I watched Barry Bannan throughout his Sheffield Wednesday career - and it was a privilege
Barry Bannan’s time at Sheffield Wednesday has come to an end, ending ten-and-a-half years of unrivalled continuity, but Owls supporters will always be eternally grateful.
Some breakups are harder than others.
For Sheffield Wednesday and their supporters, the departure of Barry Bannan is going to require quite some time to come to terms with.
After ten-and-a-half years at Hillsborough, his Owls career came to an end on Wednesday, marking a sad day in the club’s rich and colourful history. After 477 appearances in Wednesday colours, the wheels have, unfortunately, fallen off.
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With his exit confirmed, Wednesday have lost their captain, their talisman, their leader, their cornerstone, their best player and their chief symbol of continuity from the past decade. As one caller on BBC Radio Sheffield’s Football Heaven put it last Friday night, it is like losing a family member. That is how much Bannan means to Wednesdayites.
Getting used to watching Wednesday without him is going to take quite some getting used to. For supporters of a certain age, his presence in midfield is all they have ever known.
The word ‘legend’ is often thrown around willy-nilly in football nowadays with players being associated with that particular tag when they have done very little to earn it. However, Bannan is worthy of that label for a magnitude of reasons relating to his work both on and off the pitch throughout his time at Hillsborough.
The former Crystal Palace man, who joined the Owls back in August 2015, becoming the 15th and final signing of a memorable summer transfer window, has etched his name in Wednesday folklore for his efforts, desire, commitment and talent. There is unlikely to be another Wednesday player, certainly with the way football has evolved in the last 30 years, that lives up to Bannan’s billing in terms of the loyalty and dedication he showed.
After establishing himself as a key member of the squad Carlos Carvalhal assembled in 2015/16, so nearly helping the Owls end their Premier League exile by reaching the Championship play-off final, Bannan’s importance and influence only grew from there.
After spending his first two seasons at Hillsborough donning the No.41 shirt, he was awarded the No.10 shirt ahead of the start of the 2017/18 campaign. Retaining that shirt number up until the end of his Owls career, its next proprietor is going to have big shoes to fill. Very, very big shoes, in fact.
Boasting one of the greatest left foots to have ever graced the Hillsborough playing surface, Bannan was a player of tremendous technical ability. His trademark turn, which often left opposing defenders chasing shadows, was just a small nugget of what he brought to the table.
Even at the ripe old age of 36 he still has the quality and capability to make his mark at this level. After all, that is why he has joined a team sitting fifth in the table and dreaming of a first top flight appearance since 1990.
Even in a battered and bruised Wednesday team this season, he has still created 52 chances in the Championship - a tally only three players in the division have bettered this season.
Although Wednesdayites will always be eternally grateful, it remains astonishing the club managed to keep hold of him for two seasons in League One earlier this decade. However, that was a symbol of Bannan’s fondness for a club he, and later his family, not least his daughter, Elsie, fell in love with.
Offers to leave S6 in favour of a more lucrative career higher up the food chain came and went, including last summer when there was no guarantee Bannan would pick up a wage at the end of the month, but he chose to stay.
Opportunities to join Brentford in 2020 and 2021, offering him the prospect of a return to the Premier League - a destination Wednesday had come so close to reaching in each of the Scot’s first two seasons at the club - came and went. However, Bannan’s heart was in Sheffield.
The 2021/22 campaign saw Wednesday come within a whisker of an immediate return to the Championship after relegation 12 months earlier. Those images of Bannan lying flat on his back at Pride Park, his face covered as he tried to hold back the tears, were the driving force behind his desire to return Wednesday to the second tier at the first opportunity.
After Sunderland quashed that dream, another summer transfer window came and went, but Bannan remained in S6. Sporting the captain’s armband as permanent Wednesday skipper for a third season, the goal was clear: get Wednesday back into to the Championship.
Despite playing his part in a historic 23-game unbeaten league run, Wednesday fell short of the automatic promotion places, meaning they faced the lottery of the play-offs for a second season running. For Bannan, it was a fourth play-off campaign in Wednesday colours, following failed attempts in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2021/22.
Wednesday and Bannan went about it the hard way, but it proved to be fourth time lucky for the Scot, and in some style, as the Owls produced the greatest comeback in play-off history, recovering from a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Peterborough United to reach Wembley and eventually beat Barnsley to secure their place back in the Championship.
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Bannan’s pass to find Marvin Johnson, who then found the head of Aden Flint, who knocked the ball down for Liam Palmer to make it 4-0 and 4-4 on aggregate in the Miracle of Hillsborough, was a moment that sums the former Aston Villa man up as a player. At that point in the game, with the season on the line, most players would have hoofed the ball back into the box in a desperate attempt to find the head of a Wednesday player.
Instead, Bannan noticed Johnson in a better position to produce a better quality of cross. That is Bannan at his best, spotting something very few others don’t on a football pitch. With that pass, which some might consider as a pre, pre-assist, Hillsborough, seconds later, exploded.
As Palmer and several of his teammates went running towards the corner flag on the South Stand side of the Leppings Lane end, Bannan went sprinting over towards the North Stand, arms outstretched.
After then dispatching his penalty in the shootout to help send Wednesday to Wembley, he was serenaded by his teammates underneath the South Stand. Pulled to one side to conduct a post-match interview with Sky Sports’ David Craig, his teammates, banging their hands against the dressing room outer wall, produced a chorus of ‘We’ve got Bannan’ in the background, symbolising the role he had played in making the impossible possible.
Not hearing that song at games anymore is going to be strange in itself.
Bannan, after all, had tried to drill belief into his teammates that the most unlikely of comebacks was possible. He later confessed he knew a comeback was on as soon as he had walked off the pitch at London Road six days earlier.
The Miracle of Hillsborough and the victory over Barnsley at Wembley later that month will stand out in Bannan’s mind, one would think. However, it is virtually impossible to recall just how many special moments have been associated with the Scot over the last ten-and-a-half years. He was, of course, instrumental in another miracle 12 months later, playing a key role in helping Wednesday avoid an immediate return to League One 12 months later under Danny Röhl, who masterminded the greatest of great escapes.
Trophies and promotions often define a player’s career, or indeed their stint at one club, but Bannan didn’t need silverware to secure his place in Wednesday folklore. His dedication, commitment, loyalty, professionalism and work in the local community was enough.
As a lifelong Wednesday supporter, who was born just under 12 months before the club dropped out of the Premier League, I am, unfortunately, not old enough to remember the success of the 1990s. I never got the opportunity to see the likes of Roland Nilsson, Chris Waddle, John Sheridan and David Hirst make their mark and write their names into the Wednesday history books.
It means, as a now-26-year-old Owls supporter, Bannan will forever hold a special place in my heart as one of the best I can say I have seen. Fernando Forestieri, back in 2015/16, with his glitz and his glamour was special. Kieran Lee was a fantastic player, directly responsible for some of my fondest memories. Others, too, such as Marcus Tudgay, are remembered with fondness.
None, though, are comparable to Bannan, who, I must confess, I will desperately miss watching week-in, week out.
He was consistent for the whole of his Wednesday career, regularly standing out like a sore thumb as the Owls’ main man. He was also incredibly consistent, reliable and a joy to watch every time he pulled on the blue and white stripes. Furthermore, he was also capable of scoring the occasional worldie. My personal favourite will always be his strike against MK Dons in April 2022.
On a professional note, Bannan, after I ventured into the world of journalism around a decade ago, was always a pleasure to deal with. Whether it was a post-match chat in the old mixed zone underneath the South Stand, or at Owls in the Park just a stone’s throw away from what became Bannan’s second home, he never declined an interview request, always proving polite, honest, open and up front.
In my opinion, Bannan is the greatest Wednesday player my generation has seen. He will always be a Wednesday legend in my eyes.
If you have chosen to read to the end, I am going to sign off by wishing Bannan nothing but the very best for the future. Players come and go, but very few leave a lasting legacy like the one Bannan has. It really was a privilege.
Captain. Leader. Legend.