The Sheffield Wednesday Archive
The Sheffield Wednesday Archive
For convenience the results have been divided into six periods. The first covers the seasons up until the suspension of the Football League at the start of the First World War. The second covers the twenty seasons between the wars. The remaining four periods cover the seasons since 1945 and have been chosen to reflect the changing fortunes of the club.
The results are grouped season by season. Each season shows the final league table and league results if applicable. The results from any cup tournaments in which the club participated are then shown. Finally, a summary of appearances and goals, for all the players who took part in that season are listed.
Results & League Tables
Pre World War OneThe period up to World War One was a successful one for Wednesday. Before joining the Football League they had already reached one FA Cup Final and whilst they were disappointed at not being one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888, they had only four years to wait to join an enlarged league, when it was expanded to two divisions in 1892. Wednesday were elected straight into the First Division which had now expanded from its original 12 clubs to 16. Their first success came in 1896, when they took the FA Cup back to Yorkshire for the first time. More success came in the early years of the century, with two League Championships and another FA Cup victory.
When the Football League was resumed in 1919 after the war, it started badly for Wednesday. At the end of the season they found themselves 13 points adrift at the foot of the league and were relegated to the Second Division. It was not until 1926, that they won the Second Division Championship and regained their First Division place. For the next two seasons they struggled to maintain their status. In the 1927-28 season with twelve matches to go, relegation was staring them in the face, when they embarked on a remarkable unbeaten run which became known as the ‘ Great Escape’ . This not only lifted them clear of the relegation zone, but was the springboard for the successive League Championships which came in the following two seasons. A splendid team competed for success with the famous Arsenal side of the thirties during this period. Their first Wembley Cup Final appearance came in 1935 when they beat West Bromwich Albion 4-2.
Despite their great success in the thirties, the decline of the side had seen the club relegated to the Second Division in 1937. When the Football League was resumed in 1946 after the war, Wednesday were a struggling side who only just avoided relegation to the Third Division North. After that difficult season, things improved and in 1950 they once again regained their First Division status. This signalled what is now known as the yo-yo years as Wednesday were promoted to the First Division on no fewer than four occasions only to be relegated three times.
The Second Division Championship side of 1959 was under the management of Harry Catterick. The first season back in the top flight consolidated the team as one of the best of its time. In 1960, They were unlucky to lose an FA Cup semi-final to Blackburn Rovers and the following season were unfortunate to come across the great Spurs double-winning team. Wednesday’ s points total in finishing runners-up to Spurs would have been sufficient to have given them the title in both the season before, and the season that followed. Nevertheless, it was the season that included the famous 7-2 victory at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round replay. For five years, they never finished outside the top six. The club was rocked by the bribes scandal which surfaced in 1964 but despite that, two years later Wednesday were playing in their first FA Cup Final for over thirty years. Despite their 2-0 lead, they were to allow an Everton comeback which saw the Merseysiders come out 3-2 winners. First Division football came to an end in April 1970 when a 45,000 Hillsborough crowd saw the team relegated once again.
In the early years of the Seventies, hopes were high of a speedy return to the First Division. By 1974, these had evaporated as the club went into freefall, struggling both financially and on the field. A last match victory in 1974 saved them from the Third Division abyss, but the writing was on the wall, and the following season they were relegated with just five league victories. Things were no better in the Third Division and Wednesday once again found themselves needing points in their last game to avoid relegation. The management of first Len Ashurst and then Jack Charlton, saw a change in the clubs fortunes and in 1980, Wednesday were on their way back with promotion from the Third Division. After a semi-final defeat to Brighton, in 1983, Big Jack called it a day and it was Howard Wilkinson’ s team in 1984, which completed the long haul back to the First Division.
The board of directors in the mid 1980’ s who had patiently turned around the club’ s financial fortunes were wary of allowing the club to face financial crisis again and Wilkinson was denied the cash that may have turned a well motivated side into a trophy winning team. He eventually turned his back on the club and went on to take Leeds United to a League Championship. A change of board, and the arrival of Ron Atkinson signalled a more ambitious approach by the club and despite the setback of relegation in 1990, Wednesday bounced back at the first attempt and took time out to win the League Cup as well. The 1993 season promised so much with European Football back at Hillsborough for the first time in nearly thirty years, but a memorable Wembley semi-final against Sheffield United was countered by the disappointment of losing two Cup Finals.
The PlayersThese pages contain the playing record of every player who has played for the club. Two sets of indexes are available, the first covering all players and the second has them grouped within the six periods described above.
This section contains various rankings on aspects of individual players and some statistics on the performance of the team.
These pages show the results of every game against each individual club the team has played throughout their long history.
A list of Wednesday’ s eighteen managers, together with some biographical information about both their playing and managerial careers.
If you have any comments, or are aware of any errors / omissions then please email me :- Stuart Jackson