Sheffield Wednesday – Hillsborough

19^th October 2012

Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Leeds United

Often when attending these matches as a neutral, I will occasionally find myself drawn to the away end.  For here tends to be found the more excitable supporters, and hence such areas generally have more "atmosphere”, whatever that word actually means.  But, I think it is fairly safe to say I never for a second considered attempting to obtain tickets for the Leeds United end this evening.  For Leeds United fans, along with those of Millwall FC, have a reputation for clinging on to that testosterone-fuelled macho-ache most sets of supporters evolved beyond, decades ago.

Anyway, I have long held a soft spot for Wednesday since that season some years ago now when they lost two Cup Finals to Arsenal within the space of a few months.  I could empathise with those disappointed Wednesday fans as it is seemed such a, well, Scottish thing to happen to you.

This Wednesday side, back in the Championship after a couple of seasons down in the third tier, had made a pretty impressive start to their league campaign.  But the wheels had fallen off the bogey (as we say up here) following a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace, and the club went into this local derby with Leeds United having drawn one and lost seven of their previous eight matches.  The visitors sat fourteen places above their hosts in the league table, but one would scarcely have thought so from a first-half where Wednesday’s crisp passing game dominated proceedings.

Former England cap Jay Bothroyd almost opened the scoring in the 9^th minute, when his effort was fumbled by Leeds ‘keeper Patrick Kenny onto his own crossbar.  Visiting forward Luciano Bechio then showed his ‘keeper how things should be done when he confidently fisted clear a corner kick in his own box.  The ref, inexplicably, saw nothing amiss in this state of affairs and awarded another corner.

Midway through the first-half the Leeds support appeared to suddenly remember about their “No-on likes us, We don't care reputation”, and we were treated to a selection of really quite distasteful Jimmy Savile chants, glorifying the man’s exploits.  The home fans attempted to drown this nonsense out with some whistling, but a few minutes from the break BOTHROYD came up with a more effective method of shutting the clowns up, by the simple expedient of heading in Michail Antonio’s long throw.

The second-half began with more of the same with the homesters still enjoying the greater possession, but they squandered a couple of good opportunities to extend their lead, and as we entered the final 20 minutes the Leeds midfield began to push their hosts further and further back.  It was therefore, perhaps, no surprise when United grabbed an equaliser with 13 minutes remaining through Michael TONGE, with as sweet a strike as I have seen in some time.

A few of the Leeds fans succeeded in getting onto he pitch during the celebrations one of whom, as we all know, smacked home keeper Chris Kirkland in the face as he passed.  Thus did the match finish 1-1.

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Panorama of Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Panorama of Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

I did wonder later if some of the silliness which took place in one corner of the ground perhaps affected the concentration of the Wednesday lads, as prior to things kicking off there they looked well in control.  For around the mid-point in the second half a clutch of Leeds fans had surged toward the corner of their stand adjacent to where, I presumed, a number of their Wednesday counterparts had done the same - it was hard to see from our position in the North Stand. 

A few water bottles appeared to be tossed around and, more worryingly a couple of seats, with the hefty Police presence seemingly content to watch and contain.  I could never understand why in such instances the Police just do not bring a long a few camcorders and point them at the crowd.  Even if they were not actually recording anything, I would imagine there is nothing quite like thinking one is being caught on camera to make one behave oneself.

There were suggestions the home fans had been goading the Leeds lot with chants relating to the Turkey stabbing incident some years back, but I heard no evidence of this.  Generally, all the Wednesday fans around us seemed decent folks just wishing to watch the match.  

One fellow seated directly behind me did let the side down a bit though.  His sole contribution to encouraging his side was to extoll whoever was closest to El Hadj Diouf to “Hit ‘im, Hit ‘im!” or occasionally “Snap ‘im, Snap ‘im”.  I was more taken aback, however, at his irony-free assertion after the Kirkland incident: “That’s why there should be fences in there”; he seemingly having forgotten all about the tragedy in that very enclosure 23 years ago.

We witnesed no hint of any nastiness or aggression from either fans outside the ground, although with us walking away toward the city centre and any Leeds fans I assume heading off North, perhaps we would not.  I was a bit surprised to hear the announcer stating that trams going back to the city centre would leave from Leppings Lane, i.e. where the away fans were housed, but I assumed some sort of segregation was in place.

The match itself had been a remarkably entertaining one, and if one set aside the extremely serious Kirkland incident, it was occasionally difficult to work out what all the fuss was about.  But then that perhaps was a consequence of my experiences at Old Firm matches in the Eighties; no-one does Hatred quite like Glasgow’s Ugly Sisters.

I am sure I will appall most Wednesday fans with this next bit, but, from the inside, I found Hillsborough to feel remarkably similar to Bramall Lane.  Outside, obviously, the grounds are like chalk and cheese, but once inside both boast an Archibald Leitch-esque main stand across from a more contemporary looking one.  The home fans enjoy a single tier stand behind one goal, whilst the away fans are housed in a double-tiered one behind the other goal.  Both grounds show that overlapping roof issue which messes up the aesthetic just a touch, but both clubs have to their credit made attempts at filling in the corners.  But there are, happily, just as many contrasts I could relate.

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Panorama of Hillsborough - Sheffield Wednesday

Before leaving Sheffield the following morning we made a short detour to the west of the city to Hallam FC, to pay our respects to what is generally recognised as the oldest football ground in the world.  But even though there was a match due that afternoon the place was well locked up, and I had to content myself with poking my camera through a hole in the wooden fence to capture a few pics.  It does look an intriguing wee place, and I shall have to pencil in a return visit next time we are in the vicinity.

Sandygate - Hallam FC

Sandygate - Hallam FC

Sandygate - Hallam FC