The history of Sheffield Wednesday F.C., an English football club from Sheffield, dates back to the club's establishment in 1867. The club would see early regional success followed by a rocky transition to professionalism. Although it has spent the majority of its Football League years in the top flight, its position within the league has varied from the very top to almost slipping to the fourth tier.
The club has won four English League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one FA Community Shield.
The 19th century The early years The club was initially a cricket team named The Wednesday Cricket Club after the day of the week on which they played their matches. The footballing side of the club was established to keep the team together and fit during the winter months. SWFC was born on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867 at a meeting at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield. The formation was announced two days later with the following statement in the Sheffield Independent newspaper:
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CRICKET CLUB AND FOOTBALL CLUB. – At a general meeting held on Wednesday last, at the Adelphi Hotel, it was decided to form a football club in connection with the above influential cricket club, with the object of keeping together during the winter season the members of this cricket club. From the great unanimity which prevailed as to the desirability of forming the club, there is every reason to expect that it will take first rank. The office bearers were elected as follows: – President, Mr. B. Chatterton; vice-president and treasurer, Mr. F. S. Chambers; hon. Secretary, Mr. Jno. Marsh; assistant, Mr. Castleton. Committee: Messrs Jno. Rodgers, Jno. White, C. Stokes, and H. Bocking. About sixty were enrolled without any canvas, some of them being the best players of the town.
Even at this first meeting it became apparent that football would soon come to eclipse the cricketing side of the club. The formation of the football club came within a decade of the first football club in the world, Sheffield F.C., being formed. Hallam F.C. was set up shortly afterwards and by 1867 Association football was becoming very popular. The Wednesday played their first football match in October 1867 against the Mechanics Club at Norfolk Park, a game which they won by three goals and four rouges to nil.
By 1 February 1868 Wednesday were playing their first competitive football match as they entered the Cromwell Cup, a four-team competition for newly formed clubs sponsored by Oliver Cromwell, the manager of the local Theatre Royal. They went on to win the cup, beating Cromwell's own team, The Garrick Club 1–0 after extra time in the final at Bramall Lane. The match has its own place in history with Wednesday being the scorers in the first recorded instance of a "golden goal" although the term was not used at the time.
Wednesday were joined by the Clegg brothers, Charles and William in 1870. Charles became the club's first international player when he played in the very first international on 30 November 1872. William represented the Wednesday in the next international on 8 March 1873. Both players would go on to be associated with the club for the rest of their lives. Although it would be Charles who became most heavily involved in football eventually rising to become president and chairman of the Football Association. Both the Cleggs received knighthoods in later life.
In 1876 Wednesday were joined by James Lang. The directors of the club had seen him playing for Glasgow against the Sheffield FA representative side. He was subsequently invited to come to Sheffield and play for the club and given a job, working in a silversmiths owned by one of the directors, which involved no formal duties. This is now acknowledged as the first case of professionalism in the game.
Sheffield's first annual tournament, the Sheffield FA Challenge Cup, was inaugurated in 1876 and won by Wednesday who beat Heeley, their chief rivals at the time, in the final 4–3 after extra time. They would go on to also win the first Wharncliffe Cup in 1879. By this time Wednesday had become the dominant force in local football.
Rocky road to professionalism
In 1879 a number of Wednesday players were involved in a team referred to as The Zulus. The team was set up to raise funds for the families of victims of the Zulu War. They toured the north of England and Scotland but after allegations that the players were being paid, a practice that was illegal at the time, the team was forced to disband by the Sheffield FA in 1882.
In the summer of 1882, after a season in which The Wednesday reached the semifinals of the FA Cup, the cricket and football teams split permanently, and by the end of 1925 the cricket team had disbanded. In the 1880s Wednesday became a permanent fixture in the FA Cup as they attempted to move away from local competitions, however in the 1886–87 season Wednesday did not meet the deadline for entry and a revolt by several of their most skilful players followed.
Several players, all involved in the earlier Zulus controversy, temporarily left the club to play for a local works team which had managed to submit its entry on time. Later in the season the same players threatened to walk out permanently and set up a professional club called Sheffield Rovers. Wednesday's president at the time, John Holmes, was against the club turning professional, but under the immense pressure of the possibility of losing his star players he entered into talks with the rebels, eventually offering professional terms. At the meeting called to set up Sheffield Rovers, one of the rebel players, Tom Cawley, argued that Wednesday should be given one final chance and the football club duly turned professional on 22 April 1887. The initial wages were five shillings for home fixtures and seven shillings and sixpence for away games.
The Olive Grove years
The move to professionalism led to the team building their own stadium rather than playing at venues such as Bramall Lane or Sheaf House whose owners took a share of the "gate". They leased some land by the railway tracks near Queen's Road from the Duke of Norfolk and in 1887 built the Olive Grove ground. They named it so because an olive farm was bulldozed in order to build it
In 1889, when their first application to join the Football League was rejected, the club became founder members of the Football Alliance of which they were the first champions in a season that they also reached the 1890 FA Cup Final, losing 6–1 to Blackburn Rovers at The Oval. They finished the following season bottom of the Alliance but recovered to finish in fourth place in the final Alliance season. The following season they were elected to Division 1 of the Football League when it was increased from 14 to 16 clubs, topping the poll with 10 votes. They won the FA Cup in 1896, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers by a 2–1 scoreline at Crystal Palace.
The 20th century Pre-war success In a strong decade Wednesday won the league twice in the 1902–03 and 1903–04 seasons and the FA Cup again in 1907, beating Everton, again at Crystal Palace by two goals to one. After this a relatively fallow period was to be suffered for another two decades.
In 1929 the club officially changed its name from The Wednesday Football Club to Sheffield Wednesday Football Club under the stewardship of manager Robert Brown. However the name Sheffield Wednesday dates back as far as 1883: the former ground at Olive Grove had the name Sheffield Wednesday painted on the stand roof.
The team rose to the top of English football once again in the 1928–29 season. They had almost been relegated in the previous season but with 17 points in the last 10 matches the team pulled off the great escape, rising from bottom to 14th. Consecutive titles in the next two seasons started a run that would see the team finishing lower than third only once until 1935. The period was topped off with the team winning the FA cup for the third time in the club's history in 1935 under manager Billy Walker.
Post-war turmoil The 50s saw Wednesday unable to consistently hold on to a position in the top flight. After being promoted back up in 1950, they were relegated a total of three times. Each time would see them bounce back up by winning the Second Division the following season. The decade ended on a high note with the team finally finishing in the top half of the First Division for the first time since World War 2. In 1958, they were the first team to play Manchester United after the Munich air disaster, an FA Cup tie, which they lost 3–0.
This led to a decade of successfully remaining in the First Division, which included a cup run to the FA cup final in 1966. Off the field the club was embroiled in the British betting scandal of 1964 where three of their players, Peter Swan, David Layne and Tony Kay, were accused of match fixing and betting against their own team. The three were subsequently convicted and, on release from prison, banned from football for life.
Wednesday were relegated at the end of the 1969–70 season, starting arguably the darkest period in the club's history. After going into freefall they spent 5 seasons in the Third Division and the club almost suffered relegation to the Fourth Division in 1976, but a revival over the next few seasons under first, Jack Charlton and then, Howard Wilkinson, saw them reach the First Division in 1984.
The 1980s: Resurgence Under the management of Wilkinson, Sheffield Wednesday won promotion to the First Division at the end of the 1983–84 season and would remain at this level for all but one of the next sixteen seasons. They finished fifth in the league at the end of the 1985–86 season and only missed out on a UEFA Cup place because English teams were banned from European competitions due to the Heysel Stadium disaster at this time.
Wednesday's lack of ambition at that time resulted in Wilkinson leaving in September 1988 to take charge of Leeds United who were a Second Division club at the time. Within four seasons, he had taken them to the league title. No English manager has won the top English division since.
Meanwhile, Sheffield Wednesday replaced Wilkinson with his former assistant Peter Eustace in what proved to be a disastrous appointment. He was at the helm for just four months before being sacked to make way for former West Bromwich Albion manager Ron Atkinson, who had lifted two FA Cups with Manchester United.
Wednesday's on field woes paled into insignificance in April 1989 when 97 Liverpool supporters were unlawfully killed in a crush at the Leppings Lane end of the ground in an FA Cup semi-final hosted by the club. The Hillsborough disaster remains an indelible stain on the club's history and to this day is a source of deep shame for older supporters.
The 1990s: Life at the top
Under the stewardship of chairman Dave Richards, the 1990s became the most successful and exciting period in Wednesday's history since the 1930s. In Atkinson's first full season as manager, 1989–90, Sheffield Wednesday finished 18th in the First Division and were relegated on goal difference, despite the acquisition of the talented midfielder John Sheridan and the fact they had pulled towards mid-table at one stage of the season. They regained promotion at the first attempt but the real highlight of the season was a League Cup final victory over Atkinson's old club, Manchester United. Sheridan scored the only goal of the game, which delivered the club's first major trophy since their FA Cup success of 1935. Atkinson moved to Aston Villa shortly after promotion was achieved, and was replaced by the 37-year-old striker Trevor Francis. Wednesday finished third in the First Division in the 1991–92 season, their highest League finish since 1960–61, to book their place in the UEFA Cup and becoming a founder member of the new FA Premier League.