Owls

With apologies to the at least one Blades fan among you who may be reading…

It’s been nearly three years since I’ve made any further progress in my very long term project of visiting all of the 92 football league grounds. My last addition (number 34) was at Derby County a couple of weeks before the first 2020 lockdown started. While I’ve been to plenty of games since I have generally stuck close to home. Indeed my progress toward the 92 has slipped backward with the relegation of Southend and Brentford moving to a new ground (-2) but recouped a little with the arrival of Harrogate Town (+1).  Of the remainder there are still a dozen or so within a couple of hours travel and a set of Bank Holiday fixtures provided an opportunity to visit one of those.

Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, is one of the classic four-sided English grounds; much more characterful than the new-build bowls. While its name will always now be associated with the 1989 tragedy when 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed in a crowd crush, both the ground and the club have a long history. It has been home to the Owls since 1899.

Today’s game was a League Two fixture between Wednesday and Cambridge United.  It turned into a comfortable afternoon for the home team, with a 5-0 win taking them up to second in the table. The score also provided a rare opportunity for the Hawaii Five-0 theme to be blasted over the PA at the final whistle.

Tram travel from the city centre to and from the ground was easy enough, and there was a bonus of a nice ghost sign (extra) near the ground itself.

And I am now back up to 34/92.