Fan's eye view: Sheffield Wednesday v Hull City play-off final

Wednesday's might've lost on the pitch at Wembley but it still felt like a release for the fans to have a huge day like that. There's little point adding more analysis of the match as the Owls didn't really turn up, simple as, so here's some pictures of the day including a few from the nosebleed seats. It may be expensive but there isn't a bad view inside the national stadium.

Fan's eye view: What to expect from Sheffield Wednesday v Hull City play-off final

We're nearly, nearly there. As the day of the play-off final against Hull City is almost upon us, here's a few things we can expect.

On the way
Perhaps it says everything about our recent history that, since we last visited Wembley, they've knocked the whole thing down and the famous twin towers are no more. Getting to Wembley will be a laborious mission for most of those descending from Yorkshire, not least when both set of fans converge around King's Cross. The police have already said the trains won't be selling alcohol, too. The walk up Wembley Way will be a special one though and there will be mini-fan parks for each set of fans with bars and "street food" (sounds expensive but is posh pie and a pint no doubt).

In the stands
There's no doubt that we have some of the best fans in the country in terms of commitment to the cause, humour and ability to have a good time regardless of what's happening on the pitch. Anyone who, like me, was among the 40,000 fans who descended on Cardiff for our League One playoff win in 2005 will attest that, when the big days come, we're ready for it. 

It's been pretty grim reading the panicked social media posts and the, sometimes vicious, responses as fans tried to get tickets and, in some cases, were attacked over a lack of commitment. In truth I think everyone understands that most fans would love to see our beloved Owls every week were it not for family commitments, money and life getting in the way of supporting our team in the stands. Ironically social media has made it so much more fun to support Wednesday in recent years, providing easy access to the huge community of Owls fans. Thankfully in recent days the ticket vitriol  has switched to thoughts of the actual game and, judging by the excited social media posts, it's going to be a sea of blue and white. WAWAW. 

On the pitch 
Oh yeah, there's actual going to be a game. There's little doubt Hull have the quality - with players like Robert Snodgrass and Abel Hernandez - to do Wednesday damage and even their recent trips to Wembley (most recently in losing to Arsenal in the cup final in 2014) may even give them extra steel. But the Owls are riding a crest of a wave. The players and fans seem well aware that we've not been the third best team and we're ready to snatch our opportunity with cheek. 

Expect tight defences to play a big part, especially early on - the jitters seen in both teams' second legs will have left them in no doubt that more tough tackling in the midfield is needed. Further forward, these are often days for unlikely heroes. Who would've expected Drew Talbot to have gone down in S6 folklore a decade back? Perhaps this is the day for a sneaky goal from Keiran Lee or Daniel Pudil to decide things? 

On the touchline
Two very different managers will be stalking the Wembley technical areas. Often-animated Carlos Carvalhal has plenty of ego to him and, hopefully, will relish the big occasion. He's been in a final before, with Portugal's Leixoes, and also got them promoted. For his opposite number Steve Bruce, he's already been promoted as a manager via the play-offs, and his experience as a players with Manchester United puts points in the plus column. 

The prize

The figure being slapped on this 'richest game in the world' this year appears to be £200m. Psychologically it's worth much more to Wednesday. There's been a sense, more from others than Owls fans themselves, over the last 16 years that we belong in the top division. Whether or not that can really be true, let's hope they can prove that to be the case. 

What next season could hold for Sheffield Wednesday, promoted or not

Saturday's win over Cardiff, securing our play-off place, felt like a real landmark in Wednesday's recent history. Attempting to predict the outcome of the play-offs, incessantly dubbed 'a lottery', is basically pointless, save to say a couple of excellent performances over Derby and Cardiff have put us in a strong position. So what can we expect next season, whether it's off the back of a Wembley victory or not?

The Premier League
If the dream comes true and we make it back after a 16-year absence, you can be sure that the pain of the near two decade absence will be enough to spur on a fight to stay up. I've lost count of the number of times well-meaning neutrals have told me the Owls 'should' be in the top tier or are a 'sleeping giant' since the Millennium. Owner and tuna king Dejphon Chansiri and manager Carlos Carvalhal have talked a great game - i.e. promotion this season would be a bonus, the target was always next year. But, Leicester City excepted, long-term goals from football club owners ("we'll be in Europe in four years!") are rarely worth anything. Not least as managers aren't given more than 12 games if results start to turn sour. 

So expect instant spending on deepening the squad, improvements to the ground (how long does it feel since the Great Scoreboard Investment debate?), in a year in which the Hillsborough disaster is again under the microscope, and more commercial deals. Will Chansiri attempt to further boost Wednesday's profile in Asia using his own business links? Moreover, after the bad blood at the start of the season over ticket prices, can we expect matchday admission prices to shoot up? The chance to offer top dollar for the visits of the Manchester clubs, Arsenal and even the Foxes will surely be too much to resist. 
Unlike Southampton and Coventry, we hadn't spent years beating the drop by the skin of our teeth. Just two years prior to relegation, a Carbone and Di Canio inspired side ended 7th in the league. If the Owls return to the big time, it will not be with the Big Gun status with which we left it. That said, a team containing Bannan, Lee and Forestieri are unlikely to start hoofing it and could play some attractive top-flight football. Emulating Bournemouth, Swansea and Watford is the goal. 

The Championship 
And so to the less appealing. Conventional wisdom would assume that, with Carlos' new contract signed and talk of promotion really being the target next season, we will build on this season, and potentially target automatic promotion. The top six finish and the feel good factor around the club should be enough to hang on to our most talented assets - Forestieri, Hooper, Westwood, Bannan - even if a lower-end Premier League team came calling, you'd hope. In recent years a cluster of sides including Watford, Derby and Middlesborough have bounced back from playoffs defeats to put in strong follow-up seasons. 

In the unlikely event of an implosion, or even a distinctly average season, Chansiri's next move will be fascinating. New to football ownership, how important is it that the memorabilia-wearing businessman's South Yorkshire asset shows instant progress? On the plus side, potential matches with Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle United (and perhaps even locals Bradford or Barnsley) could provide some blockbuster crowds in S6 while the Blades continue to languish, failing to provide Steel City derbies. 

The squad 
The implications for every squad member of the next, potentially, three matches of their career are too multitudinous to go into. But there are some intriguing prospects. Given a full season, especially if we remain in the Championship, Marco Matias' latent attacking talent, especially combining with a maturing Lucas Joao, would be great to see. Meanwhile, a run in a Premier League team for the injury-prone and oft-suspended Sam Hutchinson would be great to see. His classy passing and assured style could be a real benefit if we're to do more than just scrap it out. 

The club 
For the club and community as a whole, promotion would be massive. The spiralling debts and ill feeling of the post relegation years were symptomatic of a team which didn't expect demotion. 

Unlike Southampton and Coventry, we hadn't spent years beating the drop by the skin of our teeth. Just two years prior to relegation, a Carbone and Di Canio inspired side ended 7th in the league. If the Owls return to the big time, it will not be with the Big Gun status with which we left it. That said, a team containing Bannan, Lee and Forestieri are unlikely to start hoofing it and could play some attractive top-flight football. Emulating Bournemouth, Swansea and Watford is the goal. 

How can Sheffield Wednesday fans effectively protest against the ticket price hike?

No one wants to pay more for something than they have to, but a sense of value for money is paramount. It is a lack of this sense that enabled new Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri to hike home matchday ticket prices - using a plethora of inexplicable categories for games - to as much as £52.

The anger at the sudden decision has enraged Owls fans and supporters organisations. The general feeling has been that this is an obscene amount to pay to watch second division football at Hillsborough which, last season in particular, has not exactly been home to spectacular top dollar football of late. It is unreasonable to expect a family to pay this (not least as the old ground hasn't exactly got great family facilities) when people are still struggling to find work in South Yorkshire and the next generation of kids who want to go may be deprived of the experience. What's more, the timing of the decision, after all the cheap early bird season tickets have finished sale, meant those on those on the fence about renewing or buying a season ticket who didn't have been heavily stung if they want to visit Hillsborough a bunch of times this season.

As an ardent fan proud that we were amongst the cheapest teams to go and see in the league it has been a painful turn of events.

To put the decision into context, Chansiri bought the club in January, taking over from Milan Mandaric - widely seen to have saved the club and who was even granted a 'Thank you Milan Day', unusual among chairmen. But, as Mandaric agreed to stay on to advise, we must assume he had some say in the ticket pricing decision. Chansiri, who has been popular with Owls fans, keen to see the seafood magnate spend big to achieve his much stated goal of reaching the Premier League. 

"Chansiri has approached his reign like a Prime Minister's - charm on arrival before dropping bombshells"

In a delayed letter explaining the ticket price hike, he used funding transfers (the only language that gets fans on side, we hardly want to hear the ticket cash is being spent on plush back room facilities) as a justification. It's pathetically transparent behaviour: bang on about attacking football, which of course everyone wants to see (but can be difficult in a tight division led by a new manager inexperienced in English football) and then demand the fans pay for it.

But is this really fair? In the Premier League, ticket income vastly lags TV rights and advertising revenues to fund multi-million pound transfers. With reduced access to that in the Championship, Chansiri has clearly decided the fans, rather than canny deals brokered by his business, will fund his ambitions. It appears he has approached his reign like a Prime Minister's parliamentary term - charm on arrival and shortly afterwards before dropping the bombshells, knowing you've bought yourself some time before the masses can really turn on you.

In response to the price hike - to £39, Bristol City fans have understandably decided to boycott the season opener at Hillsborough on August 8. We've seen a propensity, particularly at Premier League level, for teams to raise away prices against those who overcharge their fans and the temptation with a well supported club like Wednesday will doubtless be they will see the blue and white pound and do just that.

But I think this may be what it takes. As an exiled Owl in London, I go to plenty of games in the south and am always proud to stand amongst a heaving WAWAW faithful. If this number starts thinning out, the supporter numbers are held up against previous years and - after a few seasons of inflated revenge pricing - we become a less lucrative club to host, then Chansiri may be shamed into cutting prices. Empty seats at Hillsborough is one thing, but a true protest needs to reverberate far wider.

Although his background is very much not a footballing one, the more the new Owls owner becomes embedded in the flash, trophy asset world of football club ownership, the more his reputation will play a part. If this is as someone charging Premier League prices to see sub-par football, this may just force his hand.

Opinion: Sheffield Wednesday's season opener brings wizardry and worries

An opening day away day in sunny Brighton is about as idyllic an Owls match as you can attend, and a 1-0 win amongst a healthy 2,600 roaring Wednesdayites added to the feeling this was the perfect match day. As an 'exiled' fan living in London, a southern season opener was an extra treat. 

Classic new season optimism has been tempered by the prolonged delays to Hafiz Mammadov's takeover of the club, handled in the inimitable Wednesday style (announce the done deal first, flail in public later. This is, after all, a club which sacked its manager on Christmas Eve 1973). 

But the matter was shoved aside for the first Saturday of the season and signs were encouraging. The defence, consisting of Loovens and Sam Hutchinson, looked solid. It was an unusual feeling to see Wednesday defenders calmly intercepting through balls and nipping in with tidy tackles. 

Hutchinson, making a remarkable return after retiring four years ago and signing following a loan spell last season, simply looks a class act. He's clearly a player who reads the game well, can pass and play comfortably in defence or midfield, which he did in the second half. Like Majid Bougherra before him, I'd take a short spell with a classy defender like Hutchinson than a more dedicated long-term centre back lumbering towards the end of their career. The Owls are increasingly a club typified by their reliance on players at the club for short stints so we should embrace this positive.

The game itself was unspectacular. We were under the cosh in the opening stages but Brighton, spearheaded by former blue and white wizard Chris O'Grady, couldn't rustle up much on target. Likewise, Giles Coke's wonder strike came as a bolt from the blue, not least for my wife - attending her first Owls match - who was distracted by a kid coming past to go to the loo and missed it all together.

Seeing Wednesday through Anna's eyes was an interesting experience. She was puzzled by their choices in the final third; confused - as was I - as to how Nuhiu could be a professional athlete given his lack of pace and exasperated by the Owls' lack of ambition to seek a second goal even after Brighton had a man sent off.  And it definitely brought home that almost all of our songs are about United. Whether I'll convince her to come often I'm not too sure but the ever reliable funny, fun and vocal nature of our support seemed to make the day. That, and a trip to the shops in nearby Lewes. 

Ultimately it was a lucky win for Wednesday who were outplayed at times and lacked endeavour going forward. Stevie May's arrival from St Johnstone could be vital to an attack which lacked bite with the immobile Nuhiu short of swift players to bring into play while Gary Madine remains unproven at this level. But if the Owls can build on a defence which looked, at least in this match, more solid than in recent years, perhaps this could be a season to remember.

As for the takeover, I'm conflicted. Clearly the squad needs investment, and Hillsborough does too (the Amex's shiny facilities highlight this), but ceding control of our club to dubious overseas ownership with no link to the club does not sit well with me. I'm aware the realities of the modern game mean this second option is likely to happen sooner or later and the idea of this squad achieving promotion appears very fanciful. 

A promising start then, but plenty of questions over the future remain.