Inside the transformation of tired Sheffield Wednesday spaces with £6m project underway
A six-figure outlay has been committed to improving facilities at Sheffield Wednesday.
The reinvention of two hospitality spaces in particular will be among the major public-facing changes made as part of a £6m facility project at Sheffield Wednesday, club figures have announced.
An event held at Hillsborough’s 1867 Lounge on Monday evening saw the club’s new owners express their satisfaction with the work undertaken in just over six weeks of ownership, while pressing on with huge projects including the reinvention of the Owls’ commercial offering. The club has long since been accused of not exploring its commercial potential in recent decades, with fan feedback suggesting tired spaces were centrally to blame alongside unimaginative offerings neglected by ousted former owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The South Stand’s 1867 Lounge and Quixall Suite will undertake reinventions in the coming months, the former transforming into ‘Hirsty’s Social’ with matchdays hosted by incoming club ambassador David Hirst. The Quixall, which is situated beyond Dooley’s Restaurant to the right of the club’s reception area, will become ‘The Quixall Club’; a plush, high-end offering to be delivered in partnership with Surrey Street cocktail bar Public.
The changes come in an effort to drive a greater and more sustainable revenue with a more attractive offering to supporters and alongside major efforts to deliver rudimentary facilities to the stadium including effective running water and Wifi - as well as ongoing safety measures in the North Stand. Funds have been committed to the implementation of a new gym space at Middlewood Road alongside wider improvements to the training ground. The total commitment of this first wave of facility improvement comes to over £6m.
Artist impressions of the two new ‘premium’ spaces - which retail at £1,495 and £4,995 plus VAT respectively - are impressive and have received a warm reception from online Wednesday fans eager to see the club move towards the revenue-driving activity now routine in modern football. ‘Hirsty’s Social’ will take on a sports bar vibe and will house regularly rotated memorabilia in its entrance, with an extended bar area looking out onto the river Don. Over 300 spectators can be housed in the space and the club are engaged in the extension of existing licensing agreements.
The Quixall project has been assisted by Wednesday fan and Sheffield hospitality mogul James O’Hara, with designs provided by Arise-enlisted Peter & Paul and locally-based interior designer Jim Butterell. Speaking to a room of over 200 supporters, which included lapsed box holders and sponsors, Owls CEO David Bruce described it as ‘One of the coolest products in English football right now.’
Bruce said: “We know our premium experiences haven’t been good enough. We did a survey as we were coming in, trying to understand what you like and don’t like about those experiences and what needs to get better. The service needs to get better, environments need to get better, the food and beverage experience needs to get better and the way we talk about it needs to get better. So we’re going to get better and we’re going to start from this season onwards and build from there.
“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.”
Owls Foundation members received confirmation of the re-purposing of the 1867 Lounge shortly before the meeting via email, The Star understands. That £2-per-week take-up provided access to the Lounge among other perks - now alternative offerings are being considered as Wednesday look to greatly improve its commercial value.
The email reads in part: “We appreciate that this change will affect your matchday experience as a Foundation Member, and we understand that this may be disappointing. However, we hope you will appreciate the need to maximise the use of our facilities and the importance of enhancing revenue streams as we work to strengthen the club's future.
“We are currently assessing the potential of alternative arrangements and will update you in the coming weeks should any options become achievable.”
The wider future of Hillsborough appears to be set, with chairman David Storch asked on the new ownership’s plans for the stadium as part of a question and answer session. Speculation had surrounded whether other sites could be sought in the longer term. Storch suggested he didn’t think that to be necessary.
“Hillsborough stadium is a remarkable place,” Storch said. “In Chicago we have a stadium called Wrigley Field, which was born in 1914. The current owners came in and re-did the entire stadium, they took the guts of the stadium and brought it to life. That’s our thinking with Hillsborough. It’s a great stadium and we want to bring it to life.
“We have now shown some of the plans on the premium side and we want to carry that feel through the entire stadium. There’s a lot of space in the stadium that can be realised with some great opportunities and our job is to go ahead and capture those opportunities the best we can.”
Asked about the future of the West Stand, which houses a tragic history and has been the subject of controversy in recent seasons, Storch said: “We have a lot of thoughts on that. I can’t say we have anything concrete at this stage, but there is a lot of thought and a lot of discussion there.”
Just 45 days into the club’s new ownership, the plans act as the early stages of a short, medium and long-term strategy its owners are looking to put in place at S6. While the management structure of the club is taking shape with sporting director Simon Wilson officially appointed as of Monday, much work is yet to come on the implementation of a workable playing squad. Other important tasks are in the pipeline.
CEO Bruce said: “We’re mindful that actions speak louder than words. There are a lot of words coming out from our mouths, there has to be because we have to explain what we’re trying to do. But the actions that sit behind that are the most important. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction to prove a few of the things that we’ve been getting up to.
“We’ve been really thrilled with how the fan base and how the broader stakeholder community has been speaking about us and the football club... Hopefully we’ve given everyone a renewed sense of optimism over what’s possible and the journey we’ll go on together.”