"It's surreal" Sheffield Wednesday pair handed ultimate honours at awards ceremony
A mood of respect and gratitude hung over the OEC events space on Monday evening as two of Sheffield Wednesday’s most recognisable figures were honoured at 2025 The Star awards.
The annual event celebrates the very best in South Yorkshire football and sees current figures from across the region celebrated for their efforts. Wednesday’s Shea Charles picked up The Star’s Owls Player of the Year award to add to his club gong, before also being handed the region’s Young Player of the Season award.
The highlight of the evenings tend to be the induction to the Hall of Fame and the awarding of a Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year went to two Owls figures; Lee Bullen and Howard Wilkinson.
As skipper of the feted ‘Cardiff Kings’ side that won promotion from League One in 2005, Bullen was the leader of one of the most loved Wednesday sides in modern history. Later a firm fixture at the club as a coach both in the academy ranks and in the first team, he stepped up in times of need as a caretaker manager on three occasions before stepping into management in his own right 2022.
Last week he celebrated the remarkable survival effort of Boston United, where he has worked alongside fellow ex-Owls skipper Graham Coughlan to raise them from the bottom of the National League to secure fifth tier safety with a match to spare.
“I’ve been down here 21 years and 16 of those years were spent at Sheffield Wednesday in various different guises,” Bullen told The Star. “It wasn’t until before the awards that I sat there and thought about it all; it’s a long, long time. The city is in my blood now and I have good friends on both sides of the divide. I’ve taken Sheffield to my heart and last night suggests they’ve taken my to heart as well a little bit, which is a wonderful feeling.
“Some of the names of the guys who have won that award are proper legends of the game and it’s a given me a bit of imposter syndrome to be honest, I’m a bit embarrassed by it. Gordon Banks is one of them, Emlyn Hughes. These are proper, proper internationals with World Cups and First Division titles. It’s a wee bit weird for a wee guy who came down from Scotland and won promotion from the third division. It’s surreal.”
Bullen shared the night with Lifetime Achievement honouree Wilkinson, whose remarkable life in football is so indelibly entwined with Wednesday, having gone from supporter to player and from manager to chairman. The Scot shared time coaching in the Owls academy with Howard’s son Ben and asked about the legendary figure - the last English manager to win the top tier of English football - he recalled his phone buzzing during his second stint as Wednesday caretaker boss.
“He sent me a text to say I had done a great job and was so supportive,” Bullen remembered. “I thought it was someone poking fun to be honest, so I had to text Ben and make sure it was his dad’s number! The fact he took time to drop me a text message as I’d been thrown into the deep end really took me aback.
“He’s just a wonderful, wonderful guy and he has a wonderful family. I’m just surprised it hasn’t been done before, I thought he’d been at the head of the list 10 years ago to be honest, with everything he did for Wednesday and has done for the game.”
In jovial mood when receiving the award, Wilkinson said on-stage: “First of all, it’s a feeling of surprise in terms of lifetime achievement because if I read the history books of football, I’ve never won the Champions League I don’t think, I’ve never won the World Cup, I did top the First Division once. I thank everyone for their over-exaggeration of my talents!”
After a video message from Gordon Strachan, former Wednesday forward John Pearson and ex-United midfielder Chris Kamara both stood on stage to pay tribute to Wilkinson’s impact on their careers - and more importantly on their development as human beings. The pair were both managed by the now 81-year-old and both spoke glowingly on a ‘father figure’.
“Bovine excreta!” Wilkinson replied with deadpan face and beat-perfect comic timing. “Which roughly translated, means...
“As I have said on many occasions, I have spent my whole life being employed in football, but I’ve never worked a day in my life. I count myself as a very lucky person.”