Sheffield Wednesday

Let’s start with the name, shall we? Sometime in the early 19th century, a cricket club was formed by a bunch of guys who didn’t work on Wednesday, hence the Wednesday Cricket Club. In 1855 they and some other clubs started playing at Bramall Lane, now the home of Sheffield United. On September 4, 1867, they formed a football team to stay fit over the winter—a very common origin story for football clubs. In time, football eclipsed cricket, the two clubs split, the cricket club disbanded in 1925, and now we have Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.

They turned pro in 1880, joined the Football League in 1892, and won the FA Cup in 1896 at the old Crystal Palace. They moved to the suburb of Owlerton in 1899, built a new ground there, and racked up two league titles and another FA Cup in the next 10 years. They were good again from 1929, when they were league champs, to 1935, when they were FA Cup winners.

They challenged for a title in 1961 and made another FA Cup final in 1966, but in the ’70s they dipped to the third tier. They made a run in the late ’80s, winning the 1991 League Cup over Manchester United—the last team from outside the top division to win a major trophy. In 1993 they lost the league and FA Cup finals (both 2-1 to Arsenal), but in the latter they at least beat rivals Sheffield United in the semis, 2-1 at Wembley.

Then came two more relegations, financial troubles, and two different ownership changes. In the 2020-21 season they got a points deduction for financial mismanagement (their current owner is, let’s say, a colorful character of dubious business acumen), and they were relegated to League One, where in 2022 they lost a playoff semifinal at home on an injury-time Sunderland goal.

In 2023, they made the playoffs again and lost the first leg of the semifinals, 4-0, away to Peterborough. But they turned it around at home, winning 5-1 in the the return leg and then advancing on penalties. It was the largest turnaround in playoff history. In the Final, they met South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley and beat them on penalties, as well, securing their promotion to The Championship.

Still, financial problems dog them, as the owner got his feelings hurt and said he would put no more money into the club. As recently as spring 2025, they were in trouble with the tax authorities, and players’ paychecks were late.

2024–25 SEASON: 12th in The Championship, 3rd Round FA Cup, 4th Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: The Championship (promoted in 2023)

With United and Wednesday both together in the Championship, the Steel City derby is on! For us neutrals, it’s fantastic news; I saw numbers 128 and 129 in the 2017–18 season and it’s one of those personal rivalries where people who are friends and coworkers on Friday and Sunday shout “pig” and “scum” at one another on Saturday. Local police spend months planning for the game, and both clubs have many songs about the other. It’s also very competitive: 51 wins for United, 48 for Wednesday, and 47 draws.

One of the more famous games was that 1993 FA Cup semifinal, originally scheduled at Elland Road in Leeds. With so much interest from Sheffield, the game was moved to Wembley, where more than 75,000 showed up to see Wednesday’s win. Of course, Wednesday fans will point to the 4–0 Boxing Day Massacre of 1979 (the 100th derby) and United fans to 2017’s Bouncing Day Massacre, and then you’re down the rabbit hole of memories and accusations.

Agony and Ecstasy: <br>The 2017 Steel City Derby

Perhaps the reason we go to football games is because we just might have an experience people will talk about for generations. We sit through countless forgettable affairs because someday we’re going to see a world-class game-winner, or a stunning...

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Sheffield Wednesday Ladies are in the Northeast Regional Women’s Football League Division One South. Home games are at Jubilee Sports Centre. See swlfc.co.uk for more.

At the beginning of each game and after goals, the PA system plays a song you will recognize even if you don’t know its name: “Hi Ho Silver Lining” by Jeff Beck. When it gets to the titular line, the crowd belts out, “Hi ho Sheffield Wednesday!” Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa do this as well, and it’s fair to assume they all argue about who did it first.

Wednesday has another one where they all bounce up and down and sing, in a reference to United’s nickname, “If you don’t fucking bounce, then you’re a Blade.” They do this no matter whom they’re playing.

Hillsborough is absolutely one of our favorites. It’s big, old, classy, and feels much cozier than its 39,812 capacity. It’s been Wednesday’s home since 1899, and it hosted World Cup matches in 1966 and European Championship games in 1996, but hasn’t had much work done since then. The North Stand opened in 1961 (with a friendly match against Pelé’s Brazilian club team) and was the first in the country to run the whole length of the pitch. The biggest stand is the Main Stand across the way with more than 11,300 seats.

At one end is the Spion Kop, where 11,210 of the rowdiest home fans sit, and in the other is the West Stand, also known as the Leppings Lane End, scene of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans died in a crush. (There’s a memorial outside the Main Stand.) Like the rest of the stadium, it’s now all seats and hosts the away fans, generally in the upper tier only.

TOURS: The club offers stadium tours on game days only, starting at 10 a.m. and lasting two and a half hours. Cost is £20, and demand is high.

GETTING THERE: It’s about three miles from the station, so you may want to take a cab (around £10) or a bus. Look for bus 53 bound for Ecclesfield from near the train station. But the best way is on the Sheffield Supertram. From the main rail station, get on a Blue Line train (Malin Bridge) to the city center, and then switch to a Yellow Line (Middlewood) to the Leppings Lane station right by the ground. You can also hop off at the Hillsborough Park stop for pubs and grub plus a nice walk through the park.

PUBS: The Wednesday Tap is a lovely pub in the stadium, and it offers local ales. Right across the river from the Main Stand is the Riverside Café and Bar, which will be packed with singing locals. A few minutes farther away is The Park, with an outdoor beer garden and live music. Down the main A61 road behind the stadium, the Old Crown also has outdoor seating. If you get off the tram at Hillsborough Park and walk back down the line a few minutes to the river, you’ll find several options: a Wetherspoon called The Rawson Spring and two big pubs with views of the river, the Riverside and the Hillsborough Tap.

GRUB: There are a lot of options right around the Hillsborough Park tram stop and another cluster closer to the ground, including two chippies, the Four Lanes Fisheries and Hillsborough Fish Bar. Lines at both were long when we visited.

AROUND TOWN: For ideas on things to do around town, see the Sheffield United profile.