A brighter shade of Gray

Dave Jones. A name that will make a lot of Sheffield Wednesday fans shudder. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager came to Hillsborough following the sacking of Gary Megson and the beating of United in the Steel City Derby, then steered the Owls to promotion from League One to the Championship.

#SWFC Half-Time Report

With the Boxing Day fixtures now behind us we are half-way through the 2013/14 season and with Sheffield Wednesday still languishing in the relegation zone, the second half to the season needs to be a vast improvement on the first half. Ending 2013 two points adrift of safety and 21st placed Doncaster Rovers, manager-less, over reliant on loan signings and an owner reluctant to open the chequebook - it seems that Wednesday will be glad to see the back of the year and start afresh in the new year.

SkyBet Championship: Derby County

Pride Park, Derby County.

Ground: Pride Park, Derby
Attendance: 26,421

Sheffield Wednesday come to Derby on the back of a 5-2 thumping of Reading in their last outing whilst the hosts look to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to QPR. The Owls maintain the line-up that performed so well last time out with the loanee strike force of Connor Wickham and Matty Fryatt leading the line.

SkyBet Championship: Reading FC

Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield.

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield
Attendance: 20,368

With Reading sitting comfortably in an early season play-off spot Royals' fans come to Hillsborough in confident mood, Wednesday on the other hand were languishing bottom of the table and win-less all season. A resurgent Matty Fryatt leads the line after extending his loan deal from Hull City and is partnered by former loanee Connor Wickham, who this week surprisingly signed on loan from Sunderland and was quoted as saying had 'unfinished business' with the Owls.

SkyBet Championship: Barnsley FC

Oakwell Stadium, Barnsley.

Ground: Oakwell, Barnsley
Attendance: 13,268

This South Yorkshire derby comes at a time with both teams languishing in the early season relegation zone. Win-less Wednesday travel to their neighbours on the back of a 1-1 draw against Bolton Wanderers whilst The Tykes look for back-to-back wins following their impressive 3-2 win against Middlesbrough. With the suspension of Jose Semedo, Seyi Olofinjana steps in to make his debut after signing a short-term contract with the Owls.

SkyBet Championship: Bolton Wanderers

Reebok Stadium, Bolton.

Ground: Reebok Stadium, Bolton
Attendance: 17,177

Win-less so far this season and hoping to break that unwanted streak, Sheffield Wednesday were hit with the worry that stand out performer - Chris Kirkland could miss his first league match. Struck with illness in the build up to the game, The Owls signed Arsenal goalkeeper Damian Martinez on a short term loan. On the back of two draws and a win, Wanderers were expecting a win over lowly Wednesday to help propel them up the early season table.

SkyBet Championship: Ipswich Town

SWFC v ITFC

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield
Attendance: 19,519

A huge talking point in the build up to this match was the story of Sheffield Wednesday striker Gary Madine being sentenced to 18 months in prison for two counts of assault. The club are yet to release an official statement regarding the contract of the player (which has 3 years remaining) and is expected to do so after this match. After a morale boosting performance against Brighton, the Owls were hoping Ipswich would be the match they record their first win of the season. Sitting high in 10th position though, the Tractor Boys would be no easy opponents - even though they did throw away a 1-4 lead in their last outing.

SkyBet Championship: Brighton & Hove Albion

Amex Stadium, Brighton.

Ground: Amex, Brighton
Attendance: 25,725

A 1-0 home defeat to local rivals Doncaster Rovers after a good performance had Wednesday fans optimistic that their first win of the season was just around the corner. In their way was a Brighton side that lost their last outing - falling to a 2-0 reverse to Ipswich Town. With the return of top scorer Leonardo Ulloa and the Owls languishing at the relegation zone, home fans were expecting a 3 point return come full-time.

SkyBet Championship: Doncaster Rovers

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield
Attendance: 21,871

The previous match for Sheffield Wednesday was a hammering at the hands of a Manchester United loanee, Jesse Lingard for Birmingham City. This week saw another of the Premier League champions youngsters face the Owls, this time in the form of Federico Macheda - fresh from scoring 2 goals in Rovers last outing, a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest. Win-less Wednesday recruited Matty Fryatt from Hull City in their bid to score goals but with a shortage of match fitness, he would start from the bench.

Return to Hillsborough

Ozzie Owl, SWFC mascot. 

This is a brief account of what happened the day I reached my target I set in the early days of my bout of depression, when I finally pushed through my problems and attended a match at Hillsborough, home of my beloved Sheffield Wednesday FC.

SkyBet Championship: Birmingham City

St. Andrews, Birmingham City.

Ground: St. Andrews, Birmingham
Attendance: 14,379

With the season in full flow now both of these teams would be expecting more points on the board than what they start today with. To call it a 'six-pointer' so early is unwarranted but with poor performances in their previous outings, both City and Wednesday will be desperate to start accumulating points and climb up the table sooner rather than later. Manager Lee Clarke signed Manchester United and England U21 sattacking midfielder Jesse Lingard in the build up to the game and he goes straight into the starting lineup to make his debut. The Owls also have added to the books with signings of Roger Johnson (on loan from Wolves) and Stephen McPhail (free agent).

The making of the 'SWFCarmchairfan'

Clarke Carlisle, PFA chairman and former player.

This is the reason I became a so-called 'armchair-fan'. Since I first posted this as a 'page' I have had an amazing response from people everywhere - making it my favourite article I have written. I'm now making it a 'post' so it is easily accessible too and easy to 'share'. Thanks for the feedback and look out for my 'Return to Hillsborough' piece coming very soon!

SkyBet Championship: Yeovil Town

Sheffield Wednesday captain, Reda Johnson.

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield
Attendance: 22,328

With previous form for Wednesday being LLDDD and promoted Yeovil Town having a previous form of WLLLL, both teams were looking at getting points on the board as soon as possible. A stuttering start to the season for the two teams and the majority of home fans were expecting a first win of the season at the expense of The Glovers. Gary Johnson has bolstered his defence with the recent loan acquisition of Bristol City defender Liam Fontaine after Swansea City loanee Alan Tate has been sent back to his parent club with an injury. The Owls themselves have made the loan signing of Roger Johnson from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the build up to this game after sending Martin Taylor to Brentford and seeing Gary Madine found guilty in his court case (awaiting sentencing).

SkyBet Championship: Middlesbrough FC

Middlesbrough FC v Sheffield Wednesday.

 Ground: The Riverside, Middlesbrough 
 Attendance: 15,964 (2,255 Owls)

As kick-off approached The Owls announced the emergency loan signing of Jordan Spence from Premiership side West Ham United - and the youngster goes straight into the side as the injured Lewis Buxton misses out. Another surprise for the away side was the lack of a striker in the starting line-up, instead Michail Antonio and Jermaine Johnson would be looking to speed past the Boro' defence from advanced positions in a line-up reminiscent of the successful one vs Hull City last season. The home side will look for their first win at home this season and look to build on their last two matches - both draws in what would be only their fourth league win at the Riverside in 2013. Wednesday haven't won here since 1991, could they change that?

SkyBet Championship: Millwall FC

Dave Jones welcomes Steve Lomas.

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield
Attendance: 20,009

The laughable talking point in the build up to this game was the Millwall kit-man forgetting his job role and not bringing the Lions' away kit to Hillsborough. Instead the players were to play for at least the first 45 minutes wearing their hosts away kit of last season. The serious talking point in the build up however was of the poor start the two teams have made to the season, with Wednesdays solitary point earned at Leeds their only on the board whilst Millwall themselves have zero points and more worryingly for the London club, zero goals. Both clubs would see this match as winnable and if the Owls can match what they did when Millwall last visited Hillsborough, the start to the season will have definitely improved.

SkyBet Championship: Leeds United

SWFC's keeper Chris Kirkland.

Ground: Elland Road, Leeds
Attendance: 23,766

An ideal 57th birthday for Wednesday manager Dave Jones would be for his team to pick up their first point/s of the season. That would be easier said than done however as rivals Leeds United, unbeaten so far this season, stand in their way. A fiery atmosphere would no doubt ensue as this Yorkshire derby has bad blood between the fans but a minutes applause was well observed for the deceased Leeds fans over the past 12 months before kick-off.

SkyBet Championship: Burnley FC

Sheffield Wednesday host Burnley.

Ground: Hillsborough, Sheffield.
Attendance: 22,282

Championship football returns to Hillsborough in the form of a visit from the 130 year old Clarets, Burnley. With Sean Dyche at the helm the Clarets earned a 1-1 draw (click link to see the report) in their opening league fixture, before thrashing York City 0-4 in the Capital One Cup in midweek. The departure of Charlie Austin to QPR dampened the positive vibes at Turf Moor and hopes turned to Sam Vokes to lead the line and step up to fill the void. Wednesday, still missing Reda Johnson and Lewis Buxton through injury, keep new signing Rafael Floro and academy graduate Liam Palmer in the full-back spots. A noticeable omission from the home team is Gary Madine, not even making the substitutes bench.

Capital One Cup: Rotherham United

Rotherham manager Steve Evans.

Ground: New York Stadium, Rotherham
Attendance: 11,433

The first round of the Capital One Cup serves up a Yorkshire derby at Rotherham Uniteds new stadium, the New York Stadium. The recently promoted Millers have strengthened in the summer with signings such as the 6 month loan of Matt Tubbs, Michael Tidser from Morton and former Fulham full-back Rob Milsom joining the League One side. Both teams were buoyed by the performance in their opening league fixtures with the Millers coming from 1-3 down to draw 3-3 with Crewe whilst Wednesday were somewhat unfortunate to lose 2-1 to QPR.

SkyBet Championship: Queens Park Rangers

QPR v Sheffield Wednesday, Nuhiu

Ground: Loftus Road, London
Attendance: 

With pre-season preperations now in the past, promotion favourites QPR start their Championship campaign against Sheffield Wednesday who finished last season in good form. Harry Redknapp has kept the nucleus of his squad together and the players at his disposal should see an immediate return to the Premier League. Dave Jones has added pace to his ranks in the form of 2 new permanent signings; Jacques Maghoma and Jeremy Helan - along with the reliable Kamil Zayatte in central defence. A new target man receives his international clearance along with Zayatte hours before the big kick off, Atdhe Nuhiu - the former Rapid Vienna player turning down Premiership clubs to sign and hoping to hit the ground running against a strong QPR side.

Pre-season 2013/2014