Peter, Stuart and thousands more: an empty Hillsborough and what that will mean to Sheffield Wednesday supporters

Chesterfield, November 2010. As the snow came hurtling down, worried colleagues began packing their things and heading off for fear of being snowed in.
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One by one, mumbled excuses were made as they tip-toed to their cars, fearful that they wouldn’t be able to get back home. The afternoon grew dark and the frames around the office windows began to build up as thick snowfall continued to batter the glass.

In his corner of the office Sheffield Wednesday fan Stuart Laver sat firm, one eye on the clock. As the hours ticked by folk said their hurried goodbyes and the room grew emptier.

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All of a sudden, the time came to rush off to the car himself. The snow was several inches deep by this time and the now-47-year-old carefully made his way across the white-over car park.

Safe passage secured, he turned the ignition and slowly set off. To a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area final match at Carlisle United.

“My boss said I was an idiot,” he laughs looking back on one of the more ambitious of his away days in a lifelong obsession with the club, “It was stupid, but it’s just what I do.”

It was one of a run of 1,208 home and away matches in which Stuart has missed only one. Sheffield Wednesday lost 3-1.

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Along the way Stuart picked up his away day compadre and partner-in-crime Peter Law, a man 20 years his senior but with whom shares a firm friendship through the prism of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. Saturday’s behind-closed-doors season restart against Nottingham Forest on Saturday will be the first home league match Peter has not been in the stands for since 1987.

Stuart Laver (left) and Peter Law have been travelling to Sheffield Wednesday matches together for 13 years. Here they are pictured on the Owls' pre-season trip to Portugal last year.Stuart Laver (left) and Peter Law have been travelling to Sheffield Wednesday matches together for 13 years. Here they are pictured on the Owls' pre-season trip to Portugal last year.
Stuart Laver (left) and Peter Law have been travelling to Sheffield Wednesday matches together for 13 years. Here they are pictured on the Owls' pre-season trip to Portugal last year.

It’ll be only the fifth home match he’s not attended at all since his first year as a season ticket holder 50 years ago. He keeps a strict record of his Wednesday streak and has been to 2,928 first-team matches as well as 413 reserve and youth teams games. All-in, he’s been to 79 Owls matches at all levels this season alone.

“Being a part-timer I also missed a League Cup game in October 1990,” chuckles Peter, a club historian and contributor to the matchday programme. “That was the last home game of any sort I missed at Hillsborough.

“I'm just a lifelong fan, it runs in the blood. I live and breathe the club, I love everything about it, the history, the tradition. It becomes a social thing as well, I've met tremendous people over the years and made firm friends. It's that common bond, I love that about it.

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“I go to every away game and I've actually only missed one game anywhere in the world in the last 14 years, but that was unfortunately in October 2017 when my wife died.”

It was in 2007 that the two men began travelling across the country together when Peter’s wife Pam, also a lifelong Wednesdayite and home-and-away supporter, sadly became too ill to visit matches.

The pair have been on pre-season tours across Europe and last year flew in and out of Portugal within 24 hours to watch the Owls’ breezy 2-0 win over Shrewsbury. They followed it up with the six-day mini-tour of Germany. Peter has watched Wednesday play in Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Malta and Austria.

Father-of-two Stuart, whose one missed fixture in over 24 years came with the birth of his first born, said: “It's not just about football, is it? It's the day's enjoyment seeing your mates.

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“We used to sit near Peter and it was around the time his wife stopped going that started coming along with us. That's how I got to know him better. He's just a properly nice man and we’re good mates. Though he doesn’t need me to, I like to check in on him regularly to see how he's getting on.

“This weekend will be really frustrating for us like so many others. I've watched the games on telly without a crowd and it's just not right, is it?

“Football means so much not just to the fans but the communities. It drives a community's economy and everything. It's so frustrating and surreal.”

The separating nature of the coronavirus crisis means of course that the two will not be able to watch the game together. Peter watches home games in the South Stand with his brother Roger, Stuart with some pals not far away in the same stand.

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The younger man has plans to watch the match at a safe social distance with those friends in one of their gardens. Though he’ll be on his own in compliance with health guidelines, Peter is looking forward to settling down in front of the television to watch Sheffield Wednesday play football at Hillsborough.

It’ll be the first time he’s ever done that and it serves as the latest in half a century of new experiences with the blue and white wizards.

“One of the best games I've ever seen was when we beat Manchester United 5-4 in 1968 not long after they'd won the European Cup,” Peter said. “Everyone acknowledged at the time that it was probably the best game that had ever been at Hillsborough.

“In terms of pure atmosphere, the playoff game against Brighton was incredible. I've never seen it before or since. That's a really great memory.

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“I just never miss a game. I've never even listened to game at Hillsborough on the radio. This whole thing is surreal.

“The club been as fair as they can. I shall be watching the game on iFollow and there are obviously games on Sky. I'll watch but there's nothing like being there.”

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