Firstly, I must thank, Sheffield Wednesday’s official statistician, historian, club programme collector, and all-round Owls anorak Keith Howard, for the great deal of work he put into getting back to me. Thanks, also to SWFC communications manager Steve Chu, for his input. Keith sent me loads of stuff which I have managed to edit so as not to get too bogged down. Keith’s full findings will soon appear in one of the matchday programmes, he tells me. Wednesday is one of the older league clubs in existence, being formed in 1867, Notts County is the oldest, as they were founded in 1862. As with many other clubs, Wednesday was formed from a cricket club that wanted to keep its members warm in the long cold winter. The resulting football club met on a Wednesday and so was called the Wednesday Football Club, the Sheffield not being added until 1929. Those older fans among us will remember that shops shut on a Wednesday afternoon. Trading laws from the beginning of the 20th Century limited the hours’ shops and many businesses could operate across a working week. To regulate these hours, they had to close for half a day during the week, with most areas choosing Wednesday afternoons. This led to Wednesday afternoons being a mini Sunday where you could do anything you liked and what better than to put that time to good use and have a kick-about. Wednesday turned professional in 1887 and played at the Olive Ground. During this time they were nicknamed “The Blades”, now the nickname of Sheffield United. In 1899 Wednesday moved to their current location which was then called Owlerton. The ground was also called Owlerton and the nickname “The Owls” stems from that. The boundaries changed in 1912, and the area along with the ground was renamed Hillsborough. Hillsborough is an area within the Owlerton Parish which still exists and was named after Hillsborough Castle in Ireland. Many thanks, to the masochistic Owls fan, as he calls himself, Ian Harris, for the additional information. I think we can all relate to the masochistic traits Ian refers to, as they are needed to stick with your team, game after game, year after year, win, lose, or draw, through thick and thin, in rain, wind or shine, and during the many faces of change the FA make to the beautiful game of Association Football. Hillsborough is still sadly remembered for the April 1989 FA cup semi-final disaster, and a memorial stands outside the main entrance to those who died. (See Liverpool page) The ground holds about 39,732 all-seated and has been for many years the model for other stadiums.
Evidence suggests a badge has been worn on Wednesday shirts for some time as pictures exist of badges on the shirts during the 1935 FA Cup Final, as was often the case for special games. The badge used would have been the Sheffield coat of arms. (PIC 1) These arms were granted on 16th of July 1875. The lion on the crest is from the duke of Norfolk’s coat of arms, lords of the manor of Sheffield. The sheaf of arrows was the main motif in the seals of the Burgery of Sheffield and the twelve capital Burgesses. A Burgery is an old name for a Borough and the Burgesses its citizens. These would have run the local government before the birth of the Borough of Sheffield. It is believed that the three wheat sheaves on a greenfield were from the College of Arms as a version of the name Sheffield, which means, The open space by the river Sheaf. The two supporters are Vulcan and Thor, each chosen for their representation of a place that profits from the working of metal. Vulcan, the smith of the Roman and Greek gods, has his hand rested on a hammer, and Thor, the smith of the Scandinavian gods, stands in front of an anvil and in his hands is a pair of pincers. The motto “DEO ADJUVANTE LABOR PROFICIT”, can be translated as With Gods Help Our Labour is Successful. This was also shared with Sheffield United in their early days.
A new design was introduced at the start of the 1956/57 season, but was only used on the shirts for the 1966 FA Cup Final. (PIC 2) As you can see we now have the owl and the Latin inscription “CONSILIO ET ANIMIS” means, By Wisdom And Courage. The arrows from the arms are evident in the top right-hand and left-hand corners of the shield. The rose at the base is the Yorkshire rose. The club then went backwards and forwards with their badges, but definitely went backwards as they went forward when a more modern transformation was called for at the start of the 1973/74 season. As it was the 1970s, an art student was chosen from the local college to come up with a new design. (PIC 3) And, Ozzie the Owl was born! I can imagine a long-haired bearded guy, with felt tip pen designs on his jeans, puffing away on a joint and agonizing for hours before coming up with Ozzie! As we know there was only one Ozzie in the 1970s, and that was Chelsea and Southampton’s, Peter Osgood. The name Ozzie was dropped from the owl 12 months later. There have been variations of this badge over the years. (PICs 4 & 5) The first distinctive badge design alteration since 1973, came in 1995/96. A rather sophisticated-looking owl, compared to Ozzie, perched on a branch, with the names Hillsborough and Sheffield Wednesday all set into a shield, taking the club back to the 1966 badge. (PIC 6) The club’s initials replace the sheaf of arrows on the 1966 badge, and the rose is at the top. Also missing is the Latin motto.
A variation on this theme arrived in the 1998/99 season. (PIC 7) Wednesday then went back to the 1970s, and settled for nearly 20 years with Ozzie, again this time in a shield with the club’s initials and EST 1867 beneath. (PIC 8) Finally in 2016 Sheffield Wednesday unveiled their present badge, and it was back to the future with the 1966 crest making a welcome comeback. I say welcome, as it is by far the right and correct crest to use, because of all of them, this looks right. Let’s hope they now stop going around in ever expensive decreasing circles. (PIC 9) It is pretty much as the 1966 FA Cup Final badge, with the initials SW replacing the sheaf of arrows. Sheffield United are of course the local rivals, but others include, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield. If you have not looked at the Sheffield United page then you will not know that the name Sheffield means open land by the river Sheaf, and is Anglo-Saxon in origin. Shef is a corruption of Sheth, meaning to divide or separate, and the river divides Yorkshire from Derbyshire. Field is from Feld and means a clearing in the forest or woods. To find out more on “The Owls” you would be wise to go to www.swfc.co.uk
