Ground: Hillsborough (capacity 39,732)
Location: Sheffield, England
Ticket price: £34 - Pay online or at the ground
I was made aware by a friend of Sheffield Wednesday's fixture with Rotherham United. It was a fixture that caught my eye for quite a few reasons. First, the geographical location between the two clubs (Sheffield to Rotherham is an approx. 20 minute drive), secondly the location between the two clubs in the table (both fighting for their lives in the relegation zone) and thirdly, Sheffield Wednesday's new manager Danny Rohl. The German manager, who had worked for clubs such as Southampton, RB Leipzig and even Bayern Munich, had recently taken the gig at Hillsborough; his first managerial job. He spoke in his programme notes on how excited he was to be the Sheffield Wednesday manager and how the city made himself and his family feel so welcome. So welcome, in fact, that fans affectionately sang, "Danny, Danny Rohl!" to the tune of the Boney M classic from the stands.
Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest clubs in world football and the second oldest professional club (the first being Notts County), having been founded in 1867. The club has won the First Division on four occassions, won three FA Cups and the Football League Cup once. However, despite this success, the Owls have endured a barren period in relation to top silverware; with their last major trophy being the League Cup in the 1990/91 season and before then, you have to go back over 60 years to their FA Cup triumph in 1934/35. Indeed, the club haven't played in the top flight since the 2002/03 season.
Recent times have been troubling for the Owls since the takeover of Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri in 2014. Sure, things began promising, with the club reaching the Championship playoffs twice under the guidance of Carlos Carvalhal, however upon the Portuguese manager leaving the club, the wheels began to fall off as the Wednesday cart tumbled breakneck down the road with Luhacky, Monk, Pulis and eventually Moore only able to skid their feet to slow down the descend before their soles eventually wore out.
Their recent history has been plagued by controversy, mainly stemming from Chansiri. The mutual termination of Darren Moore's contract, the manager who guided the team back into the Championship, is one of a long list of incidents that has caused the relationship between the owner and the fans to strain. His replacement, Xisco Munoz, failed spectacularly, failing to win a game before Rohl was given the job. A Sheffield Wednesday fan on the train I was on claimed that Chansiri, "is exactly what you'd expect him to be like in real life" and "is an arrogant twat".
The trip to Hillsborough isn't as straight forward as it is to Brammall Lane. From the station, it's a rough 80 minute walk to the stadium. The best way to get to Hillsborough is to take the yellow line on the tram. If you get on at Castle Square, which is roughly 10 minutes walk from the station, you can get off at Hillsborough and the stadium is only a short distance from there, just past a park. Hillsborough itself sits just above a body of water.
The one thing I experienced when getting through the turnstyles was the farce in the queues. Nobody was present to man or organise these, which led to people being in the wrong line. The painted lines on the floor could only do so much to guide you, such was the congestion of people obscuring your view. Despite getting there half an hour before kick off, I only just got to my seat as the whistle blew for kickoff.
The end result was a 2-0 victory for the Owls in what was their first win of the season. The first goal came after 11 minutes. Barry Bannan's searching pass found Musaba, who's shot was initially saved by Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johannsen. The Swede could only parry it back out into Musaba's path who then laid the ball across to Michael Smith in the centre of the box to tap it home admist two Rotherham defenders. The two combined again for the game's second goal in the 36th minute; Musaba again showing good awareness after his shot was blocked by a Rotherham defender to lay it into Smith's path. The Owls striker made no mistake as he struck the ball sweetly, hitting Johannsen's legs as the ball nestled into the net.
There were to be no more goals or big chances in the game. Onyedinma was the Millers' most dangerous player, but even he struggled to progress the ball up the pitch, such was the lack of support around him. Bannan on the other hand, showed us why he's their highest paid player, commanding the pitch like Kasparov would in a major chess tournament. It was a pleasure to watch him play.
Hillsborough itself provides a great atmosphere, however don't make the same mistake I did by sitting near the top as you don't get the best view of the game. Instead, it's worth sitting a little further down so you can watch the game whilst you soak up the atmosphere.
Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 Rotherham United 29/10/2023
Comments