Sheffield Wednesday

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Wales Under-19 striker Will Grainger is attracting interest from Everton.

Grainger made his first start for Sheffield Wednesday in their final-day win against Norwich.

The previous week he scored his first senior goal in a 4-1 defeat at Oxford.

The highly-rated 17-year-old is likely to be part of Wales' squad when it hosts the European Under-19 Championships later this month.

While Sheffield Wednesday are hoping to hold contract talks with Grainger, Everton are across the situation. It is inevitable there will be wider interest should the player, who took over the captaincy of Wednesday's under-21 side earlier this season, excel in group stage games against Spain, Germany and Denmark.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Getty Images

One of the things Leeds United do well is look after their own.

I've spoken to ex-Leeds players who speak highly of how often they're invited back to Elland Road. They're looked after. They're put in a position to engage with fans, who love seeing their former heroes.

During Dejphon Chansiri's ownership of Sheffield Wednesday, that didn't happen at Hillsborough. It was a frequent talking point.

It wasn't Chansiri's biggest mistake, clearly. But it was still a mistake.

People like Chris Waddle, David Hirst, Carlton Palmer, John Sheridan - they should have been regulars at Hillsborough and treated with the upmost respect.

Wednesday don't have a laundry list of legends, given they've not been in the top flight for 26 years and counting. At least look after the ones you've got.

The club's last true period of glory was the early 90s – where they won the League Cup, finished third in the top flight and played in two more cup finals.

Wednesday's lack of success since has, if anything, made the efforts of the players from that era all the more fabled.

At other local clubs things have been different. Tony Currie is a regular at Bramall Lane and celebrated by Sheffield United, with a stand named in his honour.

Ronnie Moore, the King of Rotherham United, is genuinely treated like royalty.

James Coppinger works for Doncaster Rovers and they're about to release a documentary about his career.

Maybe things are about to change at Sheffield Wednesday under new ownership, led by David Storch?

In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield, Waddle revealed that several ex-players have been invited to attend a meeting with the idea of re-building relationships.

"Chansiri lost touch with the ex-players," explained the former England international.

"He wanted to wipe that history away because he wasn't the chairman at the time. You can't do that. A lot of these fans remember those days - and cling to those days to be honest.

"The new owners have come in and want to embrace it. Hopefully, and luckily, I think we've got the right guys in charge."

It's one of several easy wins the Storch-led ownership, alongside empowered new CEO David Bruce, have identified.

The change of badge, engaging fans, working with the Supporters Trust. They're creating energy, momentum and fans can see a club starting to run properly.

"It's about time that Wednesday fans have some good times," Waddle added.

"It was amazing how they went through last season. It was a slog. They put a brave face on. They kept singing and kept travelling. That'll always be there.

"That's why I hope one day they'll be back in the Premier League – and that's what they deserve, these Wednesday fans."

It is believed the meeting will happen in the next couple of weeks and Owls fans might be seeing a lot more of their heroes around Hillsborough next season.

Image source, Getty Images

Sheffield Wednesday right-back Yan Valery has joined up with Tunisia for the World Cup.

The France-born defender played all 90 minutes in Tunisia's 1-0 defeat to Austria on 1 June to mark his 22nd cap.

Tunisia are in Group F and will face Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands.

The World Cup begins on Thursday with Tunisia's first game at 03:00 BST on Monday against Sweden.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield

Image source, Shutterstock

Togetherness has not always been a word associated with Sheffield Wednesday over the past decade.

It never felt like former owner Dejphon Chansiri was particularly interested in bringing everyone together, but these are different times.

The club's Supporters Trust, external launched a fundraising campaign last week. The aim was to raise money for three key causes - to purchase season tickets for deserving supporters who can not afford one, to create match ticket initiatives throughout the season (including for first-time attendees and young supporters), and to provide mascot experiences and replica shirts for children who might otherwise miss out.

At the time of writing, the fund has reached well over £26,000 in just three days.

It is a major effort from supporters, including a significant contribution of £1,867 from Tom Costin, part of the group who have just bought the club (1867 is the year Wednesday were founded).

The feel-good factor is very much back at Hillsborough, a stark contrast to where the club was a year ago, when most of our days were spent reporting on whether staff had been paid and whether Wednesday would even survive.

"The speed of the response tells you everything about this fanbase," said the trust's Jake Lee.

"We've come through some incredibly difficult years but supporters still look after one another. That's what makes Sheffield Wednesday special."

One of the big benefits of the fundraising will be the prospect of new fans being introduced to the club. There has not been enough of that at Hillsborough.

Plenty of fans contacted us during the Chansiri era to say their families had been priced out of attending games. Some took the hard decision to stay away as his ownership became increasingly toxic.

Getting new fans into the ground, and encouraging others to return, is a big aim for the summer.

"Potentially dozens of memories will be created for supporters and young people who otherwise wouldn't have had those opportunities," Jake Lee added.

"That's what this is really about."

It also marks a crucial shift for the Supporters Trust. Having been pushed into leading the protests that ultimately led to Chansiri's exit, then playing a key role in helping to find a solution in the form of David Storch's Aspire Capital, they are determined to transition to a new focus.

"Fans felt they had no voice but a Supporters Trust should ultimately be about much more than that. It should be about protecting the interests of supporters, strengthening the club's connection with its community, and delivering positive projects that make a difference" Lee said.

"We've spoken about moving from protest to purpose. Raising this money to help supporters and young people access Sheffield Wednesday is the sort of work a modern supporters trust should be doing."

A new target of £35,000 has been set and you would not bet against Wednesday's energized fanbase getting them there.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Sheffield Wednesday

Is this really happening at Sheffield Wednesday?

That was the question I found myself asking as I walked out of Hillsborough after interviewing new chief executive David Bruce and chairman David Storch in front of an audience of Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust members on Tuesday.

This isn't usual for this football club. Straightforward communication, laying out the situation in understandable language. Not over-promising whilst still managing to say enough to get people excited about the future.

A plan for the commercial side of the club. A plan to improve the stadium and training ground - both badly neglected for far too long. A structure that makes sense with a CEO and sporting director working together.

Repeatedly stating that the fans are central to everything.

"Strap yourselves in" was the parting line from Bruce. You could sense a ripple of excitement in the room as he said it. It felt like the fans were hanging off every word. Someone said afterwards it was a breath of fresh air.

The new regime are still keen to let their actions speak louder than their words. There's an enormous job to do at Hillsborough just to get things ready for next season.

Yet by communicating effectively, you could sense the buy-in is there.

At one point a fan asked whether her five-year season ticket, bought two years ago under one of former owner Dejphon Chansiri's many hair-brained schemes, would be valid. Storch said more than 130 people had these tickets and he would personally make sure all were respected.

Cue a beaming smile on the face of the supporter.

Speaking to fans with respect, engaging them, revealing just enough of the plan to feel like they've got an idea of the direction of travel. It doesn't happen anywhere near enough in football, with the previous regime at Hillsborough a classic example of this.

Fans were often treated to five-hour fans forums where they were shouted at, talked down to, described as mere customers and baited to 'sell their house' when they dared to suggest Chansiri sell the club.

On this night, in front of this audience, the message being sent by the new owners was clear - things are going to be done differently now.

Storch delivered a popular line at the end of the night: "It's not uncommon to look at football clubs and hear United, City, Town. We're Wednesday. And there's a power to Wednesday."

It's a very different message to one of Chansiri's more notorious comments, "Actually, Sheffield Wednesday is not that big." He didn't need to say it - but he did. Too many missed open goals, too many baffling mistakes.

At one point Bruce reeled off five key things he thinks any club needs to be successful, going into great detail on each point. It was impressive - and set out the vision for the future.

None of this, of course, guarantees future success on the pitch. The work required at Sheffield Wednesday is substantial and this is the first step up a huge mountain for all concerned.

Yet there's a feel good factor around the club at the moment that isn't typical for this part of Sheffield. That's definitely something to build on.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There haven't been too many significant days at Hillsborough over the past 30 years.

The miracle comeback against Peterborough. Play-off semi-final victories against Brentford and Brighton (whatever happened to them?).

Saturday was significant. A sold-out crowd, ready to celebrate the end of a nightmare and the start of something new.

"A club reborn," it said on the scoreboard.

There was a totally different mood around the place. People were smiling and stopping to talk about their hopes for the future. Optimism filled the air. It felt very unlike Sheffield Wednesday.

The 33,750 crowd was the biggest in the whole of the Championship this season and speaks to the passion that still exists for this club. With 30 minutes to go until kick-off, the stands were full with people singing and chanting.

Then, the introduction.

New chairman David Storch was welcomed on to the pitch. A huge roar shook Hillsborough. Another followed when he announced on the microphone: "Today, we return the club to the fans.

"This is your club. I want you to know that we will work tirelessly to be the best stewards on your behalf."

More cheers.

"You have no idea what a huge task this has been," added Storch, before praising a number of individuals including his son Michael, Tom Costin, Asher Simons, Clive Betts MP and James Silverwood from the SWFC Supporters Trust.

He introduced former Sunderland executive David Bruce as chief executive - the kind of experienced figure the club has needed.

A video on the big screen confirmed a return to the much-loved "old badge" - the familiar Owl logo that used to make the club so instantly recognisable before it was removed by former owner Dejphon Chansiri.

The badge change is the kind of crowd-pleasing open goal that Chansiri so often missed.

Next on the big screen they put up -15 - the number of points many expected Wednesday to be deducted for next season because of EFL guidelines relating to coming out of administration. The crowd weren't aware of the EFL's decision not to impose the deduction.

One by one, the numbers ticked away and each deducted point being removed was cheered by the home crowd.

As the total turned to zero and fans realised there would be no penalty, there was the loudest roar Hillsborough has heard in a long time.

You could feel 12 months of anguish, sadness, stress and desperation being released. Supporters punched the air. Some cried.

I thought about two fans, Dean and Alex, who contacted BBC Sheffield the day before the game.

They lost their mum in January and said their dad, a Wednesdayite, had been struggling. Saturday was his 73rd birthday. He was at Hillsborough to be uplifted with so many others.

It's never just a game, is it?

To cap it all off, the Owls won for just the second time in the Championship and claimed their first league win at home for 376 days.

Club-hero Liam Palmer scored the winner in front of the Kop. It was almost scripted - and it makes you wonder what'll happen next in this story.

At the end of the game, an older gentleman who sits near the press box came up to me. I said hello and asked if he was all right.

"I am now," was his reply.

Off he went with a smile, contemplating that his club might bring him some joy again in the future.

Rob Staton
BBC Radio Sheffield reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The past 12 months have been absolute hell for a lot of people associated with Sheffield Wednesday.

The number of late-night calls with various people expressing different emotions - despair, frustration, anger, confusion, helplessness, anxiety, sadness. This has tested many people.

On multiple occasions over the past few months it's even been questioned whether the club could survive another setback. That's how serious things got.

In a world of PSG 5-4 Bayern Munich, endless VAR drama, Chelsea sacking another boss and people wondering whether Arsenal will get over the line in the title race, it's probably been lost on many that one of English football's most recognisable clubs was on the brink.

So today, to be able to talk about a brighter future - or any future at all - is such a refreshing positive for so many people.

I can well imagine a few tears have been shed already. People have suffered terribly and, frankly, unnecessarily.

There are no guarantees of future success. This takeover shouldn't automatically be talked about as the first step towards a return to glory.

There's an eye-watering amount of work to do; rebuilding, restructuring and repairing. The amount of investment required just to match Wednesday's peers will likely stretch to nine figures and the first number might not be a one.

This isn't a small job and understanding quite the extent of the work needed is important at the start of the David Storch led era at Sheffield Wednesday.

What there is, though, is hope when previously there was none. There's also a plan.

There's a determination to energise a fanbase that has remained strong and supportive throughout Wednesday's darkest year.

When I interviewed Storch earlier this year, he said: "I'm very sincere when I say the fans own this club. We will be the custodians and partners to the fans as we look to bring hope back."

Plenty will be revealed in time but I know there are ideas from the new owners that will likely invigorate Owls fans. Being a Wednesdayite might be fun again. Who won't raise a toast to that, after everything they've gone through?

If success follows on the pitch, even better. That will be the aim, obviously. For now though, with a sold-out crowd at Hillsborough for the final game against West Brom on Saturday, Wednesday fans are ready for a party.

There's a long journey ahead and it'll begin in League One. Yet there will be a few people in the stands on Saturday turning to a mate, a parent, a son or daughter, a grandchild or maybe even a complete stranger and they'll say, "We've got our Wednesday back".

That's a good start.

Both of these sides will be pleased to see the end of this season.

Sheffield Wednesday's off-field and ownership issues have led to a wretched campaign on the pitch and a failure to beat West Brom on Saturday (12:30 BST) will make them the first team in the top four tiers of English football to go a whole season without winning a home game.

West Brom secured their Championship status for a second time with a draw against Ipswich last weekend, having been deducted two points.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won both of their past two Championship home games against West Brom, winning 3-0 in 2023-24 and 3-2 last season.

• West Brom have only lost two of their past 13 league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W7 D4), with this season's reverse clash ending goalless in November.

• Sheffield Wednesday have not lost their final league game in any of the past five seasons (W3 D2), last enjoying a longer run from 1947-48 to 1957-58 (11 in a row).

• West Brom have won their final league game in both of the past two seasons, last doing so three times in a row from 1991-92 to 1993-94.

• Should Sheffield Wednesday fail to win this game, they would be the first side in England's top four tiers to end the season with one league win since Derby County in 2007-08 in the Premier League. In a 46-game season, the fewest wins is two by Rochdale in 1973-74 in the third tier.