The Arctic Owls!

Wednesday may not be hitting the right notes on the pitch at the moment, but Ashley Ball looks at a more successful side of the Steel City - the music, and their footballing allegiances.

Sheffield born band the Arctic Monkeys are well known for their usage of Sheffield vocabulary in their songs, but slightly less well known are their footballing allegiances.

All four members of the Monkeys are Sheffield Wednesday supporters: this is a recurring theme with Sheffield bands, the only exception seeming to be a few members of 80s band Def Leppard who support United.

As well as the Arctic Monkeys, fellow Sheffield bands Milburn, Little Man Tate and Harrisons all follow the Owls and take breaks from their busy schedules to visit Hillsborough. Rising Sheffield star John McClure (singer with Reverend and the Makers) also supports the blue half of the city.

Milburn seem the most avid of Owls fans as they are often seen wearing retro Owls shirts at gigs and in a recent Channel 4 feature, the band showed off their favourite places in the Steel City. Hillsborough was the first place they visited. Joe Carnall (Milburn lead singer and bass player) admits that he regularly debates whether he'd like to score the winner in an FA cup final for the Owls or headline Glastonbury. For a band that takes their music so seriously, this goes someway to understanding their allegiance to the club.

With the rising profiles of these five artists, in particular the Monkeys, Owls fans can only hope for Alex Turner's men to keep raking in the album sales, and sell out concerts, and perhaps he could one day emerge as a similar figure to Elton John at Watford.

Ashley Ball



Pic: Alex Turner on the big screen at Coachella 2007