2013 recruit was well worth the gamble at Sheffield Wednesday: View | OneFootball

It is fair to say that Glenn Loovens exceeded expectations in his five seasons at Hillsborough after he arrived as a free agent at Sheffield Wednesday in 2013.

Loovens, then 30, was coming off the back of a season in La Liga with Real Zaragoza after leaving Celtic in 2012, following four seasons at Parkhead.

He had initially begun his career at boyhood club Feyenoord, before making the permanent switch to Cardiff City, where he made 113 appearances for the Bluebirds from 2005 to 2008.

He then joined the Glasgow giants for a reported £2.5m, but struggled to nail down a starting spot and played 88 times in all competitions from 2008-2012, while also earning a call-up to the Dutch national team and playing twice for his country.

A year in northern Spain and six months as a free agent then led him to sign for Wednesday in December 2013, and he went on to play 150 times for the Owls, scoring once.

Loovens became a cult hero at Hillsborough for his strong performances, as Wednesday rose from perennial mid-table finishers to making the play-offs in 2016 and 2017.

The Dutchman began to train with Wednesday in late November 2013, and then-boss Dave Jones had been sacked by the time he was confirmed as an Owls player on December 3 with the club second-bottom of the Championship.

Stuart Gray took over as head coach and Wednesday began to climb up the table with Loovens at the heart of the defence, as they beat table-toppers Leicester City 2-1 on his debut and lost just one of his first 12 games at the club in all competitions.

The Owls eventually finished 16th in 2013/14, with Loovens taking up the captaincy towards the end of the season when Anthony Gardner was unavailable.

He became the permanent club captain in August 2014, just days after signing a new one-year deal, with Gray dubbing him a 'top player,' and 'fantastic professional.'

Loovens then started all the club's first 26 league games in 2014/15, but saw his season cut short in late February after he fractured his ankle in a defeat to Reading.

Gray was sacked in June 2014, but Loovens again featured prominently in the 2015/16 season as Wednesday finished sixth and reached the play-off final under new boss Carlos Carvahal - but lost 1-0 to Hull City after Mo Diame's second-half strike.

In an interview with Yorkshire Live in 2022, Loovens spoke of his heartache and pride after that Wembley defeat.

He said: "The final was the worst because I had never played in the Premier League, and we were so close...it took me a good week to get going again. I was down for quite a bit.

"It is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. It was a proud moment."

Wednesday went two positions better with a fourth placed finish in 2016/17 after a strong end to the season, but lost out 4-3 on penalties to Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals, after it had finished 0-0 in the first leg and 1-1 in normal time in the second leg - with Loovens playing every minute of each game.

His final season at Hillsborough was a more tumultuous one, with Carvahal sacked in December and replaced by Jos Luhukay, and Loovens making just six appearances under his fellow Dutchman, before it was announced that he would leave the club before the final game of the season against Norwich, aged 34.

He made 150 appearances for the club over four and a half years, and upon his departure, The Star dubbed him a 'superb servant to the Owls,' that would 'leave a significant hole' at the heart of their defence.

Loovens' post-Wednesday career petered out

After leaving the Owls, he joined newly-relegated Sunderland on a two-year deal in League One and made 13 appearances for the Black Cats as they finished fifth but lost in the play-off final to Charlton Athletic.

He left Sunderland by mutual consent that year, and seemingly hung up his boots in 2019 despite not officially announcing his retirement from football.

Loovens is certainly best remembered in England for his fruitful spell with Wednesday, and has stayed in touch with Owls' fans through numerous interviews with local media since his departure.

He even made a final appearance at Hillsborough in 2022, as a team of Wednesday legends faced off against a team of Czech Republic counterparts in a charity game part-organised by former teammate Daniel Pudil.

One thing is for sure - the Owls will certainly not regret taking that gamble on Loovens back in 2013.