My Love For Wednesday

We all remember the first moment we fell in love with Wednesday, don't we? Mark Hollins tells us how his love affair with the blue and white wizards began...

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'Minor things can become moments of great revelation when encountered for the first time'

After reading Ricky's brilliant 'Sheffield Wednesday?!' piece from earlier in the week I began racking the noggin in search of the true moment I became a blue n white nut...

I thought it would be easy, momentous, obvious...

I was wrong.

For me being an Owl has just been a natural thing - anyone remember when they first started to walk?

I imagine most people have varied stories of how they fell in love with Wednesday but I bet everyone felt that natural fate like acceptance, the very feeling which makes us believe that other football clubs were put here merely for us to have someone to play.

I thought back to the stand out moment of our recent(ha!) history, the Sheridan final and remembered, although I'd tagged myself a wizard and watched the game, I wasn't quite interested in football enough to lose sleep. I'd possibly missed the slight pinch of Addiction the day had given me and, like all addicts I suppose, moved on to my next encounter...

'Trip to Hillsborough' was the next venture in early `93 for my scouts (yes I said scouts).

This was my earliest memory inside our great arena; through the blinkers of a tiny 10 years old it looked incredible, the gasp as you wander in and see a vast building filled will blue and white; quite simply, on first viewing (particularly in the days before 40,000+ stadia) breath taking.

I've taken friends since, late 90's, and seen that very same face, the one of wonderment.

I know reactions aren't quite the same these days, but I completely refute comments regarding how the ground is looking, it's a lick of paint and some minor adjustments from top ten Premiership, still.

I witnessed the youthful Bart-Williams genius, grabbing a hat-trick in an end of season 5-2 victory.

I was hooked. What an advertisement that was, even more so I believe as I viewed my 'first time' from the West lower (we should`ve paid more subs ;))

Despite the lot of us giving Tim Flowers an inordinate amount of stick and finding the jibe 'Tinned Flowers, what are Tinned Flowers?' funny, I still had a momentous occasion, knowing little of the journey I'd just jumped aboard.

I'm not a huge crier, unlike Ricky ;), but Chris Woods can claim the accolade of being the only player to reduce me...or was it Andy Linighan...

Even 14 years, dozens of shirt's, tons of 'Wednesday cr@p' (as my caring father so delightfully put it) (including a Wednesday board game!, if anyone had it), 3 Carlton Palmers and a day in Cardiff later, I can safely say this was the moment my blood turned white, then blue again, then both.

Remember yours?

UTO!

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And if you do remember your first Owls match, or how you came about supporting Wednesday, we want to hear your stories! E-mail them to us at sheffwed@vitalfootball.co.uk and we'll be sure to use them on the site!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.