I won't forget my son's first Sheffield Wednesday game for many reasons - but one means more than the others
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It was planned many months ago - but my son’s first Sheffield Wednesday game couldn’t have been picked any better
It was supposed to be a quiet end-of-season game with not much to play for and the sun back out.
A limited Hillsborough crowd to mark the end of a truly disastrous season, for reasons everyone knows but nobody wants to go through again. A nice, steady, introduction to the world of Sheffield Wednesday for my three-year-old son Seth. That was the plan.
At least that was the rational when my wife and I spoke about taking him to his first game in January. The thought back then was he was still a little too young and the days a little too wet and dark for him to really enjoy it, so we’d wait until better weather and West Brom on the final day was pencilled in diaries.
But what actually came to pass was a different type of day entirely.
Seth can now forever say his first Sheffield Wednesday game was the historic moment new ownership was announced on the pitch pre-match. He can forever say he saw the only home win of the season. He can forever say that his first game was a packed-out Hillsborough manifesting a red-hot Honolulu.
Whether he ends up being a football fanatic or not in the long-term is something that will eventually come to pass, but if I had the choice of an atmosphere for his first match, something to show you the ‘Old Girl’ at her best - then Saturday’s 2-1 season finale win against West Brom would be the one for I’d have chosen for him.
Smiles on faces, colourful outfits, unified chanting and lots to celebrate, It was a day of fresh starts, of reaching 0 points on the last day, or knowing you’ll start the next season on the same as everyone else. It was historic enough before now forever being my son’s first game.
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I have to say at this point it was also my youngest son, Otis’s first game too. However, being just two-months-old, there won’t be much to remember. That said, all of the above applies and the fact the brothers shared that game, with their mum and dad as well, will always mean the world to me.
There were moments of boredom (as you’d expect with a youngster). There were distractions (balloons), and more important things to watch (the big scoreboard), but knowing that the whole Cawthorn Clan was there to witness David Storch’s unveiling as owner will forever be a talking point in our family.
He was excited to see the pitch as we entered the ground, as you can see in the video of his little legs tramming it up the stairs at the top of this page, he got into the party spirit and enjoyed his pre-match sausage roll. I’m not sure a Tuesday night match in December against Bromley will have the same allure without the inflatables and the face paint, but it’s a first step on the long and winding road of Wednesday fandom.
Seth says he wants to go again, and after a first game, I think that’s all any Wednesday-loving dad can ask for.
On a historical day of firsts and new beginnings, one meant more to me than all the others put together, despite how wonderful they are too.