
“I think for myself, being a Wednesday fan. The result was more of a relief to be honest. I was watching the clock down from one minute and when United scored after the first minute, I thought, ‘Oh my word, this could actually be a cricket score’, considering everything that Wednesday has gone through this season,” he said.
“I wasn’t worried about United relegating us, I think Wednesday has been relegated long before they stood a foot inside Bramall Lane. I think it was all the consequences around the club, and things like that that’s happened, points deductions, sanctions, players leaving.
“We just need to get to the end of the season, which is really sad. But it was more of a relief 2-1, it wasn’t a drubbing and there was a point I thought when United went down to 10-men that Wednesday had a chance to really get it. Again the quality is just not there for obvious reasons.”
A few other locals that I spoke to, who didn’t really want to be interviewed but were more than happy to have a general conversation, lamented the steady and then rapid decline of the club.
“Before Chansiri, I used to get a season ticket all the time. I remember getting a three-year one for £1,200. And then after that ran out prices went up to £600 a year. It’s a lot when you’ve got two lads who want to go as well. Then if you’re going to away games as well, it’s travel, hotels, booze… it’s a lot. But I stopped going, and I’m glad Chansiri is gone. What he’s done to the club, it’s a disgrace. I hope it gets better and that preferred buyer takes over,” they said.
A solitary man fishing at the pond in the park didn’t really want to talk at all, but he did anyway… if briefly.
“I think Mike Ashley should come in and buy ‘em”
“I’m embarrassed, I’m annoyed, I don’t want to really talk about it. It’s a joke. Hopefully the takeover is sorted,” he says, referencing recent revelations regarding the takeover process of the club.
“I think Mike Ashley should come in and buy ‘em. He did alright at Newcastle, didn’t he?”
After the Steel City derby, and in many cases beforehand, much of the attention has been on what is going on during the club’s current administration process. The preferred bidder, former professional poker player James Bord, who was chosen back in December pulled out earlier this week, throwing the future of the club into the air once again.
The jogger had this to say about the takeover state-of-play: “The club is under a microscope now with the regulator coming in. So hopefully they aren’t going to get it wrong and will get the right owners in. Then, we’ll go again. We just need the right people in.
“There’s a lot of work to do at the club, the infrastructure, the playing squad, it’s not going to be three, four, months down the line that we’re going to be flying again because obviously there’s a lot of work that needs to go into the club. Hopefully we get those foundations right, get the club right, get the academy right, and we need to build from the bottom up.”
His view was echoed by others I spoke to, with another fan local-singer Paul Pashley chiming in to say: “It would be nice to get a new ownership sooner rather than later. It’s been a terrible season, the squad has been stripped of absolutely everything. Even the best youth players have been sold. It feels like being kicked in the teeth every two minutes.
“I hope that we get another owner in very quickly to stabilise the club. Put all the foundations in place to build from the ground upwards. I’d prefer it if there wasn’t loads of money being thrown at players on the pitch. I’d like to see a new infrastructure, arguably a new training ground facility, which brings it up. The stadium getting a much needed facelift and then maybe stabilised by being in League One for a season or so, we need it to be done right, we need a great owner and one that understands the fans.”
“I just hope that bright times are ahead with the takeover”, says the jogger as he puts his earphones back in and sets off on another lap of Hillsborough Park.
What is clear though is this right now is yet another moment in a prolonged period of uncertainty. How will the squad look going into next season? Not sure. Will the ownership issue be resolved soon? Again, it doesn’t seem so certain.
All we can say is that without the support of the club's fans like those I spoke to on my walk around the area, as well as those who turned up when the club needed it most (both on the pitch and in the off-field roles), all of this would be for nothing.
And it's really not...
The first person I spoke to, the older gentleman suitably summed up the mood.
“I know this club will pull it around, this great club will always be beautiful…I’m breaking up now.”
A noticeable crack appears in his voice, as he pushes down the hurt.
We both turn from our view across Hillsborough Park across the road to the place where everything has taken place. He didn’t have to say another word; the shared silence said it all.