The atmosphere at Hillsborough couldn’t have been much more different to a year ago when the Owls played their first home game of the 2025/26 campaign. Back then we saw protests and flyers and general sadness surround one of England’s oldest and most storied football clubs.
Tonight those things were replaced with hope, and belief, and with the likes of David Hirst, Chris Waddle, Mel Sterland and John Harkes watching on, a packed-out S6 made themselves heard. 33,138 supporters turned out for the tie, and with Mr. Sheffield Wednesday, Howard Wilkinson, in attendance, it was just the latest example of Wednesdayites feeling like they’d got their club back.
On the pitch things looked better, too - at least at first. Yan Valery returned to the starting XI, as did Liam Cooper, and there was a debut for Billy Mitchell… Louie Barry got his first start, and Kieran Morrison was named on the bench just a few hours after his loan switch from Liverpool was confirmed.
The Owls burst out of the blocks, too, and probably should’ve had the lead going into the break. Jon McCracken made a great save to keep Barry Bannan out, Callum Slattery saw an effort fly just wide of the mark, and Barry was a constant thorn in the side of the Bantams as he sought to find openings down the left-hand side.
Mitchell looked smart and Slattery continued to show glimpses of the sort of quality that has earned him rave reviews, but they weren’t able to take the chances… It’s not a story that Wednesdayites are unfamiliar with.
So for all the positivity that surrounds Wednesday at the moment, there will have been a bit of ‘I’ve seen this movie before’ from the home fans.
And so it played out. Just two minutes into the second half, the Owls’ regular Achilles heel showed itself again as they failed to deal with a set piece, and Aden Baldwin was on hand to fire home from close range after an away corner.
For a while the Bantams were in the ascendency, and Joe Lumley was called into action not long afterwards, diving to his right to make sure Graham Alexander’s side didn’t double their lead. They were on the ropes as WBC Super-Lightweight champion, Dalton Smith, watched on.
Henrik Pedersen’s men did rally, of course, with momentum swinging back and forth as the home side pushed for an equaliser, Slattery had a half-chance after being found by Max Lowe - but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet… Lumley was called into action also, though, diving to keep out a deflected effort just past the hour mark.
It was just after that that Pedersen decided he’d seen enough. On came Morrison for his debut, joined by Mason Burstow and Sil Swinkels, with Barry, Mitchell and Cooper making way.
They huffed and they puffed, but nothing was coming off for the hosts. A couple of times some nice interplay saw them work their way into the Bradford box, but the visitors looked as likely to get a second as Wednesday looked for an equaliser. There wasn’t a great deal of quality on show.
Ricardo Santos came on - another debut - as he took over from Gabriel Otegbayo, but it wasn’t a substitution likely to change things too much. McCracken was barely tested after the break, and the Owls were simply too sloppy in possession and - despite the effort of their supporters - couldn’t rise to the occasion.
This evening won’t be the last time that David Storch watches Sheffield Wednesday lose, and it’s his first taste of a Wednesdayism that we’ve all grown to know so well… He’ll get used to it.
Defeat tonight won’t define the Owls’ season, and on another night they’d have scored twice in the first half and won it. They didn’t, and they didn’t - and it ended 1-0.
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I think it was a welcome to League 1 type of game. Lots of huff and puff and a giant of a side as opposition. Some signs of quality which needs to be more incisive but we are where we are, we gave them 1 clear chance and they took it which enabled them to up their game. They were nowhere near in the first half. Onwards and upwards
Very accurate summary. Some of our fans are embarrassing after a defeat. It's going to take time and one of the better teams in the division - Bradford at home and Wednesday with a brand new squad was always going to be a challenge.