How David Storch dressing room visit motivated Sheffield Wednesday's players vs West Brom
Sheffield Wednesday marked the beginning of a new era with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon.
Sheffield Wednesday wing-back Sean Fusire has revealed he and his teammates were given a pre-match lift after new owner David Storch entered the home dressing room ahead of their 2-1 triumph over West Bromwich Albion at Hillsborough on Saturday.
Arise Capital Partners LLC - a US consortium governed by Storch - completed their takeover of the club on Friday and were officially introduced to the fans ahead of the win over the Baggies. Storch delivered his maiden speech as Wednesday owner, outlining just some of his plans, as well as revealing the club has avoided a 15-point deduction ahead of the start of next season.
It meant Wednesday, regardless of what followed on the pitch against James Morrison’s side, would be able to bring the curtain down on what could only be described as a nightmare campaign with hope and optimism that a brighter future is right around the corner.
The positive energy in the stands, strengthened by the pre-match announcement, trickled down onto the pitch and played its part in Wednesday securing their first victory since September and their first at Hillsborough in over a year, getting the job done via first half goals from Nathaniel Chalobah and Liam Palmer.
Wednesday had to withstand some late Baggies pressure to get the three points that meant they avoided finishing the campaign with a negative points tally, but Fusire revealed a pre-match pep talk from Storch put fire in the bellies of him and his teammates.
“David came into the changing room to give us a bit of a pep talk and just to get everyone excited about this new era,” Fusire told the club’s in-house media. “I think that really lifted us.
“In the last couple of minutes I had Palms (Palmer) just championing me, trying to get me to keep going when I was tired. We want to do the best that we can to bring this place to the places that it deserves to be.
“A stadium like this, a fan base like this, a club like this deserves to be in the top levels of football. We are going to do our best to do that, and we just want to say thank you.”
As well as hoping to avoid being relegated with a negative points tally, Owls manager Henrik Pedersen, several weeks ago, also set a target of ensuring Wednesday didn’t go down without failing to record a home win.
“We had been chasing it all year,” the Owls academy graduate added, reflecting on Wednesday’s first home win in more than 12 months. “We know above anyone how difficult and below par this season has been.
“We don’t want to make any excuses that there has been difficulties, but none of that means anything. We have played our part in it, too, and I just want to thank the fan base for getting behind us.
“There was a certain point in the season, and I can’t even pin it, but it just seemed like when you kind of expect everyone to drop out and give up, they double backed us. I just want to say thank you to the fan base, thank you to the club and thank you to God.
“We are looking forward to brighter days.”