6 Sheffield Wednesday facts that every Owls fan should be aware of
If you’re a die-hard Wednesday fan, you should be aware of the following club facts.
- Sheffield Wednesday, founded in 1867 as “The Wednesday,” is one of the oldest football clubs in England, but they were not founding members of the Football League.
- Hillsborough has been Sheffield Wednesday’s home since 1899, but they had various temporary stadiums before settling there.
- Sheffield Wednesday has won the top flight title of English football four times and has three FA Cup wins, with their last major trophy being the EFL Cup in 1993.
- Andrew Finney holds the record for most appearances for the club.
- Sheffield Wednesday play in one of the major footballing cities in England, and they are possibly one of the biggest clubs in the country’s history.
But, as an Owls fan, do you know everything there is to know?
Let’s look at SIX facts about the South Yorkshire club that you should know if you claim to be a die-hard fan.
- The Owls, founded in 1867, are one of the oldest clubs in English football history.
They were not created with their current name, but rather as ‘The Wednesday’ in the nineteenth century.
Despite their age, Wednesday were not original members of the Football League, which began in 1888, but rather the Football Alliance, which began a year later. In 1929, they were renamed Sheffield Wednesday.
- Hillsborough has been Wednesday’s home for a long time, but it hasn’t always been their stadium.
Wednesday’s first home ground was at Highfield, which was located south of the city centre, before they moved around to several other temporary stadiums, including Bramall Lane – now the home of bitter rivals Sheffield United.
Olive Grove was Wednesday’s permanent home from 1887 until 1899, which is when they moved into Hillsborough in the Owlerton area of the city – it has been their home ever since.
It didn’t take long for the Owls to win their first top division title after being elected to the Football League in 1892.
After being relegated, they won their first Division One title in 1903, defeating Aston Villa and Sunderland by a single point.
Another followed in 1904, and they went back to back, but they had to wait a bit as they won the top flight again in 1929 and 1930.
The Owls have won four Division One titles in a row, something they haven’t done in nearly 100 years.
Wednesday have not only won the Division One title, but they have also won the FA Cup on many occasions.
Wednesday has three FA Cup victories, the first being in 1896.
They had to wait 11 years until 1907 to win it again, and their third and final time was in 1935 – they’ve had three sets of runners-up medals, the most recent in 1993 – but they’ve had chances to add to that with three sets of runners-up medals.
The EFL Cup was founded in 1960, and for the first 30 or so years since its inception, Wednesday had gotten to multiple quarter finals but no further.
In 1991, though, the Owls won their first major trophy for around 60 years when they got past Brentford, Swindon, Derby County, Coventry City and Chelsea to meet Man United in the final at Wembley.
A first half goal from John Sheridan secured a 1-0 win for Wednesday and sparked jubilant scenes – it was their last domestic cup-winning performance however.
Modern-day Wednesday fans would recognize Kevin Pressman as the player who has appeared the most for the club in recent years, but there are three more players who can claim to have played more for the Owls than the former goalkeeper.
Scotsman Andrew Finney holds the record for most appearances, having made 560 for the club after joining from Clyde in 1900.
The forward was a Scotland international who played for Wednesday until 1920, when he retired. He remained the club’s oldest player until Trevor Francis broke that record in 1993.
