Long-serving Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan (left) joined Millwall in January, concluding a decade with the club.
Barring an improbable sequence of outcomes, Sheffield Wednesday, currently under administration, are poised to become the first team in English Football League history to face relegation as early as February within the coming week.
The groundwork for this relegation was laid last summer, as former owner Dejphon Chansiri’s tumultuous reign culminated in repeated instances of unpaid wages.
A significant portion of the senior squad, along with manager Danny Rohl, departed during the summer, preceding the Owls’ eventual entry into administration in October.
Subsequently, the club incurred two separate points deductions, totaling 18 points, rendering their relegation from the Championship this season a matter of when, not if.
While a preferred bidder for the club was selected in December, Sheffield Wednesday remains in administration, subject to stringent operational restrictions and possessing a depleted squad ill-equipped for competition at this level.
Few anticipated relegation occurring so prematurely, and exacerbating matters, it could potentially be confirmed at the hands of their bitter cross-city rivals, Sheffield United, on Sunday.
Blackburn’s victory over Preston on Friday eliminates the possibility of the Owls overtaking them.
Should Sheffield Wednesday win all of their remaining 14 games this season, they would conclude the campaign with 35 points.
Following Blackburn’s win against Preston on Friday, the Owls will be relegated on Saturday if West Bromwich Albion beat leaders Coventry.
A draw or a Coventry win would mean that Wednesday, who are still on -7 points, must then win at Bramall Lane to stop the ‘R’ from being placed next to their name this weekend.
Securing a derby victory away from home presents a formidable challenge under ideal circumstances. Considering Sheffield Wednesday’s sole win this season occurred at Portsmouth in September, their current nine-game losing streak in the Championship, and their failure to score in the past six Steel City derbies, the magnitude of the task facing Henrik Pedersen’s beleaguered squad becomes apparent.
“We will do everything to bring a top, top performance to compete with them,” Pederson told BBC Radio Sheffield. .
“Of course, we know it will happen some day.
“Nobody understands what this group has been through in the past many months.
“I have a group with a big belief and big motivation, and a group of senior players who are ready to do everything for our fans and stand up and perform.
“They know that 95% will not be enough.”
The 18 points deducted from Sheffield Wednesday represent the third-highest deduction in a single Football League season.
Derby County faced a 21-point deduction in the 2021-22 campaign, extending their fight for Championship survival into April. Luton Town incurred a 30-point penalty in the 2008-09 season but managed a respectable 26 points while being relegated from League Two and also winning the Football League Trophy.
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Henrik Pedersen on the Steel City Derby
With 14 games remaining, Sheffield Wednesday risks setting several more unwanted EFL records, including:
No team has concluded a season with negative points. The Owls, having secured 11 points from 32 games, require seven points from their remaining 14 matches to avoid this.
Considering three points per game, Loughborough holds the record for the fewest points earned in a Football League season, with nine in 1899-1900. More recently, Derby County was relegated from the Premier League with 11 points in the 2007-08 season. The all-time low for a 46-game season is Doncaster Rovers’ 20 points in 1997-98.
Doncaster also holds the record for the most defeats in a 46-game league season, with 34 in 1997-98. Wednesday has lost 23 of their first 32 games, meaning 12 defeats in their remaining 14 matches would see them break that record.
Darwen suffered the most consecutive defeats in a single season, with 18 in 1898-99. Since the second tier was rebranded as the Championship, Rotherham holds the record for the most successive defeats, with 10 in the 2016-17 season. Pedersen’s side has lost their past nine games.
Rochdale holds the record for the fewest wins in a 46-game season, with two as they were relegated from the third tier in 1973-74.
Wednesday’s sole win this season occurred away from home, leaving them six games away from becoming the first Football League team to go an entire season without a home win.
Stoke City finished the farthest adrift from safety in the 1984-85 season, ending 33 points from safety in the top tier. Currently, the Owls are 41 points behind 21st-placed West Brom.
Wednesday has scored 19 goals in their 32 games. Stockport County holds the record for the fewest goals scored in a 46-game season, with 27 in 1969-70.
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder stated that the prospect of relegating their cross-city rivals “is not in his thought process at all.”
The Blades fan, unbeaten in his seven games against the Owls, expressed disagreement with the notion that his side, positioned 15th in the table, should easily secure a win.
“We’ll have done more preparation on this game than we have on any game this season and all the games other than the play-off final last season,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“I’ve got complete respect for Henrik and a group of players… there’s talk of it being a mismatch or a gimme, whether it’s bookies’ odds or the narrative in the city… football just doesn’t work like that.
“The players have to play with a discipline and a control to win a game of football, to win a local derby.”
Wilder added: “We put a slide up about Macclesfield v Crystal Palace and Bodo/Glimt v Manchester City. There are all sorts of examples recently, let alone [in] the 100 years plus of football, the game isn’t decided on team sheets.
“We understand it’s basically their season on the line, we’re not daft. But we’ve got our fight, and ours has to be bigger than theirs.”
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‘There is a lot on the line for us as well’
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