The 2016–17 season is Sheffield Wednesday's fifth consecutive season in the Championship. Along with competing in the Championship, the club will also participate in the FA Cup and League Cup.
The season covers the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Overview August Sheffield Wednesday started the 2016–17 season with a 1–0 win at home against recently relegated Aston Villa, thanks to a late Fernando Forestieri goal. The Owls' run in the League Cup did not last long as they lost 2–1 at Cambridge United after extra time, with Lucas João scoring for Sheffield Wednesday. In the next four league games The Owls managed just two points, with a 0–0 draw away to Norwich followed by a 3–1 away loss at Burton Albion, a 2–0 home loss to Leeds United and a 1–1 draw away to Brentford.
September The Owls got off to a winning start in September with a 2–1 win over Wigan Athletic at Hillsborough. Steven Fletcher equalised for Sheffield Wednesday, scoring his first competitive goal for the club, whilst Fernando Forestieri scored the winning goal. Another home win followed with a 3–2 win over Bristol City thanks to Kieran Lee's 96th minute winning goal. The Owls' only loss in September came against Birmingham City losing 2–1 at St Andrews. This was followed by two successive victories, 2–1 at home against Nottingham Forest and 1–0 away against Blackburn Rovers.
October The Owls lost their first game of October, a 2–1 loss at home against Brighton & Hove Albion. After the international break, Sheffield Wednesday got their first win of the month against Huddersfield Town thanks to Fernando Forestieri's 68th-minute penalty which was the only goal of the game. In the next game, a mid-week fixture, The Owls left the Cardiff City Stadium with a point after a 1–1 draw, with Daniel Pudil scoring the equalising goal. A few days later, Gary Hooper's 40th-minute goal was enough for Sheffield Wednesday to get all three points in their home game against Queens Park Rangers.
November With only three games in November, The Owls managed four points out of a possible nine. Despite managing to equalise after just four minutes of going 1–0 down against Ipswich Town at home, Sheffield Wednesday eventually lost 2–1. The Owls drew 1–1 away against Fulham in their next game, despite leading for most of the game thanks to a goal from Fernando Forestieri after just 10 minutes. In their final game of November, Sheffield Wednesday beat Wolves 2–0 at Hillsborough, with Fernando Forestieri scoring a penalty and Kieran Lee scoring The Owls' second goal.
December In a game which saw three players dismissed (Forestieri for The Owls and Beckford and Doyle for Preston North End), Sheffield Wednesday managed to take all three points with a 2–1 victory, with Fernando Forestieri and Steven Fletcher on the score sheet, the latter scoring from a penalty kick after on-loan winger Will Buckley was fouled in the penalty area by opposition goalkeeper Chris Maxwell. After a 2–1 away to Reading, Sheffield Wednesday won all of their next three games, with a 2–0 home win against local rivals Barnsley, a 1–0 home win against local rivals Rotherham United and a 1–0 away win against league table leaders Newcastle United, with team captain Glenn Loovens scoring the winning goal, his first for the club. In The Owls' final game of 2016, Adam Reach scored a late equaliser against Preston North End, his first goal for the club.
January In Sheffield Wednesday's first match of 2017, the result was a 0–0 draw at Hillsborough against Wolves. This was followed by a 3–0 away defeat to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, entering and exiting the tournament in the 3rd round. In Sheffield Wednesday's next EFL Championship match, a goal each from Ross Wallace and Fernando Forestieri (both in the second half) gave The Owls a 2–0 victory against local rivals Huddersfield Town, extending Wednesday's unbeaten run in the league to six games. This run was ended after a 2–1 away loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, which was followed by a 2–2 draw away to Bristol City.
February The Owls got February off to a winning start, with a 1–0 win at the DW Stadium against Wigan Athletic, thanks to a Ross Wallace goal. Two home games followed, with a 3–0 win over Birmingham City followed by a 2–1 win over Blackburn Rovers. In the following game, away to Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday extended their winning run to four games after a 2–1 win, with goals from Almen Abdi (his first for the club) and Fernando Forestieri for The Owls. Wednesday would then end February with back-to-back losses, 2–1 against Brentford and 1–0 at play-off rivals Leeds United, ending the Owls four match unbeaten run in acrimonious fashion. The Owls were in sixth place with twelve games to go at the end of this month, two points behind fifth placed Reading and five ahead of seventh placed Fulham, albeit a game ahead.
March Sheffield Wednesday got March off to a winning start in style, with a 5– home win against Norwich City, with goals from Fernando Forestieri, Morgan Fox, Ross Wallace and a brace from January signing Jordan Rhodes. It was also the club's biggest win of the season, beating the previous month's 3–0 home win against Birmingham City. A 1–1 draw at home to Burton Albion was followed by two successive 2–0 defeats, one at home to Reading and another away to Aston Villa, giving The Owls just four points out of twelve in March and losing their five-point advantage over seventh placed Fulham.
April A 1–1 draw away at Barnsley saw The Owls drop into seventh place for the first time in ten matches, although amends were quickly made with a 2–0 victory over already relegated local rivals Rotherham United, thanks to a brace from Steven Fletcher. This result was followed by four further victories for Sheffield Wednesday, 2–1 at home against Newcastle United, 1–0 at home against Cardiff City thanks to a late Fernando Forestieri header and two successive 2–1 victories, one away to Queens Park Rangers and another at home to Derby County, with Steven Fletcher scoring his fourth goal in as many games in the latter. Following the game against Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday were in fourth place in the league table, their highest position in the whole of the 2016–17 season. The Owls remained unbeaten in April, ending the month with a 1–0 away win at Ipswich Town, with the game's solitary goal coming from Owls midfielder Kieran Lee.
May With The Owls' play off place confirmed, after the Ipswich game, a much changed starting line up was fielded in the 2–1 home loss to Fulham. At the end of the league season, Sheffield Wednesday finished in fourth place.
Players Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2016 FW Steven Fletcher Sunderland Free transfer 18 July 2016 GK Jake Kean Norwich City Free transfer 28 July 2016 MF Almen Abdi Watford £3,000,000 28 July 2016 DF Daniel Pudil Watford £2,000,000 16 August 2016 CM David Jones Burnley Undisclosed 19 August 2016 CB Vincent Sasso Braga Undisclosed 31 August 2016 MF Adam Reach Middlesbrough £5,000,000 6 September 2016 DF Urby Emanuelson Hellas Verona Free transfer 6 January 2017 LB Morgan Fox Charlton Athletic Undisclosed 13 January 2017 FW Sam Winnall Barnsley Undisclosed
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 16 July 2016 GK Lewis Price Rotherham United Free transfer 30 August 2016 CF Caolan Lavery Sheffield United Free transfer 31 August 2016 DF Marnick Vermijl Preston North End Undisclosed 23 September 2016 MF Jérémy Hélan Retired N/A 12 January 2017 CF Sergiu Buș Astra Giurgiu Free transfer
Loans in
Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 5 August 2016 FW Will Buckley Sunderland End of Season 1 January 2017 FW Callum McManaman West Brom End of Season 31 January 2017 FW Jordan Rhodes Middlesbrough End of Season
Loans out
Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 9 August 2016 GK Cameron Dawson Wycombe Wanderers 16 August 2016 19 August 2016 CB Darryl Lachman Willem II End of Season 1 January 2017 GK Jake Kean Mansfield Town End of Season 18 January 2017 DM Filipe Melo Paços de Ferreira End of Season 20 January 2017 CM Sean Clare Accrington Stanley End of Season 30 January 2017 FW Lucas João Blackburn Rovers End of Season 31 January 2017 RW Modou Sougou Moreirense End of Season
Transfer summary
Spending
Summer: £ 12,600,000
Winter: £
Total: £ 12,600,000
Income
Summer: Unknown
Winter: £
Total: Unknown
Net Expenditure
Summer: £ 12,600,000
Winter: £
Total: £ 12,600,000
New contracts Date from Position Nationality Name Length Expiry Ref. 4 July 2016 MF José Semedo 1 year June 2017 13 July 2016 MF Ross Wallace 2 years June 2018 27 July 2016 MF Kieran Lee 3 years June 2019 5 August 2016 GK Keiren Westwood 3 years June 2019 8 August 2016 DF Tom Lees 5 years June 2021 26 October 2016 DF Liam Palmer 3 years June 2019 10 January 2017 FW Fernando Forestieri 3½ years June 2020 10 January 2017 MF Sam Hutchinson 3½ years June 2020
Débuts Players making their first team Sheffield Wednesday début in a competitive match. NoPosPlayerDateOpponentsGroundRef7 Almen Abdi7 August 2016Aston VillaHillsborough Stadium6 Steven Fletcher7 August 2016Aston VillaHillsborough Stadium29 Connor O'Grady9 August 2016Cambridge UnitedAbbey Stadium38 Will Buckley9 August 2016Cambridge UnitedAbbey Stadium48 James Murphy9 August 2016Cambridge UnitedAbbey Stadium46 George Hirst9 August 2016Cambridge UnitedAbbey Stadium3 David Jones20 August 2016Leeds UnitedHillsborough Stadium9 Adam Reach10 September 2016Wigan AthleticHillsborough Stadium25 Cameron Dawson19 October 2016Cardiff CityCardiff City Stadium10 Callum McManaman2 January 2017Wolverhampton WanderersHillsborough Stadium11 Sam Winnall14 January 2017Huddersfield TownHillsborough Stadium43 Morgan Fox31 January 2017Bristol CityAshton Gate|-17 Jordan Rhodes3 February 2017Wigan AthleticDW Stadium26 Urby Emanuelson7 May 2017FulhamHillsborough Stadium
Competitions Pre-season friendlies Sheffield Wednesday played five friendly games as part of their pre-season.
Championship Sheffield Wednesday will compete in the Football League Championship for the 2016–17 season.
League table
Results summary
Results by round
All fixtures are subject to change.
Matches August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
Play-offs As a result of The Owls finishing in fourth place, they qualified for the play-offs for the second consecutive season. In the play-off semi finals, Sheffield Wednesday played against fifth-placed local rivals Huddersfield Town.
EFL Cup
Sheffield Wednesday competed in the 2016–17 EFL Cup for one round. They were eliminated 2–1 by Cambridge United.
FA Cup
Sheffield Wednesday entered the FA Cup in the third round, where they lost to Middlesbrough.
Overview
CompetitionRecord Championship FA Cup League Cup Total
Squad statistics AppearancesPlayers currently out on loanPlayers no longer at the club
Goalscorers
Includes all competitive matches.
PlayerChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal1FW45Fernando Forestieri12––122FW6Steven Fletcher10––103FW14Gary Hooper6––64MF33Ross Wallace5––55MF5Kieran Lee4––46MF9Adam Reach3––3FW17Jordan Rhodes3––3FW11Sam Winnall3––38MF23Sam Hutchinson2––2DF36Daniel Pudil2––2DF39Vincent Sasso2––212MF7Almen Abdi1––1MF41Barry Bannan1––1DF43Morgan Fox1––1FW19Lucas João––11DF15Tom Lees1––1DF12Glenn Loovens1––1Own Goals 3 – –3Total 60 – 1 61
Disciplinary record