Although we’ll be recording less over the summer we won’t be disappearing altogether so you will be able to maintain your Wednesday fix…if you can call our rubbish a Wednesday fix.

Once again I must remind everyone that we do take on board all comments, especially if the criticism is constructive. We’ve managed to sort out the biggest criticism of running length and cut Episode 3 down to an hour long and we’ve done the same this week with Episode 4.

Keep your comments coming…good or bad we are genuinely interested in what you think

On this weeks Podcast

• The SWFC Retained list
• The Rumour Mill
• Pull Down Your Chants: Bridge over Stephen Bywater

As always we’ll try and get it out on as many formats as possible so that everyone can listen to it and you can take part at any time.

If you have Skype and have something you want to say or just get off your chest then let us know.
If having your voice heard doesn’t tickle ya fancy then let us know what’s bothering you by e-mail or even better on Twitter

The main way and the easiest way will always be through I-Tunes but we’ll also be putting it on Youtube and the Wednesdayite site for download and streaming just for the old folk.

You can contact any of easily through Facebook, (Either The Wednesday Week, Owls Alive or Wednesdayite) or direct through the websites here at Owls Alive or the Wednesdayite site. There is also the Owls Alive forum which can be reached by clicking the speech bubble at the top of this page.

Probably the easiest way to keep updated though and to conact us instantly is on Twitter at one of the following usernames.

Twitter
@TWWcast
@LORD_H
@Beastie_
@sausagearms
@fudgeanddave
@CraigSWFC
@Owlsalive

You can check out Episode 2 by clicking one of the buttons below

Episode 4		Episode 4		Episode 4

Please remember;
This is meant to be a bit of fun and we sincerely hope you all enjoy what we’re doing. Whether you do or don’t let us know, we value any feedback at all and if something needs changing we will do it.
Likewise, if you like something tell us before we drop it!

We look forward to hearing from ya soon.

Owls Alive
TWW Cast
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com

Were you nervous? Did you spend the game on the edge of your seat or were you Joe Cool all the way through?

Many fans speak about how emotional it all was and that they’ve never seen scenes like that at Hillsborough before.

Here’s a few matchday memories from that eventful day
-

On Twitter: Stephen Davies (@ilsonowl) said: Remembering the look on my lads face when we were relegated v palace, then seeing his face on Saturday #priceless @glenntowersSWF Cheering the final whistle blowing then turning 2my future wife @debzladyowland seeing here smile that will live with me 4ever. Addam Tabani on Twitter: Memories was having all 4 stands full and the look on the guy who sits next to me his face when I told him I was engaged at 20. Andrew Hornsby- @sheffwedandy – Pictures. Videos. Love them all. Keeps us exiled owls in the picture! Great stuff. However I was there yesterday and wouldn’t have missed it for the world!!

All week I’d been waiting for “that” feeling to arrive, the one of dread, the churning in the pit of me stomach but it never really did, I was Cool for Cats about the game, I really was. That was until I actually got on the Kop, and saw the ground full of Wednesdayites, the atmosphere, the inflatables, the bouncing, the noise. It was incredible. I think I got something in me eye during the verse of Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday. Proper fur up stuff. Then I got “that” feeling, but only briefly, before you knew it, it was washed away in a sea of optimsm. The moments on the pitch at the end with my young lad, Tom – again fur up stuff. You can’t buy moments like that.He was bloody loving it. He even watched a lot of the game! I’d told him he had to! There were thousands on the pitch and the first face we see when we get down there is Hollie (The Young Un) We saw Stickvis down there as well. You think you know a place and I’ve been to Hillsborough god knows how many times, but when I turned back and looked up at a full Kop from the pelanty spot, it was like I was somewhere I’d never been before – what a view! Lump in me throat time. What a great place it must be to play football. What a day Jonnyboy

I wanted my lad Richard to go to this, but he wanted to be with his young son (which I fully understood) as he was only expecting to have him Saturday and Sunday. Then he found out that he could have him from Saturday until Tuesday, so he booked Tuesday off work to be with him and I got him a ticket for the seat next to me for the match.

Usually, when we score, the first thing I do is text Rich to let him know. I miss the celebrations while I am doing this, but at least he knows the good news. On Saturday, we were able to celebrate the goals and result together and it was a special moment I can tell you.

There are a few of us sit together, but nothing beats having your own lad there, and to be honest, I’ve missed him (or more precisely his fooking gret long legs bruising my back from the seat behind). Saturday brought back memories of great times shared together, and I hope in a couple of years time we can get him coming to Hillsborough a bit more redliar, but with his lad as well.

Charlie.

I arrived at the ground early, about 2:00 and just wandered around soaking it in. I took a few minutes to go and stand by my late uncle’s brick in the Derek Dooley Wall of Fame and just wished he could have been with me on this very special day. I wandered round to the shop and thought about buying some (more) replica kit but the queue was so long I couldn’t be arsed to wait in it with so much going on outside. When I finally went inside I made my way up to my seat in The North and alternated between reading the programme and watching the ground fill up and the players warm up. Like many I was so wound up that I couldn’t wait for 3:00 to arrive. My nerves were being replaced by excitement, though, and I kept telling myself they, we, would do it. The fuller the ground got, the better it felt and by the time I was passing the flag over my head and up the stand I was really buzzing…………..come on 3:00 !!! I gave everything I had to the rendition of “Hi Ho” and I swear those Blunts would have heard it in Exeter! I have never heard it sung so loud or so passionately. What a feeling, what a sound, what a sight! I felt comfortable as the match started and was really enjoying it, I had a feeling that it would take longer to get the first goal than we’d all like but, that being the case, the crowd would actually get behind the team and not on their backs. And then the first goal went in. It was the biggest collective orgasm ever seen or heard. F**k me, the noise, the relief, the joy – off the scale, and then, a few minutes later the second coming as the Exeter score was put up ! Now we were really enjoying it, the day, the city were ours for the taking. In truth I only remember snippets of the rest of the match. Ranger’s goal, the chants of “ole” as we started to pass it around, the singing from all four sides of the ground, I was just lost in the whole emotion of the day. When the whistle went I couldn’t stop smiling, and at times my eyes welled up (they’re doing it again as I write this) as we, finally, had made it. Years of pain and heartache were being offset with sheer joy and delirium.When I left the ground after the (sadly short) lap of honour I walked back up to the car slowly with my fellow fans (I normally rush back to get back on the M1 to Berkshire as quickly as possible) and we were all smiles, horns tooting from passing cars, general euphoria. I savoured it, remembering that last time I did that walk on the last day of a season it was the Crystal Palace fans who were walking away happy. Rob (BerkshireOw)

Yes I completely agree that any fans that had attended last season and couldn’t have got a ticket ‘deserved’ one more than some who hadn’t been for years but Saturday could really bolster support, with that the revenue increases and this fine club that we all support in different ways can move forward, quickly and give EVERYONE a great feeling. Ive followed Wednesday from afar through thick and thin but I’ve never really felt such a positive feeling about the place.

I really do think that we can be in the Premier League within 2 to 3 yrs (next year wouldn’t surprise me TBH).

Given how far we fell its great being a wednesdayite atm and I believe we are on the up.

Next season will be even better I think.

Those of you that go week in week out will experience it first hand, the rest of us will get just as much enjoyment though.

UTO

Lee

I’m 29 now and the last time Wednesday got automatic promotion I was 8 years old, the last time they finished 2nd in any league I’d only just turned 1. I’ve been going to Hillsborough for many years now and in all those years I can honestly say I’ve never experienced such an atmosphere. Before the match me and Salop stood together after going through the turnstiles – I can’t speak for him but my stomach was in knots yet the noise, even then at about twenty past two was incredible, we barely uttered words to each other before making our way to our seats. I walked up the steps and it hit me how incredible it was, seeing Hillsborough well on the way to jam packed even then, seeing inflatables being thrown about, hearing fans in full voice, I was awestruck. It was louder than that special day in Cardiff back in 2005. What happened on the pitch was a bit of a blur but I was thinking of how my good friend John who went with me home and away for years before he stopped going to Wednesday for various reasons would have loved this, seeing four sides bouncing, none of the negativity and grumpiness that we’ve begun to associate home crowds with. I know I loved it. When the final whistle blew my first thought was to find the friends who have made supporting Wednesday even through the bad times more tolerable and to see a lot of those people just beaming with pride, joy, happiness and taking in what we’d accomplished was magnificent and it brought a tear to my eye to be honest. I couldn’t speak for a few minutes. To see Chris (Sterling) with such a smile on his face was such a contrast to how down me and him felt after coming home after a defeat at Cardiff in 2010 which just about sealed our relegation fate. This is the first time I’ve truly seen Hillsborough at it’s finest, I don’t just want to see it once, I want to see it many more times. Danny

I  remember sitting in front of my computer as it went into injury time, knowing it was as good as won, and thinking to myself  ‘I’ll bet they’re having a right good time over there’.

Pook (Indiana USA)

I realised during this match how much I look at the away fans during a game whenever anything happens and I kept on forgetting that this time, they were Wednesdayites, and loved it even more when I remembered. It was a strange feeling seeing 4 sides of Wednesday and I was worried it might intimidate the players. This squad, though, don’t seem to be intimidated by anything and that is something that started under Megson and has grown under Jones. They just get out and get on with the task at hand, confident they can and will win. It never really looked in any doubt as we kept Wycombe at arms length but it still didn’t stop me worrying it would go wrong. When we scored, followed by the pigs score going up moments later, it was brilliant, just like earlier in the season when the same happened. I’ve never felt the place jump as much as at that moment. When Antonio slipped us in front we went mad, I was hugging my brother and suddenly my Dad appeared at our side, having legged it down the steps to join in with us.  I turned round and high-fived the other season ticket holders around me: Whingeing Man, Whingeing Man’s son, Silent Stranger and Old Whistling Man. We’re like a little family now and as much as Whingeing Man has pissed me off at times, there was a strange enjoyment in sharing that moment with him. At least he smiled for once. Just after half time there was that inevitable last day of the season communication fuck up, as people in the West Stand started showing us in the North their fingers to say “it’s 2-1!”. Unfortunately a lot of us thought that meant 2-1 to Exeter and when it transpired that United were winning I suddenly had that “we’re one goal from fucking this up” feeling again. Right on cue Lines swung over a great cross and Ranger headed home and that, really, was that. My Dad appeared again and we celebrated, and laughed about the fact that United were now winning – as it must have done their heads in to go in front and get their hopes up only to hear we’d extended our lead. Lovely stuff. The end of the game felt a little anti-climactic as I was waiting for the ref to blow up but he did so a little early as people started to invade the pitch. I’ve got no real problem with the initial pitch invasion – it all adds to the event – but there was a little moment lost when we didn’t get that final dramatic pause as the ref looks at both watches, stands still, raises his whistle to his lips and blows up. Looking at the joy on the pitch was great for a few minutes, but I then wanted everyone to clear off so we could applaud that magnificent team. They really didn’t deserve a rushed lap of honour or token wave from the Director’s Box. To their credit most fans cleared the pitch pretty quickly, but some pissed me off in ignoring the announcements and then breaking through again when the players came out. “Where were you when we were shit” rang out from the Kop. There were some selfish fans after the game who put the only black mark on an otherwise amazing day. Not for long though, the buzz leaving the ground knowing we were up, the thumbs up to every car and pedestrian I passed, sitting in traffic, having a laugh with Stephen Bywater at 80 miles an hour on the M1 and then getting home to friends and a fiancee who don’t really give a shit about football, but were so pleased for me as they knew what it meant. It was all great stuff.We went out and got a bus up to a shitty club called The Swan in Stockwell. While on that bus a guy got on wearing a Wednesday shirt – I asked him if he’d been to the game, he said yes and then the rest of my party – mostly women – burst into “Wednesday til I die!” which even the other guy didn’t know how to react to. I got well and truly shitfaced that night.The fact is it still hasn’t really sunk in. I’m still buzzing from it and still taking it all in. I’d love to have been at the Civil Reception just to keep the buzz going a little longer. Twitter is a great thing though, seeing how much the players are still loving it really helps you to keep that going, especially when you live in London. I’m already counting the new away grounds (only two unfortunately) and hoping the fixture list is kind for certain away days, and normally I’d be glad of the break for a bit but the way we’ve finished just makes me want more. I hope some of those 37,500 Wednesday fans who don’t go as regularly have been convinced to come back – this team aren’t afraid of playing at home and the more of a fortress we can make it the better. Thank you Wednesday. Chris (Baldy)

I was remarkably calm during the day but my daughter was a complete mess.

I had been telling her all week this would be the greatest moment of her life , better than the play off final.

She has often moaned that although I tell her we have been a great team in her lifetime, that ‘greatness’ ended when she was about 4yo. She was with me for most of the last decade having been to 60+ grounds and she was at the play off final, yet we know how we missed a great opportunity after that.

My memory forever will be the look on her face as both goals went in and the hug she gave me at full time.

Wednesday and my family are so important to me and to share a moment like that does not happen to many and nowhere near often enough.

Pete (Ayelsbury Owl )

With the Owls promotion well untruly sunk in to the system now people have started to ask me my thoughts on how we’ll do in the Championship next season. For me, and surprisingly to most people (as I’ve not particularly had any reason to be confident about my team for the past 15 years) it’s one of a quiet confidence. So where has this sudden influx of ‘quiet’ confidence come from?  Well I think back to the final game of the season against Wycombe Wanderers and for the whole week in the build up to the game there was something different about the atmosphere and feelings towards the match. Due to work commitments I don’t live in Sheffield but reading the endless amounts of #swfc tweets throughout the week it enhanced those feelings. Driving over to Hillsborough something was also different with my Mum “are you nervous Mum?” I asked her… “In a way yes, but in a way, I’m also really excited” she said. Being lifelong Owls supporters we don’t do excitement too often do we? I recall in 2005 how nervous we were on the way to Cardiff for the play-off final because we’d been let down so many times before.  Today I felt different. Today, as much as I didn’t like to admit it in case I cursed us, I felt quietly confident. On arriving at Hillsborough and parking up an interview with Dave Jones came on the radio and it was then that I realised exactly where this air of ‘quiet confidence’ had come from. Here was a man who had taken over a club who had just beaten their City rivals and then subsequently sacked their manager yet from the outset Dave Jones had simply gone about his job.He didn’t make a song and dance about anything, he just got his head down and got us where we needed to be and for that reason I think within the fans he’s instilled confidence not only in his abilities as a manager but also a confidence in the players and the way in which they too have got their heads down and done their job. Before long the rest of my family arrived at the game to meet us, and again they too had that air of confidence about them that actually, this was going to be our day. As we walked down and into the ground it was like the good old days were finally back. For a start it was buzzing. People everywhere, a sea of blue and white, singing, chanting, having a laugh…This is what Sheffield Wednesday means to me! That feeling of belonging to something good, something to be proud of! As the players ran out my heart filled with pride, for some reason I could just sense this was going to end well for us and once that first goal went in I knew that we would go up! One image that sticks in my head from the day is seconds after calming myself from the first goal I looked to the scoreboard expecting to smile at seeing ‘The Owls 1 – 0 Wycombe’ but instead the scoreboard read: ‘SHHHHHHHHHHHH‘ That moment of silence in the ground as the scoreflash went up felt like a lifetime and sent shivers down my spine…Moments later the news came in that Exeter were beating United – cue more celebrations from the four sides of Wednesdayites! Could this get any better? The confidence the lads played with throughout the game just typified the season and the attitude that Dave Jones had instilled within the team: We are Sheffield Wednesday, and we’re ready to rise again! As the final whistle blew and the masses of fans ran onto the pitch I chose instead to stay in the stands and watch it all unfold before my eyes. I looked to the West stand, across to the North stand, onto the pitch and then over at the Kop. My last glance was onto the row of seats in which i was stood and there were my family. These were the people that had brought me up to live and breathe Sheffield Wednesday football club from the day I was born. So many times I had questioned their motives, and their sanity but then I remembered what my Mum had said to me when I had stood crying as a 9 year old because we’d just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Chelsea; “Let this be a lesson in football to you. Most of the time its a nightmare, and there’s going to be some pretty dark days but someday there will be something to celebrate. It may just be a day, but trust me, when it happens, you’ll realise that all the pain and heartbreak was worth it”. And here was that day…that moment and those words that had stuck with me through numerous relegation’s, through the sacking of many managers, getting beaten by your rivals, getting hammered by bloody Preston North End and risking your life in the ice and snow to drive over to Sheffield to watch us get beaten by Blackpool… Mum’s words were in fact true, it was all worth it! I hope it was worth it for the Wednesdayites filling all 4 sides of Hillsborough, that showed that day just how massive this club really is! Thanks Mum, thanks Gary Megson, thanks Dave Jones, thanks Milan Mandaric and most importantly… Thankyou Sheffield Wednesday. Bex

If I could have been there in person I’d have been there in a heartbeat but, living in New Zealand, that would have been a long commute.

I settled for the Wednesday Player commentary, which is always interesting, in more ways than one.
2am rolls round in New Zealand, which is 3pm back in Sheffield, and the game kicks off.

I’m drinking out of my SWFC mug, I’m wearing my Wednesday shirt, and the computer is fired up and logged into Player.

All goes well until the ISDN line, which appears to keep the Wednesday Player running, experiences a snapped rubber band or something and coverage is temporarily lost.

There’s about 5 minutes of silence and as they come back we’re informed that, while we were away we missed Wednesday’s first goal!

Missed it? Missed it?

Now, I knew we’d missed it even before they came back, thanks to some excellent coverage from certain people on Twitter!

Other memories include actually being able to hear the second goal go in and the joy of hearing that the Blunts were losing 2-1, even though they were really winning 2-1. Still, hearing that Exeter did equalise in Fergie time was another great memory but my main memory will be that rush of sheer emotion at the end as we finally knew we’d done it.

Like all you lot who were there, I was bouncing like crazy.

We love you Wednesday, we do!

All the best,

Neil
Wellington NZ

I love the view of the stadium across Hillsborough Park. It sneaks up on you and slowly comes into view and represents so many memories and so much anticipation for match day – especially on a day like today. These feelings are for me what make being a football fan worthwhile, and this is where my football day starts, just priceless stuff. Once in the ground it hits you. I have never seen Hillsborough this loud and this full, a superb effort from every single fan. What a turnout and what a tribute to the club. I didn’t really take in too much of the game if I’m honest. I know 90+ minutes passed, we played well and deserved victory. Their keeper made some fantastic reaction saves (notably 2 from Miguel Llera whom I had a first and anytime goalscorer bet on!) yet despite those efforts Wycombe were second best on the day. When Antonio skipped through using his strength well and calmly finished, the place erupted. Wow! Suddenly we were all jumping around, hugging everyone within arms reach and screaming “yeeeeesssss” I guess the significance of the goal slips away for a moment but crikey did we celebrate it! A few minutes pass and Exeter are beating our rivals. A roar as loud as there was for our first goal goes up and the chants are out with over 38,000 sets of lungs behind them – a hell of a noise. Ranger scored but was ruled offside. From halfway up the kop I can’t tell whether he is or he isn’t but it was proven later on to be well onside. Into the second half, Lines clips in a great cross and Nile Ranger rises highest to plant a downward header into the net. The Kop and other 3 sides of the ground erupt and its like we have won already. Now there’s even more noise and it’s a wonderful sight as the whole ground bounces in unison. It’s always great to see so many people happy for the same collective reason this was as good as it gets. Time ticks on and deep down I know we are there. It just needs the final whistle and the pitch invasion to confirm it. As we chant, bounce and cheer through the last 20 minutes I stopped for a second, standing still to take it in.To see it all happening around me was awesome. I don’t give a monkeys if it was the beer that made me feel this good but to stop for a few seconds and drink in the atmosphere was well, well worth it. The referee blows for full time and then a Blue and White tide ebbed on to the pitch, trickles of fans at first then a full on tsunami! It was excellent to see it develop and we all knew it was going to happen but on this scale? Blimey! Flags, banners, flailing arms, bouncing, smoke bombs, chants. This was blooming brilliant a pitch invasion and celebration to be proud of. The joy was clear to see on everyone’s faces. We had done it, no more anxiety, suspense or nerves it was over and Sheffield Wednesday were promoted. We had chuffin done it! It makes the whole season worthwhile and is why we contribute our time, money, efforts and emotions to staying the course. Well done Wednesday! Thank you for providing me with that day and that moment. I will never forget it. Chris (Sterling)

And there you have it…
One great day, so many memories and wonderful end to a truly memorable season.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to join in with this and see you all next season….

In the Championship

Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @Beastie_

We’re are still chopping and changing and trying things as we go at the moment and despite most of the feedback being good we have had some that’s, shall we say, not so good.

We take on board all comments, especially if the criticism is constructive and one of the main things that has bothered listeners is the running time. It’s too long.
With those comments in mind we’ve set about trying to keep it to an hour this week

On this weeks Podcast

• Wycombe: Review and memories
• Clinton leaving Wednesday?
• SWFC Player Awards
• Pull Down Your Chants: Take Me Home, Davy Jones

As always we’ll try and get it out on as many formats as possible so that everyone can listen to it and you can take part at any time.

If you have Skype and have something you want to say or just get off your chest then let us know.
If having your voice heard doesn’t tickle ya fancy then let us know what’s bothering you by e-mail or even better on Twitter

The main way and the easiest way will always be through I-Tunes but we’ll also be putting it on Youtube and the Wednesdayite site for download and streaming just for the old folk.

You can contact any of easily through Facebook, (Either The Wednesday Week, Owls Alive or Wednesdayite) or direct through the websites here at Owls Alive or the Wednesdayite site. There is also the Owls Alive forum which can be reached by clicking the speech bubble at the top of this page.

Probably the easiest way to keep updated though and to conact us instantly is on Twitter at one of the following usernames.

Twitter
@TWWcast
@LORD_H
@Beastie_
@sausagearms
@fudgeanddave
@CraigSWFC
@Owlsalive

You can check out Episode 2 by clicking one of the buttons below

Episode 3		Episode 3		Episode 3

Please remember;
This is meant to be a bit of fun and we sincerely hope you all enjoy what we’re doing. Whether you do or don’t let us know, we value any feedback at all and if something needs changing we will do it.
Likewise, if you like something tell us before we drop it!

We look forward to hearing from ya soon.

Owls Alive
TWW Cast
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com

We’re still playing around with the format and we are always open to suggestions. If you have any ideas about what we should be covering or what we should drop then let us know.

On this weeks Podcast

• Brentford Review
• Beastie Drops A  Clanger
• Wycombe Preview
• League 1 PFA Team of the Year
• Pull Down Your Chants
• This week we’re all laughing at…

As always we’ll try and get it out on as many formats as possible so that everyone can listen to it and you can take part at any time.

If you have Skype and have something you want to say or just get off your chest then let us know.
If having your voice heard doesn’t tickle ya fancy then let us know what’s bothering you by e-mail or even better on Twitter

The main way and the easiest way will always be through I-Tunes but we’ll also be putting it on Youtube and the Wednesdayite site for download and streaming just for the old folk.

You can contact any of easily through Facebook, (Either The Wednesday Week, Owls Alive or Wednesdayite) or direct through the websites here at Owls Alive or the Wednesdayite site. There is also the Owls Alive forum which can be reached by clicking the speech bubble at the top of this page.

Probably the easiest way to keep updated though and to conact us instantly is on Twitter at one of the following usernames.

Twitter
@TWWcast
@LORD_H
@Beastie_
@sausagearms
@fudgeanddave
@CraigSWFC
@Owlsalive

You can check out Episode 2 by clicking one of the buttons below

Episode 2		Episode 2		Episode 2

Please remember;
This is meant to be a bit of fun and we sincerely hope you all enjoy what we’re doing. Whether you do or don’t let us know, we value any feedback at all and if something needs changing we will do it.
Likewise, if you like something tell us before we drop it!

We look forward to hearing from ya soon.

Owls Alive
TWW Cast
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com

Having said that when you’ve had 40 days and nights of continuous rain and you wake up to the sun shining through the curtains on what you hope is gonna be a momentous matchday you simply have to have a spring in ya step.

After an old man style leap (or tumble) out of bed I had hopefully, one more set of lucky matchday routines to get through…

Get these right today and it would carry us through the automatic place and send the Blades into the play offs…

The thing is, I’ve been very confident we’d go through the season unbeaten from the point Dave Jones came in and always thought we’d win against Wycombe and the Blades would lose at Exeter but once that day comes around, as usually with me, all the horrible nagging ‘Yeah but this is Wednesday’ thoughts come flooding to the fore and the nerves kick in big style…

I still have my well worked routine that hasn’t failed so far but if the slightest thing changes it plays havoc with my weak, girly mind.

If I knock something over I think

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

No matter how insignificant it is I always think THAT’S the thing that will hold us up…

Dropped flannel in the shower…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

Walking downstairs, a slip on the bottom step…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

Splash water on the floor, shut the door wrong, creak the wrong floorboard, put deodorant under the wrong armpit first, breath at the wrong time…

‘OH MY GOD! I’VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. IT’S GOT TO BE BAD LUCK!’

I really do need to sort out some counseling…

I spent 20 minutes throwing my socks all over the bedroom in search of a grey pair, not just any old grey pair, they had to be the exact shade, a dark grey…could I chuffers find a pair…I got frantic at one point and there was just a big pile of boxers and socks on the floor…I found them eventually though, stuffed down the back of the drawer but my heartbeat was racing like mad through the panic of it all…

I know what ya thinking, let me stop ya there…’WHAT A GIRL!’

I can’t disagree…once I’d found them I set about the lucky 3 Sh’s…the first was a classic lucky Sh and I even tweeted live from it just to make sure everyone knew it was going to plan…I believe it made Bradders bring his porridge back up…unless that’s a euphemism for something.

The music is of course standard now and even though I’ve banged on about the 80’s music being the stuff that’s carried this season there is a quite specific little section of songs on my playlist that have seen us right through this golden era late in the season…

The first of the 3 Lucky Sh’s is done to Together in Electric Dreams and then they just follow on…

To Cut a Long Story Short…Spandau Ballet Temptation…………………….Heaven 17 Tarzan Boy…………………….Baltimora Solid…………………………….Ashford and Simpson So Macho………………………Sinitta Sexual Healing………………..Marvin Gaye Running Up That Hill…………Kate Bush

That little lot has been my personal soundtrack to the season and I’ve loved every one of em…

By the time I got to Marvin and a bit of ‘Sexual Healing’ I was into the third of the 3 Sh’s and we were well on the way…

Like a well drilled trooper (stop making your own jokes up) our lass had laid out all my lucky clothes and I was like on a fillum when they load up for war…with the dramatic music and sound effects going on….I was in the zone..

I found I was all rigged and ready to go, complete with perfect grey socks, in double quick time and was now only waiting for the Young un to arrive and we could get away early and get a prematch drink…

She wasn’t here and because I’d got everything done early I was pacing about impatiently like a bear in a cage…I was getting snappy as well…obviously the nerves were kicking in big style and the longer it went before she arrived the snappier I got…

Oh yeah, I forgot…I’d given her the task of making us a banner for the game, sommat to say thanks to one of the players and maybe get us a bit of media whoring on the telly..

Because we sit at the front of the kop we decided on a banner for Stephen Bywater. We knew how he loved the late Les Sealey who was his mentor at West Ham and how when Sealey had died Bywater had decided to always wear the number 43 on his shirt as a mark of respect for his hero… I thought we could pay our own respect to  both…We decided on 43 Forever and a picture of Bywater himself

Oh and another thing I forgot to mention…when she said ‘what do you want on this banner’ I said ‘47 forever’

‘Why 47′ she says…’that’s his number’…’OK’ she says…

It’s a good job she checked before starting it…when she found out it was 43 she rang me…’YOU IDIOT!’

What?

What number is Bywater?

47?

NO HE ISN’T! HE’S 43!

Oh.

It’s a good job I know what you’re like and checked before starting!

Yeah, that might have been a bit embarrassing…hehehe

When the Young Un turned up though she hadn’t finished the banner and me, the Young Un and our lass set about colouring in on the kitchen floor…we were running very late now and we were also running out of ink…we scoured the house for perniment markers…searched the car…under the stairs…under the coffee table obviously, always look under there and when you’ve finished looking, look there again…pretty much everything in our house ends up under the coffee table at some point

Eventually we found one, under the coffee table, with just enough ink to finish the job…I loved it when it was finished and how could Bywater  not love this?

We got underway and the Young Un gets the 90’s music going and the journey flies past but we can’t stop repeating the same old thing…it’s all about nerves and ‘Dad, I want us to go up!’ ‘Make us go up dad!’ ‘Daaaaad…Daaad…sort it out Daaaaad’

Chuff me if I had that much power we’d have been home and dry ages ago.

Before long we’re parked up in the Wednesdayite car park and we’re walking over the road to meet Liam and then onto the Niagara Club for a drink with anyone that was around…

The Young Un had her banner wrapped around her and her Miguel Llera headguard and I had my Llera headguard on too. As we walk along everyone’s smiling and commenting about Llera…and the headguards.

We get into the club and meet, Lord H, Eddie, Durrutti, Billy, Bradders and Phoebes, Wym…PACT family Ellie…it’s like a Wednesday reunion, it’s brilliant and there’s someone new to talk to at every turn…I loved it.

As we’re talking to our now good friends, the PACT family it’s clear that Ellies brother Josh loves the Llera headguards and the Young Un gives him her headguard at first he didn’t want it as he thought it was a bit rude to be so cheeky but it just made us want to give him it even more and  absolutely loved it and even went to bed in it that night…I doubt he’s taken it off yet.

Eventually we take a slow walk back towards the ground..I want to savour this, I don’t want to hurry at all…we have plenty of time and I want to take it all in, walking amongst the Wednesday fans the whole lot…

As we walk out onto Penistone Road some lads spy me in the headguard and start singing…a few steps more and another group do the same…every few yards that happens, they love it, they love him…Miguel Llera and that headguard have captured the imagination of the Wednesday fans and every time it happens it makes me smile…

Lleeeeeera Woah!

Lleeeeerah Woah!

He wears a balck headguard, he scores from 30 yard

Lleeeera Woah!

The closer we get to the ground the more congested it becomes as the crowds get bigger and bigger and the noise gets louder…

We wave Wym off at the roundabout and he heads for the Leppings Lane stand whilst we continue our slow amble groundwards…

As we turn and head through the gates towards the South Stand we see Jonny and Leroy through the railings enjoying a pint…we have a quick natter about nerves and whether we think it’ll all be alright by the end of the day…Jonny is uber confident for a change but Leroy still has his doubts…

This is it then…we’re at the turnstiles… Once we’re through here there’s no turning back and the game really does begin…as we’ve done all this season, yes another routine that wasn’t gonna be changed…I go first…I love this bit, even moreso on days like this but I absolutely love this moment… From the turnstile to my seat…it’s not far but it’s one of my favourite journeys and even I can’t get lost on this one…it’s a hell of a lot more crowded this time but we wind our way through…

Usually I get a clear unobstructed view on the pitch and North stand as I climb the steps…this time it takes a little longer and it’s almost tormenting me, tantalising me…hiding the view from me even longer, til eventually at the top it all clears and the noise is great…what a sound…what a sight..

We’re early, there’s loads of time yet but the ground is well on the way to filling up and that’s ALL 4 SIDES! Filling up!

This is like a cup final, it’s like a localised Cardiff 2005…everyone is in a great mood, it even sounds and smells like a cup final and nothing can derail this day, nothing was gonna stop us keeping a tight grip on that second spot. All over this fantastic ground the buzz was brilliant, everyone chatting excitedly or singing…already that singing was good and the inflatables were out in force…everywhere you looked but none moreso than on the kop…it was raining inflatables on the kop, they were everywhere.

We squeezed our way down to our seats and settled in…there wasn’t an empty seat anywhere in the place…usually there’s loads of room around us in the shit viewing area but not today…jam packed everywhere…

In those few minutes before kick off the crowd, all 38,000 of us set our moods to promotion…

Whatever it took, it was gonna happen… Everywhere you looked there was happy smiling faces, kids with painted faces, adults with painted faces, in fancy dress and we were all keen to get underway… The giant flag went across the north Stand before coming back over to the kop and once It went up it was covered in the inflatables…there was a paddling pool on there, a lilo, any number of beach balls as the party mood continued…

-
THE MATCH
-
Even though Wycombe flattered to deceive at times early on they never tested Bywater at any point, in fact I’m struggling to recall him making a save of any description throughout the 90 minutes and but for the heroics of a staunch rearguard defence and inspired goalkeeper we would have run out very easy winners indeed.

We were having a right go and we should/woulda/coulda had a couple of goals early on…

We got a corner and once the ball was in the box everyone’s trying to prod it in but it’s Llera that gets a touch on it eventually and we’re up on our feet, only to see the Wycombe keeper somehow push it out…HOW THE FOOK?

All that did was crank up the noise level again as we expected the corner to come into the danger zone again and for us to do the same again, but this time, hopefully someone would force it over the line…

Would you believe it that’s exactly what we did…well almost.

The ball comes in from Treacy and Llera once again leaps like the gret helmet wearing Spanish salmon that he is and heads the ball home for the first – OH FOOK ME!

The keeper fingertips the ball over the bar…AAAAARGH!

Fook off ya twat and let us enjoy our moment!

I was hoping this wasn’t gonna be one of those days where yet another keeper comes to Hillsborough and is inspired to play well…You’ve let more goals in than any other fookers in this division, now just lay down and let us have it matey!

We were playing well and it wasn’t gonna be long now surely…this chuffer can’t keep us out forever….

He didn’t.

The ball was punted long, flicked on i think and it seemed to hit Ranger, we couldn’t make out whether it was defended or if he passed it to Antonio but once he’d got it the Reading loanee worked very quickly to take control… He used his incredible skill and superb strength to fend off the Wycombe defenders and with the keeper bearing down on him he side foots the ball past the flailing keeper and motionless defenders and we’re on our feet…

The wall of noise as that ball rolled into the net was spine tingling…it hit you full on and it was a release for us all…any nerves fans had held onto were now melting away, we could all relax a little more. Everyone in the ground really began to believe it was going to happen and we were still celebrating when the scoreboard flashed up…

SHHHHHHHHHH!

T

Mid celebration and they’re asking us to be quiet?

You’re having a laugh….but here it comes….

EXETER  1
SHEFF UTD  0

YEEEEEEEAAAAARGHH!

We picked it all straight back up again and we were bouncing…not for the last time today it was everywhere…all over the ground…

IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE!
IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE THEN YOU’RE A BLADE!

COME ON! GET IN! GET IN! FOR FOOKS SAKE WILL YOU CHUFFIN GET IN!

All of a sudden this season is sorted once and for all…not only are we ahead but the Blades are losing and it lifts us all yet again as we go close to doubling our lead.

Everyone is blamming the ball at the Wycombe net from in and around their area…

If fell to an Owls player he lashed at it…BLAM! It was blocked.

BLAM! Blocked again!

AAARGH!

Eventually we get a great shot off on target BLAM! The keeper blocks yet again but Ranger is in there quick as ya like to head home the loose ball and we’re up and on our feet again…

GET TH-

OFFSIDE!

The flag was up and it was ruled out…the fans to either side of the ground in line with play weren’t happy and from our fantastic viewpoint at the front of the kop, opposite end of the pitch, we were convinced it was definitely onside but it was ruled out and we had to calm down…calm down? Calm chuffin down?

That wasn’t gonna be easy…

We went close another couple of times in the run up to half time but we just couldn’t extend that lead…it didn’t really matter…most of us, even me with my liking for being edgy, were pretty relaxed. It was clear that the Wednesday players were enjoying this and were playing relaxed, confident football and were ready to finish the job off

Our joy and celebrations didn’t stop there though as news slowly filtered through that James Beattie had been sent off at Exeter…it was enough to start a cracking little rendition across the back off the kop.

‘BIN SENT OFF, BEATTIE’S BIN SENT OFF, NANANANANANANAA,
BEATTIES BIN SENT OFF, BIN SENT OFF, BEATTIES BIN SENT OFF

The second half and we continue where we left off playing good relaxed, comfortable football and looking as though there was no way on earth we could lose this game…within 7 minutes of the restart that point was underlined…

The ball comes down our left, I couldn’t really see who from but it finds Nile Ranger and as he collects he’s fouled by the Wycombe defender…it’s right on the edge of their box soa  good chance here for us toe xtend the lead…everyone around us is on their feet…

Come on!

Linesy is stood over it and the big lads are in the box…

He curls in a fookin peach of a ball and there’s Nile Ranger with what looks like absolutely acres of space to head it past the keeper…he’s off running up field and we’re going stone bonking mental! I grab the Young Un as I’m leaning back giving it a fook off mighty roar and she’s going WAAAAAAAAH! She’s looking right at me and making this daft noise WAAAAAH! She can’t believe it…I can’t believe it…

We’re fookin gonna do this…we’re actually gonna go up today, right here and right now….

That was a lot to take in but everything…the whole season, the ups and downs, the bumps, the setbacks, the stick from the pigs, reclaiming the second spot…all of that…Megson going, Jones coming in and going unbeaten…all of it…

Well, let me tell ya now, ya can shove ya dictionary’s right up your proper English arse! Keep ya good grammer and spot on punctuation. Every last bit of our season was contained in that one word, that one noise from the Young Un…she absolutely nailed it!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

It summed up that precise moment perfectly and when we’d all sorted ourselves out and come back down to earth the chant was superb…

SAID WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP It was incredible, deep and booming… It reverberated around the ground, you could feel it coming up through the concrete floor and right through ya soul….it was wonderful… It wasn’t just words anymore this was for real. It really was gonna happen and we were living the dream every single one of the 38,000 was caught up in that wonderful, wonderful moment.

Even the news that the Blades were now winning despite being down to 10 men, no one cared about them anymore…our destiny lay in our own hands and we were finishing off the job ourselves.

There was a bit of a commotion to our left as someone in a curly Blue and White wig was standing up and all the fans around were singing at him…

REDA REDA REDA REDA FOLLOW THE REDA

Rfeda Johnson had been sat there amongst it all with his cunning disguise on…but now his secret was out and his huge incredible beaming smile lit up the entire South Stand….

During the half there was also a smashing chant of thanks to Milan Mandaric

MILAN…MILAN MANDARIC
MILAN…MILAN MANDARIC

That was accompanied by a huge warm heartfelt round of applause and as we rose to salute him he in turn stood to acknowledge the Wednesday fans…it really was a nice moment.

On the pitch we continued to dominate and I really wanted Gary Madine to score in front of the kop just to cap off a pretty good season for the troubled striker…

He had his chance too…

A free kick taken from halfway into the Wycombe half…it’s floated over to the far side of the box where Madine is waiting and once again he’s in absolutely loads of space…there’s no wonder Wycombe have conceded so many defending like this…he meets it perfectly and places it even better…just inside the far post…

From our seats we’re staring right down the barrel of it and it’s in…it’s all over 3-0 and thank you very much, Championship here we come…

But NO!

Once again it’s kept out…I have no idea how…I STILL have no idea how…I suppose a defender hooked it out but it looked impossible….CHUFF MY OLD BOOTS!

It didn’t matter as far as the score and the result went…we were so comfortable now…in fact the Young Un commented about how she felt a bit cheated. This isn’t the Wednesday way…usually they have us on the edge of our seats with our nerves in tatters…they’d not given us any of that and it was all very easy in the end….too easy! She protested.

The Wednesday fans thought so too and they started to gather in front of us on the kop…

There was still time for a very funny little cameo involving Antonio..

Antonio gets the ball near the corner flag, he has 3 Wycombe players surrounding him, 2 of em up close and personal…he’s clearly running down the clock and they know it and don’t like it…they try and badger him into losing the ball but he skips past them and dances towards the box…both players are hot on his heels chasing after him…as he gets past them he’s met by the third, he skips past him and doubles back in a wide arc to where he started, in the corner near the flag. Rather than stop there he goes around again and to our disbelief all three of em follow him in single file…it’s like the keystone Cops, or an episode of Scooby-Doo…it’s classic cartoon capers…he could run round and round for an hour and they’d still follow him…funny as fook

When the scoreboard clock hit 88 minutes you could feel the surge…I don’t mean folk pushing to get to the front I mean you coud feel the surge in love, in hope and expectation, in realisation…with only 2 minutes left of the game, of the entire season there was no way back for Wycombe and more importantly, no way back for the Blades…that second spot and automatic promotion was ours…

We got a corner and Llera headed onto the bar..if that had gone in this game was ending even earlier than it did, that would have been enough for the fans….

All round the ground the repeated chant…

WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP
WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP

It echoed loud and proud all round this fookin beautiful old place, it was heaving, hell the place was probably creaking as Hillsborough had well and truly found it’s voice (Probably under the coffee table all along)…

More than that though it had found it’s heart and soul again and this was about to become as great a moment for us as anyone has ever seen at Hillsborough

Seconds later that inner surge finally gave way to the physical one as shouty bloke at the side of me says to the Stewards, what dya think you’re gonna do? No way are you lot stopping anyone!

‘We have to try’ says the steward sheepishly.

The area down in front of us behind the wall filled up in the blink of an eye and everyone down there was in party mood like you wouldn’t believe… The noise builds up…like a wave all round the ground…. IF YA DON’T FOKIN BOUNCE… IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE THEN YOURE A BLADE

Quickly its picked up by every single Wednesday fan in the ground and all four sides are bouncing like chuff…I swear I even saw some Wycombe fans bouncing, it was that loud, that bouncy and that infectious…and it was wonderful…a sight to behold…

The fourth official holds up 2 minutes

There’s a gasp from everyone as they brace themselves to run onto the pitch…

I don’t know what watch the ref was using but we coulda done with it against Huddersfield earlier in the season as what seemed like seconds later he blew for full time…

He’d barely finished peeping when he was off and leggin it towards the tunnel…no way was he getting caught up in this lot…Usain Bolt wouldn’t have beaten him today

As the last dull note of that peep left the whistle the crowd were on the pitch and swarming and within seconds the pitch was covered…it was like opening the floodgates, nothing was gonna stop this, no amount of stewards, nothing at all. You could have built a wall as big as ya like, it wasn’t stopping the Wednesday fans, not after waiting so long, not after taking so much shit, not after all that hurt and heartache and as the crowd ran on the stewards huddled together for safety and let the fans get on with it…

I stood there at the front of the kop as wave after wave passed by me…I was like a big fat old rock in the middle of a river, it was incredible and it seemed endless…I looked around and the kop was still full, so where were they coming from?

As I turned back to the pitch you couldn’t see a spot of green…no part of the pitch was visible as the fans ran to the players that hadn’t made it to the safety of the tunnel…within seconds Llera and Danny Batth were mobbed and everyone wanted to thank them, moments later and they’re hoisted high like gladiatorial champions…emerging high on the shoulders of the fans, unsteady and wobbling about but on their faces were the broadest smiles of pure joy, they were loving it…they were making this moment count, like me, they didn’t want it to end….

The chant was still going on

WE ARE GOING UP SAID WE ARE GOING UP! There were flares in the middle of the pitch and I know this isn’t the right thing to say but they added to the whole drama of the moment, they made this moment pure theatre and it was quite emotional… I stood there absolutely stunned, rooted to the spot…my stomach was churning…my heart was pounding like mad and I admit it I was struggling to hold it together… That’s just how emotional the whole thing was…it got deep inside you and it demanded your full attention…

I was snapped out of it as Liam, Salop, Craig, Danny, Caharlie and Titch all came to stand with us…we stood together all locked into the moment…all hypnotised by the scenes in front of us, we were pretty much speechless, just wallowing in it all…

To stand there…with the Young Un and share that moment, those few seconds with her and those friends was very special indeed. It would have been Liam’s granddads 92nd birthday the day after this game, he was a keen Wednesday fan…he’d have loved all this, loved it and I’ve got to tell ya, even with my piss poor memory, it will all stay with me a long time…at least a week this time…I’m sure of it.

Just to continue with the whole mood of the day, the whole friendly nature of the event our fans ran over to the small bunch of Wycombe fans in the corner and applauded them and what’s more they applauded back…absolute class…there was talk afterwards that they’d even joined in the bouncing and sang to us…

THIS CITY IS YOURS…THIS CITY IS YOURS….

As loud as everything had been sung throughout the day I doubt anything matched that song at that moment…

I’m absolutely sure that when we got to….

FOOK OFF UNITED, THIS CITY IS OURS!

They could hear us all the way down at Exeter…It was so loud it rattled ya spine into the middle of next week

The Young Un started shouting DAD! WE’VE DONE IT! WE’VE DONE IT! WE’VE DONE IT!

She just kept repeating that over and over again like she needed to say it to make it all official, to actually confirm we had indeed done it…I was beaming, smiling from ear to ear, I love her to bits and I loved that exact moment more than anything

Once the players had finally made it back down the tunnel the announcer asked fans to leave the pitch so the players could come out and do a lap of honour…he asked for everyone to return to the stands.

Liam said to me ‘Look at the stands. They’re all full. Where are they gonna go?’

He was right…as I looked around there didn’t seem to be an empty seat anywhere and the pitch was still full…where had they come from? There was certainly no way they could get back into the seats.

I think someone realised that and just ushered everyone back to the edge of the pitch and formed a thin yellow line of stewards around the pitch to hold them back…that was never gonna work but eventually the players did come back out and made their way across to the North Stand

As they walked over one lad broke through the thin yellow line and ran full pelt at the players jumping to try and avoid the stewards, someone took him out with a fine clothes lining that flipped him backwards and onto his arse…it was a great shot and the rest of the Wednesday fans cheered.

The players didn’t stay long… They had their kids with them and this was getting far too risky so they made their way back in front of the Leppings Lane and then down the tunnel. Rob Jones was determined to see it out though and he walked his two kids, both toddlers, over to the kop and got them both waving at the fans…he stood there and applauded us… It was a nice moment but the Young Un, never a fan of the Captain, was having none of it…

‘Huh! We must have won if Rob Jones is coming over to applaud the fans. If we’d lost he’d have been straight down the tunnel’

She had a point but it was still a nice moment for the club captain.

Once he disappeared that was it…it really was game over and they weren’t coming back out and slowly…VERY slowly everyone drifted out….no one wanted to leave, certainly not quickly, we didn’t want the moment, the day, the SEASON to end and just as everyone was on their way, news filtered through that Exeter had scored in the 95th minute just to make a bad day for the Blades even worse and yet another cheer….one more cheer went up from the Wednesday fans…the season that keeps on giving just gave us a little more…

Once again we were the last ones out of the ground, like everyone else we didn’t want this to end but we finally had to admit defeat on this one and we were pushed out of the gates but we continued on to what has become another tradition in the latter part of the season, we meet North Stand Man and the North stand Boys under the back of the North Stand.

They took me by surprise this time though as we slowly walked out of the gate – BEASTIE!

They were running towards me…I grabbed one of the lads as he flew through the air…hugs all round and more excited chatter about not believing we’d done it…huge beaming faces, just astonishment and the fantastic realisation and excitement that we were back in the Championship.

We all headed over to the car park chatting away and as we were about to cross the road we saw Tommo and his two lads…Jamie looked fit to burst…he was desperate to share the moment with us and the longer we waited for the traffic to part and leave enough gap for us to cross the road the more animated and eager he became…hopping from foot to foot…

Eventually we got across and he couldn’t contain it any longer…more big hugs all round and then Jamie was off, both barrels and lightening fast…Beastie, we did it, we did it, that Antonio goal, who do you think was Man of the Match? They were rubbish, we were brilliant…non stop, he was like a machine gun…I loved it…we walked over to the car and he held my hand as he chatted away about the day…what a great ending right there…is there anything better than young kids with totally unbridled enthusiasm?
They can’t hide it, they can’t hold it in check and they can’t make it up, it’s just natural, like that Christmas morning effect…I love it, love it.

It took a while for the car park to empty and I rang work to see if I could get the night off to finish celebrating…

YES!

A quick drive home to get changed and back to Sheffield for the dogs to savour the day with more good friends and there were a lot of Wednesday fans over there which helped with the noise when the track DJ played ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ and we lifted the roof of the dog track belting it out loud and proud…the old lass behind the Tote counter shouted ‘That’s my team, sing it again…louder this time’….it all wove nicely into the fabric of this day and we chewed it all over many times in there before finishing off with a nightcap back at Seans and watching ourselves on the football League show…

We cheered every touch, chanting again and shouting at every high point, anticipating every move, sharing the celebrations of the players…we must have rewound it a dozen times and every time we did the same thing…oh yeah, what a moment.

It was very late when we headed off home and it was almost 4am when I finally climbed into bed…I STILL didn’t want it to end…I was absolutely shattered, totally drained…I had nothing left but I still didn’t want it to end.

Watching your team clinch promotion on the final day, watching your closest rivals snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Seeing those scenes at the end and being a part of them, a historical moment for OUR football club and best of all, sharing it all with some incredible friends…well let me tell you, matchdays, SEASONS, don’t get any better than this.

Thank you everyone that’s been a part of it…the players, the management, past and present, the chairman, the opposition fans at the likes of Wycombe, Exeter, Orient, Brentford, Hartlepool, Huddersfield and Bury…all of em…I’ve loved it all and you’ve made us feel very welcome but most of all thanks to everyone that’s been to the games with me and the Young Un, we’ve enjoyed your company and love that we have friends we can share all this with.

Sheffield Wednesday…back in the Championship.

One last thing, for Blades everywhere, GAP CLOSED!

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @Beastie_

A straightforward 2-0 win over Wycombe secured second spot, 93 points and sparked an epic pitch invasion.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for The Owls.

Less than three months ago Gary Megson’s Wednesday side found themselves five points behind bitter rivals Sheffield United having played two games more than the Blades.

It has been a real rollercoaster of a season on the road back to the second tier.

Here I take a look back at some of the key moments – ups and downs – which have made for an unforgettable 2011/12 as a Wednesdayite.

Boyhood Owl gets the job

Megson craved promotion

On Thursday 4 February 2011 Milan Mandaric sacked Alan Irvine. Two days earlier Wednesday had lost 5-3 at Peterborough leaving them 12th in the League One table. Irvine was a good man, an astute coach, but not the man to lead the club out of the doldrums. Mandaric believed Gary Megson was. “My target when I bought this club was promotion this season then the Premier League and that remains the case,” he said.

Megson, the lifelong Wednesdayite, had been out of the game since his tumultuous spell at Bolton. He admitted he wouldn’t have dropped to League One for anyone but Wednesday. Was he the man to get this ship back on the course?

An inauspicious start

Mandaric may have wanted instant promotion but two wins in Megson’s first twelve games in charge left the Owls just four points clear of an unthinkable drop to the bottom tier with eight games to go.

Four wins in April 2011 secured mid-table mediocrity and perhaps showed the first glimpse of a revival but a final day defeat to Exeter put the seal on a dire season. The only positive to come out of the game was an inspired performance from Jermaine Johnson, who perhaps earned himself a contract extension on the back of that performance. JJ would go on to score crucial goals in January 2012.

Time to rebuild

Nothing short of promotion would be enough in 2011/12. Megson’s most important task was assembling a squad capable of challenging for the title. The signatures of Lewis Buxton, Jermaine Johnson and James O’Connor were secured. Tough choices were made as Tommy Spurr, Darren Potter, Tommy Miller, Paul Heffernan and Gary Teale moved on.

The magic midfielder was a key signing

Rob Jones returned permanently and was later named club captain; David Prutton and Julian Bennett also joined up.

Then came the signings of the summer. On July 7 Megson managed to convince Charlton’s player of the year, Jose Semedo, that he should move to South Yorkshire.

Megson was aware how important he would be, saying at the time: “We have a way that we would like to play this season and having Jose is crucial to that.”

Then, a fortnight before the season resumed, Wolves centre-back Danny Batth returned on a six-month loan – which was extended in January.

The rebuilding had begun but was by no means over. A pre-season where goals were at a premium pointed to where Megson still had work to do.

Who needs scouts?

The final pieces of the jigsaw in terms of permanent signings weren’t put in place until August. On the opening day Wednesday ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Rochdale. A certain Chris O’Grady came off the bench to boos, after reportedly turning down a move to The Owls but just three days later he put pen to paper on a three-year deal at Hillsborough.

Then it was Bristol Rovers midfielder Chris Lines who joined up having impressed against the Owls the previous season. Finally, Ryan Lowe was plucked from Bury after scoring against Wednesday in a 2-1 win for the Shakers a fortnight beforehand.

Strength in depth up front, a balanced central midfield. All we needed now was some width…

Working the loan market

Ben10 lit up Sheffield 6

Megson’s frustration at not being able to shell out on a winger was tempered when he secured the loan signing of Ben Marshall. Signed on a five-month deal the Stoke man was Wednesday’s danger man throughout the first half of the season.

Megson’s signings weren’t all masterstrokes though. Daniel Uchechi never looked like a footballer and I must be one of the few people to have ever seen David Kasnik strike a football, albeit on the training ground.

Nicky Weaver’s injury woes also resulted in the loan signing of Stephen Bywater in September. Capable of brilliance (and the odd miskick) Bywater brought his wackiness to the training ground, his discipline to the football field and his barmy quotes to the pre-match press conferences.

Stopping the rot

A flying start was the order of the day so successive away defeats to Bournemouth and Bury hardly raised expectations. Sides sent out to lose at Blackburn and Bradford did just that, much to the chagrin of travelling Wednesdayites, and a televised trip to high-flying Charlton had fifth straight defeat written all over it. Wednesday were poor but they battled away and Clinton Morrison popped up to rescue a vital point to stop the rot. But the away day blues weren’t over just yet…

That night at Stevenage

Fortunately I was on holiday when Wednesday travelled to Broadhall Way in September but those who did travel will never forget the 5-1 humiliation. If you’d have said that night Wednesday would end up getting promoted you’d have probably been laughed out of the country. Inevitable calls for Megson’s head were understandable but a battling Owls side went to Yeovil and battled to a massive 3-2 win. The lowest ebb reached and overcome. A springboard perhaps?

Home comforts

Despite the continued troubles on the road Megson did manage to end the Hillsborough hoodoo. For seasons Wednesday sides feared playing in front of an expectant home crowd but in 2011/12 it finally became a fortress. I remember sitting in the press box before the 3-0 win against Exeter seeing Megson take O’Grady and Lowe half way up the Kop and explain to them what it meant to play for this club. Whatever he said to all the players about Hillsborough obviously worked as the Owls lost just twice at home all season.

Fighting back

Bramall Lane.

October 16 2011.

With ten minutes left Wednesday trailed 2-0 and looked dead and buried. Sat at the beamback at Hillsborough I looked around at 11,000 fellow Wednesdayites and the belief simply wasn’t there. But this was a different Wednesday side than we had become used to.

On 82 minutes Chris O’Grady headed his first goal for the club to ignite that hope and minutes later Gary Madine got in ahead of a flapping Steve Simonsen to seal an incredible comeback. To this day I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated a goal so hard and for so long and what a moment in our season. It was Madine’s 11th goal in 12 league games – an incredible run of goalscoring and he ended up far and away our leading marksman.

Wednesday players celebrate a crucial point at Bramall Lane

Throwing away points

The turnaround at Sheffield United kick-started a great run, only punctuated by a dire night at Carlisle where Wednesday threw away three points and Gary Madine lost his head. Ryan Lowe missed a gilt-edged opportunity to score a late, late equaliser and it was late drama that was Wednesday’s undoing at Christmas.

First there was the unbelievable game against Huddersfield – possibly the best game I’ve ever seen at Hillsborough. To come back from 2-0 down was sensational, to throw away a 4-2 lead was unforgiveable. Jordan Rhodes’ late late equaliser was perhaps written in the stars but it ended a five-game winning streak. On Boxing Day that inability to hold on struck again, this time with Wednesday conceding two late goals to lose 2-1 after a poor performance.

A solid win at Preston ensured Wednesday were well in the hunt entering the New Year – but would points dropped cost us dear?

New Year, new woes

In January the cracks began to show. An impressive win against Championship West Ham in the FA Cup seemed the perfect set-up for a crunch game against Charlton. But Wednesday played as poorly as they had all season and surrendered their unbeaten home record in tame fashion to the well-organised Addicks.

Ben Marshall’s loan spell came to an end and a long drawn-out saga saw him end up joining Leicester. Megson’s clear frustration at not being backed was directed at Paul Aldridge – within weeks he was a dead man walking.

Milan makes the toughest decision

Megson bids farewell

An FA Cup humbling at the hands of Blackpool was followed by defeat at Exeter, a dire 1-0 defeat to Stevenage and then a third straight league reverse at Chesterfield. Fans were beginning to question the ‘Ginger Mourinho’ and seemingly Milan’s mind was made up that day at the B2Net.

In the build-up to derby day Megson knew his fate was sealed but he delivered in the way only a true Wednesdayite could.

Going into the game five points adrift of the Blades, nothing short of a win would do. Backed by a packed Hillsborough, Wednesday got the crucial win thanks to Chris O’Grady’s goal – which turned out to be our goal of the season.

Three days later – to the disbelief of many Wednesdayites – Megson was gone.

I was in a pub in London watching England-Holland when news filtered through that Megson had been sacked.

Disbelief soon turned to anger and when I returned two days later to see Dave Jones unveiled I was still angry at Milan Mandaric.

How could he do this to a man with Wednesday in his blood?

Megson was an ‘old school’ manager which didn’t earn him widespread praise but I found him engaging, determined and honest when I spoke to him. He gave off the aura of a man determined to do whatever it took to get Wednesday back in the Championship.

To be deprived of that chance struck me as unjust.

But Milan Mandaric hasn’t got where he is today without making toughdecisions.

The press conference welcoming Jones instead turned into a post-mortem concerning Mandaric’s crazy decision. But Mandaric was animated and completely sure he had made the right decision.

He gave as good as he got, just days after the court case which had caused him so much personal hurt.

This wasn’t the decision of a man who had lost his mind.

This was the decision of a man who had to make his move to save Wednesday from falling short again.

The Jones effect

Unbeaten in twelve

Sat at that press conference Dave Jones played the role of uninterested observer. He watched the soap opera play out in front of him, completely unmoved by the emotion and ready to make his mark. Two months later Jones remains something of an outsider – someone who doesn’t try to get too emotionally involved but someone who comes in and does his job. And what a job he has done.

Three straight wins and nine goals for starters had the Hillsborough faithful purring. But a dismal performance against Walsall nearly put paid to all the hard work. Gary Madine’s late late equaliser not only preserved Jones’ unbeaten run but also kept the slim automatic promotion hopes alive.

An unforgettable run-in

No matter how hard Wednesday tried it seemed the Blades couldn’t be caught. Three games running the Owls kicked off before their city rivals and won but each time the Blades responded. The second of those was a resounding win at Huddersfield. The demons of the 4-4 game were well and truly exorcised and the biggest away test of the season that remained was passed with flying colours.

A draw at Colchester once again seemed to hand the automatic spot to United and many Wednesday fans accepted defeat. But an unbelievable win against Carlisle a week later, while United lost at MK Dons, put it right back in the balance again.

A season of twists and turns saw its most decisive moment yet on Saturday 28 April.

Dave Jones had persuaded Burnley’s Keith Treacy to join up and, having reached full fitness, he scored a cheeky free-kick to put The Owls in front at Brentford. The inspirational Miguel Llera later grabbed a priceless winner – his fourth goal in five games – while in the late kick-off United buckled again, drawing 2-2 with Stevenage.

Finally Wednesday’s fate was in their own hands.

An unforgettable day as the Owls sealed promotion

Never in doubt

Wednesday have had a few final day showdowns in recent years but surely none as comfortable as this one.

Wycombe tried their best but Wednesday, roared on by 38,000 home fans on all four sides, weren’t to be denied. Michail Antonio got the first -Megson’s parting gift when he was signed on loan from Reading before the derby. Nile Ranger – Dave Jones’ only other addition – then completed the victory and a Championship return.

A season to remember

It wouldn’t be Wednesday without a few ups and downs along the way. But 93 points, 28 league wins (17 at home) and most importantly 2nd spot show what an unbelievable season it was.

Cardiff 2005 was a special day for a young Owl but seeing all four sides of Hillsborough bouncing will live even longer in the memory.

Wednesday are back.

Roll on August.

Creg
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @CraigSWFC

Last weekend could go down as one of the great ones as first off a subpar Wednesday overcame Brentford at Griffin Park, Miguel Llera scoring the winner and then for a 90 minute spell every single Wednesday fan temporarily switched allegiance to Stevenage who happened to be playing at Bramall Lane.

An absorbing 2-2 draw means that after nearly 2 months of pressuring the Blades we’ve finally overtaken them but we need to keep that second spot and consign them to the play-offs.

The scenarios are cast out like this – A win will guarantee us promotion, A draw will get us promotion but only if the Blades fail to win at Exeter, a loss means the Blades also need to lose to get us that second spot.

Let’s look at the tale of the tape for the two sides.

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

Wednesday’s penultimate home game saw a late,late Michail Antonio strike seal a much needed victory given the Blades’ result at Milton Keynes. Fact of the matter is that the game could have been buried long before that with a mix of superb goalkeeping from Adam Collin and poor finishing/decisions from the Owls’ forwards. Credit has to go to Carlisle who battled hard but ultimately we had enough quality to see us through.

Wycombe’s last away game saw Charlton clinch the League One title as a Yann Kermorgant free kick and a Dale Stephens effort cancelled out Stuart Beavon’s strike, truth be told though Wycombe made a fist of it and should not be underestimated.

Wednesday’s win meant that the unbeaten run under Dave Jones continued and the last defeat the Owls suffered was at Chesterfield in Gary Megson’s penultimate game in the Owls hotseat. One more win will see the Owls back in the Championship and points have been dropped in only two of Dave Jones’ games so far.

Wycombe’s defeat at home to Notts County saw the confirmation that Wycombe will be departing League One after this game, they’re currently winless in seven, the lowlight being a 4-0 shellacking at Chesterfield.

LAST MEETING
29th October 2011,Adams Park, Att – 6448
Wycombe Wanderers 1-2 Wednesday
(J Ibe 29)(J Semedo 23,R Lowe 35)

The last meeting saw a few firsts, a first career goal for Jordan Ibe who has since joined Liverpool, first Wednesday goals for Jose Semedo and Ryan Lowe plus the first time Mark Reynolds was part of a victorious Wednesday side in the league on his 9th attempt.

Overall the two sides aren’t familiar adversaries with this being only the fourth meeting between the two, the previous Hillsborough meeting in January 2004 ended 1-1 with Adam Proudlock scoring for the Owls.

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

For the season finale only two players are missing from the DJ’s choices, those two being Reda Johnson and Julian Bennett.

As for our opposition they have three confirmed absences, those being defenders Dave Winfield and Anthony Stewart plus winger Chris Hackett and Ben Strevens is rated as doubtful.

I think Jones may stick with the line-up that won at Brentford but I wouldn’t be overly shocked if JJ came in for Treacy.

This could be the last hurrah for some of our current squad with one or two out of contract and a few loan spells ending, should the worst happen the loan spells do include the play offs should we have to make do with them.

 BYWATER

	BUXTON		BATTH		LLERA		BEEVERS
	ANTONIO		LINES		SEMEDO		TREACY
			RANGER		MADINE

TOP TRUMPS

Sheffield Wednesday -our team, our love, our passion have managed to get 90 points from their 45 games, there’s been some highs, there’s been some lows but boy, has it been a season to remember so far! be it the terrific run we went on after we got a deserved thumping at Stevenage or this run we’ve been enjoying in recent weeks, this Owls side have got more points than the last four Owls sides that have won promotion (the 1979/80 season would have seen the Owls get 79 points had the 3 points a win system counted back then).

If we can do it I think this could go down as one of the greatest seasons in recent Owls history.

Wycombe Wanderers have by contrast struggled once again at the higher level after promotion. Stuart Beavon has impressed with 21 goals but conceding 86 goals is a formula for disaster at any level, they did however keep a clean sheet against the league’s top scorers Sheffield United! Results have not been good enough for the Chairboys and last weekend’s defeat against Notts County confirmed their instant return to League 2.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Wycombe WIN	DRAW	Llera 1st Goal	Correct Score 3-1
BEST ODDS	1/4	14/1	6/1	20/1	10/1
BOOKIES

Wednesday are blue hot favourites with the bookies to win this game and secure promotion, the longest odds I found on a SWFC win was 1/4 with Boylesports, Wycombe are a long 14/1 shot with Sportingbet and the draw’s 6/1 with Chandler.

Wycombe’s top scorer Stuart Beavon is a surprisingly long 16/1 shot to score first with Miguel Llera 20/1 for the first or 6/1 anytime with Paddy Power.

Four or more goals is my preferred bet though, that’s 5/4 with Boylesports.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

This is it, the finale, the finish, the end.

We need just one more win, just one more to make a return to the Championship after two seasons away and the funny thing is I believe we will do it. In the past Wednesday have bottled it when it’s mattered but over the last few weeks we’ve really thrived under the pressure of chasing that lot and after throwing down the gauntlet repeatedly they’ve cracked over the last two games.

However we must not think that this is a mere formality, that we just have to turn up and Wycombe will roll over and let us win, they may have been relegated but they’ll want to salvage some pride from what has been a dismal season.

We have to show the form that’s earnt us every single one of those 90 points to take us to 93 and a Championship berth, it’s the final game, it’s at Hillsborough, four sides of the ground will be on Wednesday’s side urging the blue and white wizards on.

Let’s make the season finale one of our most glorious moments rather than yet another Wednesday heartbreaker.

VERDICT: Scenes of joy will erupt around Hillsborough as the Owls secure promotion with a 3-1 win.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83

We have something new….a podcast.

Just when you though you could get away from Beastie and his drivel in text form, now it’s worse, you get to listen to his annoying voice and actually hear his dreadful memory at work.

In conjunction with like minded Owls fans on Twitter this is going to be a regular thing from now on.

The whole idea came about through Lord Hillsborough on Twitter (@LORD_H) when he put it to Beastie and a couple of others that Wednesday fans may well take to something like this and there’s certainly nothing like it around specifically for our great football club.

Along with Beastie he asked Eddie Hoyland from Wednesdayite and Dan Fudge of the Fudge and Dave podcast fame and then the uber posh and well educated Craig Nicholson to add a little bit of higher social standing to the whole thing…

Craig even has higher social status than Lord Hillsborough.

We wanted to try and create something specifically aimed at Wednesday fans, by Wednesday fans.
A bit of info and chat, discussing all things Wednesday; A review of the previous game, look ahead to the next, Owls News, players. That sort of thing…absolutely anything to do with Wednesday and have a bit of banter and craic along the way.

All Wednesday fans to get involved and it will be an important part of the podcasts.
You can do that either by Skype or one of the many other Wednesday based social media outlets….you can request to come on the podcast and join in or you can simply suggest items to include if that’s what you prefer, it’s up to you. Don’t worry, we’ll give you a heads up if we use your suggestion.

The aim is to get the podcasts out on a Thursday and by as many means as possible that make it easily accessible to everyone.

The main one will be i-tunes where you can click on podcasts and then simply search for The Wednesday Week and subscribe when you find it.

We’ll also be putting it on Youtube and the Wednesdayite site for download and streaming so you have no excuse now, even us old folk can get hold of it easily.

You can contact any of easily through Facebook, (Either The Wednesday Week, Owls Alive or Wednesdayite) or direct through the websites here at Owls Alive or the Wednesdayite site. There is also the Owls Alive forum which can be reached by clicking the speech bubble at the top of this page.

Probably the easiest way to keep updated though and to conact us instantly is on Twitter at one of the following usernames.

Twitter
@TWWcast
@LORD_H
@Beastie_
@sausagearms
@fudgeanddave
@CraigSWFC
@Owlsalive

You can check out Episode 1 by clicking one of the buttons below

Episode 1		Episode 1		Episode 1

This is meant to be a bit of fun and we sincerely hope you all enjoy this. Whether you do or don’t let us know, we value any feedback at all and if something needs changing we will do it.
Likewise, if you like something tell us before we drop it!

Bear with us through the early rough patches and hopefully we’ll get better as we go along.

We look forward to hearing from ya soon.

Owls Alive
TWW Cast
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com

Everything HAD TO BE RIGHT!

Because I was on neets and didn’t finish til 8am I didn’t want it to change the lucky routine, the same lucky routine that had got us to this great position…

In the last hour of my shift things took a turn for the worst.

I have to do my lucky 3 Sh’s first thing and they have to be in that exact order…shit-shave-shower. Any deviation and Wednesday would be sunk. I was busting too…the first of those 3 Sh’s was approaching critical mass.

I couldn’t do it at work…I couldn’t change the routine…not this late in the season, not at this crucial stage.

As the end of the shift approached I was pacing up and down…doing anything to keep myself moving, take my mind off things and…I know this is a bit basic but I really needed the turtle to get his head back in the shell…I waited…I paced and paced….and waited…ooh eck…this was gonna be close…

8 O Clock!

Get in…LITERALLY GET BACK IN!

I ran out to the car, jumped gingerly in. I raced home and ran into the kitchen…I needed the 80’s music. It’s not just simply a case of doing the 3 Sh’s, there had to be 80’s music to go along with it….I ran into the kitchen…No it’s where I do things but it’s where my i-pod was…I grabbed the I-pod and speaker…fumbled frantically for the 80’s play list…found it…leapt the stairs in two leaps…ooh, that was a mistake!

I got on the landing and slowed meself quickly…Hmmm….I made the last couple of steps into the bathroom very slowly indeed…like walking without moving your legs…I got in, pants down, sat down, press play….Heaven 17… ‘I’VE NEVER BEEN CLOSER….’ You’re not fookin kidding lads! Made it!

A second later and it would not have been nice at all…as it was, a couple of seconds later and I was done and dusted and on with part 2 and 3 of the lucky Sh’s.

I still had to be quick as the Young Un was on her way and we were then getting a lift for the train so I got a bit of great 80’s dancing done in the shower followed a shave with the now ‘special’ matchday razor…that blade only performs on matchdays now, unlike the Blades team. (WAHEY!)

Our lass has laid all my lucky clothes out on the bed for me and as I’m getting dressed the Young Un arrives. She packs the rest of the bag and sorts out the ‘Special Oasis’. We haven’t got any Oasis bottles at the moment and the only thing I have is a half litre Orange juice bottle with a bit of orange left in it, just pour the vodka in there I tell her. She does and makes herself one up too.

Before long we’re on our way and we’re dropped off in Wakefield…we arrange to meet Liam at a café for a proper breakfast before heading to the station.

I know I say it every time but you can’t beat a proper English brekky before ya footy…shove ya Pananinis up your arse…keep ya Subways and burgers…it has to be a proper full English to start the day right and I know this place does it properly.

There was a little incident with minor cross contanimation from the tomatoes to the egg but soon sorted. (I worded the bloke behind the counter too for future reference) PROPER tomatoes as well by the way…proper baboons bollox, none of ya half a grilled tomato rubbish…

It would have been the perfect brekky too had I not dropped me toast…I was gutted. If it had been fried bread I’d have picked it up and straight back on the plate but because it was toast, as everyone knows, it ALWAYS lands butter side down…this did just that…after sliding a load of butter down me leg first… I put a brave face on it but I was filling up if I’m honest…this was an emotional day already.

We get finished off and head over to the station…

As we stand on the platform waiting a bloke approaches us, obviously seeing our Wednesday shirts and scarves…I thought aye, aye….

He says; ‘Who do you play today?’

Brentford mate we say as one…

‘I hope you win. I’m a Huddersfield fan and I don’t want us playing you lot in play offs’

’You’d rather play pigs than us?’ I ask.

‘Oh hell yeah. You were incredible at ours and we’d stand no chance. We’d beat them though’

After a really good footy natter with the lad we all shook hands and as we got on the train once again he wished us well…

When we get on the train it’s time to open the ‘Special Oasis’ just to start the day properly and before ya know it we’re approaching Doncaster where Stan and Laura get on…I text them to tell them we’re in coach D…then just as we arrive I text again to say ‘we’re in coach H’

I thought it was too late for the schoolboy prank but as they got on we did that pretend disguise thing, finger- moustache and finger monacle…Liam looked just like the Monopoly guy, I wondered where he’d gone to be fair his disguise was that good…

I thought, they’ll see us and that’ll be it, schoolboy rubbish joke over…but they walked straight past us down the aisle and as they did so, Stan says…’I’ve just got a text. They’re in coach H’

‘Ya kidding’ says Laura.

I wait a couple of minutes…not believing our luck that the piss poor joke and pisserer and poorer disguise had paid off…then texted again to say ‘Sorry mate. Made a mistake, we’re in coach A’

Of course we giggled like likkle kids and quickly put on our disguises again…just as they walked past us once more… FOR FOOKS SAKE! These are the best disguises in the world! We’d become invisible! Laura wasn’t happy by now and as they went past she had a face like thunder. Stan texted me back…Whereabouts?

I waited a couple of minutes…

‘Oh sorry mate, my mistake…we’re actually are in coach D’ I texted.

I’m pretty sure I heard a loud bang at that point further down the train…it may have been a text too far.

When they came back the air was very blue and the joke had worn very thin on Stan and Laura…we had quite a bit of making up to do I can tell ya. Them disguises though are gonna be used at some point in the future, they are better than I ever dreamed they could be.

Fortunately along with our ‘Special Oasis’ Stan and Laura had brought some too and we didn’t even need to enforce the London away day rule of making sure it was all gone before the train arrived in London, within half an hour all the bottle were empty and so were the cans that liam had brought.

The problem with schoolboy pranks is they have a habit of coming back to bite you and karma was gonna pay us back big style….

The ticket inspector made his way down the train…

‘Tickets please, tickets…anymore tickets…’

Owlbob had very kindly got our tickets through work so they were very cheap and very welcome on what was sure to be an expensive day…I hand them over…

‘Where did you get these?’ he asks holding them close for better scrutinising.

Off the internet I say, why?

‘They’re no good’ he says

Why?

You want East Midlands this is East Coast.

OH FOOK!

How much is it gonna cost me mate?

£250

All of a sudden the air disappeared from the coach and me and the Young Un are doing an impression of ‘The Scream’

Pass me my wallet I say to the Young Un

Then….’I’ll let you off though’…says Ben the conductor…before adding…’but make sure next time or it could be expensive…I let out a little smell of relief…I had no control over any muscle in my body at that moment in time and I’m pleased it was only that I released….

What a relief…

We love you Ben…Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben you’re the man…

I knew our tickets were only valid for East Midlands but I’d obviously made a bit of a mistake when sorting out our train times and mixed up East Coast with East Midlands…. Chuff me! That was a great result…

I needed a drink…we didn’t have any!

As we got off the train and made our way down the platform another bloke stops us…another Huddersfield fan…

‘Going to Brentford?’

Yes mate

‘Good luck. I hope you win and go up…we don’t want you lot in the play offs’

Again…a bit more nattering and he tells us same as the other bloke said…they’d rather player the pigs than us.

By the time we wound our way through the crowds, dropped our bags off at left luggage and bought our underground tickets and then headed over the road to meet the others I was really in need of that drink.

Click to enlarge

Whilst we were in the pub we all tried on our new Migeul Llera headguards, to see who looked the most ‘special’… It was a very close call to be fair. It’s one of those things that only really good looking folk can get away with… I think I managed it but then again I am gifted with stuff like this, I can carry off most things… Some of em however looked in need of serious medical help. We have a few in the pub before we all made our way over to the tube and over to Ealing…

Once we were on that tube it was a fantastic journey…probably the best ever, and we’ve had some great moments doing this.

I love these bits…the singing, the great mood, the good vibe and as long as we keep it to no swearing and make sure the songs aren’t aggressive and confrontational then the passengers don’t mind either…we did just that and they loved it.

A couple of lasses even joined in and videoed it all, there were families visiting London stepping into the middle of it all who must have thought it was just the silly British way…there were even a couple of Arsenal fans who thought it was fantastic and said so as they left, wishing us luck in the process…

We were giving it the full works…we went right through the whole range of Wednesday songs, not just singing but dancing as well…Sweet Caroline…an off the cuff rendition of Elvis’s ‘Wonder of You’ complete with some top notch harmonies and the new Ryan Lowe song to the rock tune ‘I love Rock n Roll’ there was also the ‘other’ Semedo song to the ‘Tight Fit’ tune ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’

The bit at the end…in the background everyone is singing ‘Ah Semedo Ah Semedo Ah Semedo Ah Semedo’ and over the top of that backbeat Baldy does his freestylin’ doing the Falsetto…’And oooooh hooeee- oh Jose Semedo’

As me and Stan danced around the pole like professional pole dancers everyone else, and I mean everyone else, the whole lot of us were up in the aisles of the tube train carriage dancing like idiots…like this is what we do all the time…

It was simply wonderful…everyone happy and smiling and not one single passenger feeling uncomfortable or intimidated…just as it should be.

When we get off at Ealing it’s a hell of a walk and it’s pissing it down…

We’re full of it now though and in a great mood so it wasn’t gonna dampen our spirits at all…though it did test them after about the 30th mile or so…I’m sure our house is closer than that tube station.

We walk past a few shops a couple of which have connections to us and our cross city rivals…

We walk past former Wednesday defender Andy Pearces butchers shop (So that’s what he does nowadays?) We give them the thumbs up, singing Wednesday songs to em and dancing around outside the shop… They love it, they smile and give us the thumbs up, shouting good luck as we go… Over the other side of the road and they get different treatment as it’s a barbers called ‘BLADE’ One of them proper ones with a red and white pole outside just to make the connection even worse.

As we give em a bit of friendly abuse they take it all in good humour and are laughing and pointing at us from inside….

3 days of water walking later and we get to the ground…we meet a very soggy Salop outside, hand him his ticket and we get in the queue to get in…

The mood amongst the Wednesday fans as we get to the turnstiles and queue up is absolutely incredible and as we shuffle forward towards the ground and the turnstiles the atmosphere builds up…

Step by step you can feel the tension…every inch we get closer to the stand the noise from the Wednesday fans already inside gets louder…it’s so annoying…but so fookin brilliant…we can’t go any faster but we want to be in there right now…we want to be part of it to add our own voice to the wall of noise…once you finally squeeze through the wonderful old turnstile you’re unfettered…free at last to run along the path at the back of the stand and throught the doorway to melt into the crowd and that’s exactly what we do…

We go right down to the front so we’re leaning on the rail and right alongside the home fans in the stand next to our left…great stuff.

We’ve missed kick off by a couple of minutes but I don’t really give a monkeys if I’m honest…neither did any of the boatload of other Wednesday fans still coming in through the turnstiles…nothing could put a dampener on today, nothing and even though the rain was coming down heavier by the minute and the windchill factor was heading towards minus figures, no one cared.

Everyone is up for this and there are loads in fancy dress and a lot like us, with the Llera headguards on…there are hugs, handshakes and smiles all round as folk see people they know and the noise from our end is fantastic…
-
THE MATCH
-
I’ve got to be honest here…I really can’t remember much about the actual game…other than we were really awful.

Most of this game was spent enjoying the moment. Sharing the banter with the Brentford fans to our left and sharing the great vibe with those around us…all through the game we got wetter and wetter and colder and colder and still we didn’t care…the only thing on every single Wednesday fans mind was…get to the end of this game a goal ahead and lets finish the party off by watching the Blades against Stevenage in the pub.

We didn’t care how we did it as long as we did it…not one single Wednesday fan gave a flying fook whether we played well or not…whether we deserved to win or not…as long as we did eventually win.

I do remember that the overall performance was awful and this has to be just about the worst performance since Dave Jones arrived. The conditions won’t have helped our style of football with the pitch looking close to waterlogged but for me our players looked very nervous, as though the realisation of what could happen today was finally dawning on them and they were second best to everything. Brentford can count themselves very unlucky not to have taken anything at all from the game. The very least they deserved here was a draw.

They’re a good side nowadays, very difficult to beat and had they had someone up front to put the ball away then I’m sure we wouldn’t have been celebrating as we did.

There wasn’t much by way of attacking threat from us in the first half and after the opening few minutes most of the attacking play came from Brentford but we did defend pretty well…

Once we’d settled down a bit we did anyway. Both Lewis Buxton and Danny Batth, normally as solid as they come, now looked as dodgy as chuff and looked to be a bundle of nerves as Brentford found them lacking in pace and positional awareness. Those two took longer than anyone else to settle down to the task at hand, fortunately Llera and Bywater were steady and ready from the start. Bywater made a confidence boosting save early on and he never really looked back from that moment.

Mindstya he was thankful for the crossbar with around 10 minutes to go when Brentford finally broke our defensive line with a wonderful cross from our left leaving our lot for dead. It really was a lovely ball over and it looked easier to score than miss but the Brentford lad somehow hoofed it upwards only to see it bounce off the bar…it was a right let off and everyone behind that goal let out a huge sigh of relief…

We really needed something to lift the Wednesday hearts, something  to get us right behind the team and bouncing again…

We got a free kick.

Around 12 yards from the touchline down our right hand side…

Treacy stepped up to take it….

He hits it and there’s a pause…What’s happened?

There seemed to be loads of jumping about from our players…

From our perfect vantage point…as far away as possible in the ground and very low down with a grey overcast and rainy day…we couldn’t see a fookin thing.

None of us could see what had happened but we assumed it had gone in and set off jumping about like idiots…to be honest it looked as though some of the Brentford fans to our left weren’t convinced either and some had strange looks on their faces, whilst others were telling us to sit down…

IT’S STANDING ONLY YOU MUPPET!

Once it was up on the scoreboard we didn’t give a shit anyway…it was bedlam in that away stand, absolute bedlam and we loved every minute of it.

There was a Brentford bloke at the side of us who’d been making some kind of teapot gesture to us, or fairy gesture, or teapot fairy gesture. I’m not sure which one really but he was suggesting we were a little err…lightweight and went down too easily… We gave it back now and asked if he still felt the same way…

Just to show how nasty we really can be when we’re riled, there was a bloke with three little kids, one of them a very young lass, 6 maybe 7 years old…she was sticking her tongue out at us…I wasn’t having that…I stuck my tongue out in return and just to up the ante I gave her ‘the wavy hand with thumb on nose’ treatment.

Harsh I know…but she’ll learn.

COME ON!

Despite very little good football from Wednesday that first half had absolutely flown by and with nothing to warm the soaked wet through Wednesday fans that goal had come at the perfect moment, it had done just enough to give us hope…the belief that we could do this now.

It wasn’t just the players that were feeling the tension through that half, we’d been feeling it in the stands too and what singing there had been had a bit of a tense vibe to it, now we had something to unleash all that tension on as we really lifted the noise into the half time break.

When the second half got underway, almost immediately Bywater was called into action to make a save which he did easily but even allowing for that Brentford attack we looked a little better than we had through most of the first half and the goal had obviously helped our confidence as we tried to assert ourselves and wrap the game up.

We definitely didn’t control the game but it was getting a little more end-to-end now and Bywater was called into action again a couple more times early on…the first a belting dive to keep out a long range effort and then within 15 minutes of the restart he was facing a Brentford penalty.

Beevers had brought down their lad in the box, it didn’t look as though the ref had given it but the linesman definitely did…once more, from our perfect vantage point it looked a poor decision…to us, through the rain and gloom it looked a stunning tackle, a lesson in perfect defensive timing that should have had every single Brentford fan on their knees in praise to Beevers for educating them in the ways of great defending…

BOW BEFORE ME! I AM YOUR DEFENSIVE GOD! Mindstya, having seen it on telly since…it was a no brainer and a very easy decision…what the fook was Beevers thinking about lunging in like that? He was way off the money. He was lucky too…he’d been getting a bit edgy all game and he could have been sent off for this…he wasn’t though, thankfully.

Even though Brentford had missed a few spot kicks of late I didn’t expect them to miss this…

Of course I did the ‘this never fails’ bit of putting off which involves waving the wiggly fingers and shouting….

‘MISS-MISS-MISS-MISS’

It didn’t work and the ball sailed past Bywater to make it 1-1.

We were gutted and the tension returned to players and fans alike….

OOOH ECK! I DON’T CHUFFIN LIKE THIS ONE BIT!

The Brentford fans though were loving it and returning it back to us big style…

I looked over and that little lass was loving it…she spotted me again and gave me back what I’d given her…tongue out and thumb on nose giving me the wavy hand…lovin it big style.

LITTLE FOOKER!

I was now in bits…we’d blown the lead and I was being taunted by a 6 year old.
(I loved it if I’m honest…the look on her face as she was able to get her own back was absolutely priceless.)

Beevers wasn’t covering himself in glory either and he certainly wasn’t convincing the Brentford fans that foul was out of character as a couple of minutes after giving that penalty away he made another rash challenge and we feared the worst…he was walking away trying to avoid the ref too so he knew he could be in real bother this time and the Brentford players weren’t best chuffed with him at all.

Fortunately the ref didn’t think it warranted more than a strong word and a final warning but that was enough for the Wednesday manager who subbed the lad moments later, replacing him with Daniel Jones. It was a good decision.

Come on Wednesday…let’s get a fookin grip here…I need to sort this lass out at the side of me, I can’t take any more of this piss taking.

We didn’t have to wait long…

We got a corner right in front of us…Keith Treacy stepped up to take it… Oh fook me! Can’t some other fooker take this? He can’t take a corner to save his life! He pings the ball into the mix and somehow…some-fookin-how the ball finds it’s way to Miguel Llera who taps it home… You better believe the whole of that away end erupted…it did.

SWEET BABY JESUS ON A BIKE!

I never doubted Keith Treacy for a minute….not one single minute!

I grabbed any chuffer I could….they grabbed me…someone had me by the throat…I had someone else by the throat…as I was dragged backwards I could see arms in the air all the way down the stand…it was a mass of waving arms and jumping bodies…

GET IN! GET THE SWEET FOOKIN FOOK IN!

We turned to the Brentford fans again…the little lass was hiding behind a post…I’d finally seen her off…that’ll teach her!

Some of those ‘Brentford’ fans didn’t look too bothered to me, in fact some of em looked quite pleased we’d scored…

Then one of em gave us a thumbs up sign…and a secret punch of the air whilst mouthing ‘GET IN!’ and following it with a finger on the lips ‘Shhhh’

There was loads of them in there…loads of Wednesday fans who were holding themselves in check…they’d done a sterling job so far but as the game went on it was becoming increasingly more difficult for them stay undercover and one or two Brentford fans were getting agitated by their presence.

It wasn’t long before someone complained to a steward and they removed around half a dozen of them to protests that they were behaving themselves and causing no bother at all. They too bit of abuse from nearby Brentford fans as they left.

The remaining Wednesday fans in that stand sat still so as not to draw any more attention to themselves and kept urging us to ignore them…they were doing all manner of shifty eye movements and mouthing words to tell us to be quiet…

There was a Brentford fan in a tracky top that was creating quite a scene because the stewards hadn’t got shut of them all…in the end they escorted him out and left the Wednesday fans.

I’d love to be able to tell you we dominated the game from this point or even that we were under incredible pressure but stood strong in defence but from the moment the second goal went in I faced the other direction…away from the pitch…and the last 15 minutes of the game were spent watching the faces of those around me or looking at the wall…Andy was stood at the side of me and watching his face was worse than watching the game. He looked fooking petrified for every single second of those remaining minutes including when Bywater had the ball safely in his hands. He was a bundle of nerves and his face was etched with pure tension…I’d have been much better off watching the game than him…I stared at the wall…at the ground…at someones hood…anything but the pitch or Andy.

Standing at the side of the Young Un was Salop…I had a go at him for being a wuss…he was watching the game through his fingers like a little girl. The Young Un shouted at me ‘At least he’s facing the right way’

I was hopping from foot to foot…I was asking the Young Un what was happening…how much time left…when they said 4 minutes of extra time there was a groan from the Wednesday fans…I felt sick.

Are you timing it…Are you timing it…ARE YOU TIMING IT? I shouted at the Young Un.

YES! She shouted back…

I had my fists clenched…I was whispering into them like I was holding prayer beads…

Come on…come on…hold on Wednesday, hold on….

I looked at the Young Un…she checked the time…a minute left…

I turned to look at the pitch…Brentford had the ball…quickly I turned away…FOOK!

I watched the Young Un…’It’s out’ she says…’that’s time up on my clock’ she adds…

I turn back to the pitch….

The ref walked away…he ran into the middle of the pitch, he looked at his watch…The Young Un shouted ‘he’s looked at his watch’…

Come on…come on…come on….

Blow it…blow it….

He looked again and he lifted the whistle to his gob…I never heard it go, I doubt many did…the Wednesday fans jumped up and let out an almighty roar as we celebrated like fook…we’d done it…I don’t know how…I’ve no idea how to be honest but we had…we’d won the game and the Wednesday fans were now going mental.

Once more there were arms everywhere, once more everyone was jumping up and down, and of course once more we were hugging anyone we could get hold of, it didn’t matter if you knew em or not, we were all Wednesday so what did it matter, we were all celebrating the same thing…

IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE!
IF YA DON’T FOOKIN BOUNCE THEN YOU’RE A BLADE!

I looked over at the Wednesday fans in the Brentford home end at what few were left anyway and there’s one fella who lifts his top up all dramatically to do the grand reveal…

LOOK! I WAS WEDNESDAY ALL ALONG! MWAH-HA-HA-HAAA

He gave us the thumbs up and punched the air…

As the Wednesday players went off the pitch everyone hung back…I think we half expected them, to come back out and salute us, that would have been nice to be honest on our last away day of the season but we weren’t in any hurry to leave anyway and those celebrations seemed to go on forever…
—
AFTER THE GAME
—
We made our way out  of the stand and there was a great buzz as you’d expect…We couldn’t believe we’d come out of that game with a win and now everyone wanted to make sure they got to see the pigs game somewhere…ANYWHERE.

That great vibe continued out of the stand and onto the road…I caught sight of Ayles and Kayla just as she ran and jumped on me…I caught her mid air and we celebrated in the rain…There was a lot of wet, happy owls splashing their way along that road and as we rounded the corner we were met by a Brentford fan…

’That Llera. He never scored like that for us, what did you do to him? Good luck to you’

We trudged on in search of a pub that was showing the Pigs –v- Stevenage game but all those close to Griffin park were full so we had no choice but to march onwards and wetwards back to the tube station…

As we got to the barbers ‘BLADE’ we’d passed earlier on our way to the ground Tommo’s lad Jamie had the best call of the day as we drew opposite the shop he starts singing the song… ‘DIRTY RED AND WHITE BAAAAARBERS!’ Tommo was just about to pull him up for swearing when he changed it to barbers right at the end…and we all cheered. EXCELLENT STUFF!

Many days later as we got to the tube station we managed to lose Harry and Mrs Speakup as they got on the tube sharpish whilst we dawdled about waiting for stragglers to catch up…we got the next one and decided to get off at Hammersmith, get into a pub, get some drinks and food and watch the footy…we were gonna miss the first few minutes but it was a good plan and we did just that.

As we’re walking up through the shops from the tube train to the exit there’s a huge cheer from Stan in front of us…’Stevenage have scored!’ he shouts excitedly.

We all look around staring at each other…we needed confirmation…we didn’t want to get too giddy too early if it wasn’t true…

Suddenly everyone was ringing home or checking the net on their phones to get confirmation…it was too important to take Stans word for it…

It was true though and the info was good…they had indeed scored and we all started cheering and celebrating just as we came out of the exit back into the rain…

GET IN! COME ON STEVENAGE!

We dashed over the road to the pub and asked if we could have the game on one of the screens…they were watching Liverpool against Norwich for some reason and some were even watching Rugby…they’re crazy in that London I tells ya but after a little persuasion one of the screens was changed and we settled in…

We took over a couple of ‘booths’…oh yeah they call em booths down there…basically it’s just an 80’s style corner suite settee surrounding a DFS kitchen table but it passes for fashionable in London…we get the drinks in whilst Stan bought what looked liked 50 bowls of chips for everyone to share and make ourselves comfortable.

COME ON! COMPLETE THIS DAY STEVENAGE! Well it was just as bad as watching our own game, with the same highs and lows…and just like our game I found I could barely watch at times… I’m getting more girly by the day as I get older.

When Stevenage scored in the second half to go 2-0 up we were off…once again we were hugging each other and dancing and cheering as though it was our own team. The others in the pub looked bemused…we didn’t care, this was better than anything we could ever have dreamed of…The pigs losing 2-0 at home? Oh yeah.

They had more chances to score did Stevenage and we agonised over their near misses and berated them for not taking the easy option but things got very tense when the pigs scored to make it 2-1.

I said to Tommo…next goal wins this…this shapes the season here and now…if they win then all of our celebrations, all we’ve done has been for nothing…this is actually worse than watching our own game…I can’t look, it’s too much.

‘This is nowt like watching the Wednesday game’ he tells me in his most matter of fact voice…

‘Watching our own game was incredible and watching them comes nowhere near what it’s like with us. I can’t get as involved in this game as I did in ours, the tension isn’t anywhere near as bad’ he continues…

Well that’s me told then…but I was still unable to watch…it must just be me then…

But during those final few minutes of the Pigs game I watched him…I had to look somewhere if I wasn’t watching the screen…Andy was sat in front of me and he was barely watching either…

Tommo was stood up watching the screen…he couldn’t take his eyes off it…he had that ten yard stare where you’re so engrossed in something, so totally immersed in what you’re watching that a cricket bat to the head couldn’t break the spell…When folk spoke to him he did that turning the head thing but keeping his eyes firmly on the screen…like the one when you’re watching sommat at home and your wife asks you a question…he wasn’t listening or looking at anything else other than the pigs game…when they put the ball in the box he headed it clear…his head actually went forward…he was twisting on the spot, he was lunging forward to tackle and clear the ball for Stevenage..

When the pigs got the equaliser the tension drained from his face momentarily…we were all deflated and we all expected the pigs to now go on and win this game.
As the game got back underway it drew him in again and once again the tension and agony lines appeared on his face and his eyebrows were up and down like a fiddlers elbow…

Oh yeah…he wasn’t getting involved in this game alright…I could see it meant absolutely nothing… At least I had the decency to just face the opposite way and only look round when someone told me the pigs didn’t have the ball or it was safe… I accept I’m a gret big girls blouse when it comes to this stuff…but Tommo was now upto his neck in this game too…

As the seconds counted down on the timer in the corner of the screen I had finally turned to watch…we urged it down until it was smack on full time, and when all the injury time had been played, right at that very moment, that pause as the ref put his whistle up to his mouth…it was incredible…a moments pause…a very, very brief moment of silence, almost like we needed to actually hear the whistle this time…. Before going absolutely crazy, jumping up and hugging and cheering as though it was a Wednesday cup final victory…seeing the Blades players on the telly drop to the floor deflated…the Stevenage players celebrating…we were loving it, all of it as everyone was dancing in the aisles of the pub again and going mental…the others in there wondered what the hell had happened and why we were celebrating so much…it went on for several very long minutes…young Jamie was going mad, running up and down punching the air, jumping up…shouting WEDNESDAY!

It was absolutely brilliant…another wonderful, wonderful moment on a great day in a great season that just keeps on giving…

When we’d calmed down a little bit we waved off those going to get trains and we headed next door so we could celebrate properly…this needed a few shorts and a few toasts to the Wednesday team and fans.

We started with a round of Jaegerbombs and that was the order of the day…there were a lot of them and they just kept coming all night as we toasted ‘THE WEDNESDAY’…and…’BEING SECOND’…and ‘STEVENAGE’…

We toasted anything and everything and it was a cracking night…as we made our way back across London to get our bags and then the train to Aylesbury we kept meeting different footy fans along the way.

At St Pancreas this youth stopped me…he had a strong cockney youth accent and a really aggressive stance about him…

‘Wednesday yeah’ he asks knowingly having spied my Wednesday shirt…

Yes mate I answer drunkenly and slightly warily…

‘A like youz bwoys’ he tells me in that street talk the kids do these days

‘You got my bruv Clint playin for youz ya know’

Who’s that? I’m thinking it’s some youth I haven’t heard of yet but he says….

‘Ma bruv Clint…he’s from my estate innit’

Clinton Morrison?

‘Yeah’

I love Clinton I tell him…he’s my man I gush and that was it, I couldn’t stop talking…anything to do with Clinton is fine by me.

I explain to the lad that me and Clinton have a bromance, he’s the man. I tell him I love Clinton…absolutely love him

He keeps this strong macho teen stance up and doesn’t flinch as I lean forward to give him a drunk-hug.

He tells us that Millwall always love the Wednesday…’not like them ovva Sheffield fackas…when you come down we give you a proper welcome innit’

He leans forward, hugs me and kisses me on the cheek…

Straight away and I’m thinking…Millwall mafia…he’s just given me the Millwall kiss of death.

It was a fookin great moment though, a little bit surreal and scary and totally out of the blue but it was fookin’ excellent and if that’s how my death will happen…well, there’s worse ways to go.

Drunkenly I run and catch up with the others who have stopped and are talking to some Orient fans…I dive in and give em a hug…I’m in a  really huggable mood now and no one is safe…we have a natter and again they wish us well and us them…I’m really feeling the luuurrv.

Finally we make the train to Aylesbury and as we approach the station we decide we’ve had enough…it’s around 2am and we don’t need to go round town…I don’t think any of us had the energy…we were all absolutely bolloxed.

As we step outside and go to the taxis Pete steps off the pavement into a knee deep puddle, which was handy really because we were all about to do the same and now we could avoid it…

We get the taxi back, watch the Football league show through bleary eyes and we eventually fall asleep…I say asleep…there’s 3 of us crashed in Petes room…me, Liam and Salop.

As tired as I was it was difficult to drop off with the events of the day going through my mind…well that and Salops snoring! It’s absolutely incredible and is like a buzzsaw…it’s non stop and I had to put me i-pod and earphones in…I drifted off eventually to the faint buzzing and the sound of Barry White.

I’m sorry it had to be Brentford on the receiving end and it stopped their chances of making the play offs, they deserved better from it but we’ll happily take the points and all it means to us. If we do go up next week I hope they continue the progress they’ve made by getting promoted next season and we can make another visit down there.

There hasn’t been a day like this in the history of our club. To be there and be a part of it all with these friends…well, it was a very special moment that will stay even in my addled memory for a very long time…

We still have work to do next week and we won’t get carried away too early but thank you Wednesday for all of this…

All of it.

Steve:Beastie
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @Beastie_

Last weekend was the Owls’ weekend with Michail Antonio’s late,late goal seeing off a resilient Carlisle United side and the MK Dons defeating Sheffield United at stadium:mk saw the gap closed down from 4 points to 1 with 6 to play for.

Basically should we win our last two games and should Sheffield United drop points in either of their remaining games, 2nd place and automatic will be ours……..it’s easier said than done though.

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet.

Wednesday’s penultimate road trip of the season saw a frustrating afternoon in Essex as the Hillsborough hero Michail Antonio was a villain, his mistake gifting Colchester an early lead, the Owls fought back and got level thanks to Miguel Llera but just couldn’t find the winner despite having by far the better of the game.

Last time out at Griffin Park, the Bees saw Notts County grab a point which could prove the difference in the race for 6th place, Clayton Donaldson missed two good chances and the hosts also saw a Sam Saunders free-kick cleared off the line.

Wednesday’s last gasp win against Carlisle saw the Owls’ unbeaten run continue and in Dave Jones’ time here the Owls have become pretty mean defensively conceding just 6 goals in his brief Hillsborough tenure scoring 22 at the other end. This stinginess needs to continue.

The Owls have been presented a challenge of scoring against a team who haven’t conceded in 6 of their last 7 home outings, the only team to score there? Sheffield United. The Bees also need to win this to keep their slim play-off hopes alive but haven’t won in three games after winning their previous five prior to that.

LAST MEETING
5th November 2011,Hillsborough, Att – 18107
Wednesday 0-0 Brentford

The last meeting saw the Bees end the Owls 100% home record in a game where Miguel Llera caught then Owls manager Gary Megson’s eye.

Overall Griffin Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Wednesday over the years with their last league victory there being a 3-2 win in April 1952 – the legendary Derek Dooley netting all three in a season where he scored 47 goals in just 31 appearances.

Our most famous Griffin Park win is probably the play-off semi-final win there in 2005 – Lee Peacock and a deflected Chris Brunt free-kick saw the Owls move on to Cardiff and that unforgettable afternoon there.

Recent form against Brentford has been sketchy with a win over the Bees at Hillsborough in 1979 being our most recent league victory over them.

THE DJ WILL PLAY………

The big question mark in the run-up to this game is the fitness of Michail Antonio who was clattered midway through the Carlisle game and soldiered on through a shoulder injury to win the game for the Owls.

Should he be passed fit I would imagine the DJ will stick with the same line-up with Reda Johnson being no nearer to fitness.

As for the home side Clinton Morrison is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Uwe Rosler will be looking to find a formula to get the Bees scoring again.

 BYWATER

	BUXTON		BATTH		LLERA		BEEVERS
	ANTONIO		LINES		SEMEDO		J JOHNSON
			RANGER		MADINE

KEY PLAYERS – TOP TRUMPS

Jose Semedo has become one of the most beloved players of recent Hillsborough memory and hearing “He’s magic,you know,you’ll never get past Semedo” is one of the most common songs sung by the Wednesday faithful home and away. Statistics really don’t do justice to how well he’s slotted into our team and how often he’s put his stamp on the Wednesday midfield to enable the others to do their thing. If he can yet again impact the midfield battle he could swing the game and the promotion race Wednesday’s way.

Clayton Donaldson has been a huge hit at Griffin Park since signing from Crewe Alexandra in the summer, amongst the Bees’ top scorers, he has also laid on 13 assists this season, the 28 year old is also capable of the spectacular and will need to be kept quiet by the Owls’ defenders.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Brentford WIN	DRAW	Semedo 1st Goal	Correct Score 2-1
BEST ODDS	21/20	3/1	13/5	33/1	8/1
BOOKIES

Wednesday enter this one as slight favourites with the best odds on them being 21/20 at Paddy Power, Brentford are 3/1 with bet365 with the draw 13/5 at SkyBet.

Miguel Llera is 12/1 anytime with Coral with Antonio 9/1 with bet365 to score the last goal of the game.

A lot of betting choice out there this week but I have to say I fancy the Draw/Wednesday HT/FT bet, you can have that at 4/1 with SkyBet.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

It’s down to two games and we need a little bit of luck on our side to get automatic promotion but with the Blades playing later we can really put some pressure on them by winning this one.

Our manager has a point to prove as he has been labelled a big game bottler by some with regards to his Cardiff sides conspiring to first miss out on the play-offs in 2009 and then losing the play-off final in 2010 after going ahead during the game.

Brentford have tried to limit the influence our fans have on this game by giving us just 1700 tickets but each and every Owl at Griffin Park will be in fine voice roaring the team on no matter what the circumstances.

We’ve created enough chances to win 5 games in the last couple of outings but our strikers need to show a more clinical edge against a tough Brentford defence.

The Blades are the ones under pressure now, we have to keep it on them going into the final game.

VERDICT: It’ll be an emotional rollercoaster all over again for us Wednesdayites but our heroes know what they have to do, they’ll eke out a hardfought 2-1 win.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
E-MAIL: admin@owlsalive.com
TWITTER: @OwlsAlive or @DGood83