Former Sheffield Wednesday star opens up on transfer, Chris Waddle and a team like an ‘Elegant Swan’

The midfielder joined the Owls in the summer of 1995, making his first appearance in the 3-1 UEFA Intertoto Cup win over Danish club, Aarhus, but it was in the 1996/97 season that he really came into his own, playing in a side alongside the likes of Benito Carbone, David Hirst and Des Walker.

Pembridge came in with fellow new players Dejan Stefanović, Darko Kovačević and cult-hero, Regi Blinker, but his first season was a tough one as David Pleat’s side went on to finish 15th in a topsy-turvy season that saw them beat reigning champions, Blackburn Rovers, in the second game – a match where their new Welsh midfielder scored his first goal, a late winner on his home debut, in the 83rd-minute.

Speaking to the Star about his switch from Derby County, which was reportedly worth around £900,000, the 49-year-old said, “My contract had run out, and the Bosman ruling hadn’t kicked in then, so you still had to go for a fee. I’d been at Derby for three years and felt like I needed a new challenge, and then you hear whispers, you know?

“It was round about that time that there were a lot of people trying to move, and it was just about waiting for the first one. I remember seeing in one paper that there was a link between six or seven of us, and it was just waiting on one person to trigger things before things fell into place. If he moves there then he moves there, sort of thing. That’s what it seemed like.”

Pembridge already had plenty of experience by the time he was snapped up by Pleat before the 1995/96 season, but what was it like for the Welshman stepping into a side with players like Chris Waddle when he arrived? “Incredible,” he says.

“Some of those players were at the top end of their career or just going the other side, and it was amazing seeing someone like Chris Waddle, who was probably coming to the end of it then, had lost a yard of pace but still managed to beat people. It was incredible.

“You look back and wonder what Chris must have been like in his prime, he must have been unbelievable. He seemed so slow, but was so quick when he got the ball, dropped a shoulder and cut inside.”

After Carbone had arrived in October 1996, one Italian became two the following year as Paolo di Canio came in for a then club record fee from Celtic, and Pembridge says they added the international gloss on top of a hard-working, British Wednesday midfield.

He remembers, fondly: “The two Italians were up front and, looking back, it was almost like ‘The Elegant Swan’ you know? Above the water you’ve got that pair, then below the water you’ve got me, Guy Whittingham, Jim Magilton and Peter Atherton in midfield. We had a good team spirit at that time.

“Paolo and Benny bought into the squad as well, they were good characters in the dressing room. They were quite funny, Paolo was hilarious.”

More than two decades on, the former midfielder still recalls the disappointment of the final day of the 1996/97 season as the Owls missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup on the final day.

Pembridge said, “Like I say, there was a really good atmosphere that year (1996/97), so it was disappointing on missing out getting into Europe that year. We needed to beat Liverpool on the last day to stand a chance, and they needed to beat us to get into the Champions League – but we drew.”

That year remains the Owls’ best finish in the modern era as they ended up in seventh place in the Premier League on 57 points with just nine defeats from 38 league games, and Pembridge scored six of their 50 goals while Chelsea snatched the other European spot spot with 59 points following a last day win over Everton.

And what’s the former Wednesday man up to now? He’s making his way up the coaching ladder at Fulham, currently working with their Under 23s, and says they’re waiting to hear what happens in the coming weeks.

“I do the Under 23s at Fulham now,” he said. “Obviously at the moment in lockdown we’re still having meetings and video calls with the boys, doing analysis sessions and end-of-season reviews ahead of next season. We’re trying to plan for ‘what if’.

“You’ve got to forward plan and get all these things ready so that when scenarios do happen you’ve got part of an answer.”

Pembridge played around 100 games for Wednesday before sealing a switch to Benfica in 1998 with whom he got the chance to play in the Champions League prior to a Premier League return with Everton.

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