Football League World
·2 November 2024
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·2 November 2024
We looked at how Sheffield Wednesday's average attendance this season compares to the 2014-15 campaign.
Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in the Championship this season.
Wednesday narrowly avoided relegation last season following a remarkable turnaround under Danny Rohl, and there is plenty of hope that they can climb the table in the year ahead.
It was a busy summer transfer window for the Owls that saw 11 new signings arrive at the club, while a number of key players signed new contracts, including Liam Palmer, Dominic Iorfa, Di'Shon Bernard, Barry Bannan and Josh Windass.
Wednesday endured a tough start to the campaign, losing three of their first four league games, but they have improved significantly since then, with victories over the likes of West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City and Portsmouth in recent weeks.
Given the positive atmosphere that has been around the club since Rohl's arrival, it is no surprise that attendances at Hillsborough have remained high this season, and the Owls fan base are known for their passionate support.
As Wednesday supporters continue to get behind their team in big numbers, we looked back at the 2014-15 season to see how the club's attendance figures have changed over the past decade.
Wednesday achieved a respectable 16th-placed finish in the Championship in the 2013-14 campaign, with Stuart Gray leading the club to safety after replacing Dave Jones in December, and they went into the 2014-15 season with modest expectations.
The Owls were under the ownership of Milan Mandaric at the time, and while he was a hugely respected figure at Hillsborough, he did not have the finances to take the club to the next level, so most were expecting a mid-table season, which would still have represented progress from the previous year.
Wednesday were limited to largely free transfers and loans during the summer transfer window, but they did manage to bring in some strong signings, including the likes of Keiren Westwood and Tom Lees, who would go on to be a crucial part of the team that almost won promotion to the Premier League under Carlos Carvalhal.
As many had predicted, the Owls did struggle to challenge for play-offs in the 2014-15 season as they finished 13th in the table, and they scored just 43 goals in their 46 league games.
Despite the lack of entertainment, Wednesday did still record a decent average attendance of 21,993, with their highest number coming for the 1-0 home win over Reading in September 2014 (29,848).
The Owls were taken over by Dejphon Chansiri during the season as he bought the club for £37.5 million in January 2015, and attendances quickly improved under his ownership, with the club averaging 27,129 in the 2016-17 campaign - an increase of just over 5,000 in two years.
It is fair to say it has been a turbulent nine-and-a-half years for Wednesday under Chansiri's ownership, but despite numerous off-field issues and relegation to League One, attendances have remained steady throughout his tenure.
The Owls have an average attendance of 26,914 so far this campaign, and while that figure is based on a smaller sample size, it represents a significant improvement on the 2014-15 season.
Wednesday's highest attendance this season came on the opening weekend when 29,535 people watched their emphatic 4-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, despite the game being a televised fixture.
Their lowest attendance came for the 0-0 draw against Swansea City last Tuesday night when just 22,452 people came through the turnstiles, although that number will have been affected by a smaller number of visiting fans making the long journey from South Wales in midweek.
Given the strong connection Rohl has formed with the Owls fan base, it seems likely that the club will continue to record impressive attendance figures, and they could even increase if the German is able to inspire a surprise play-off push over the coming months.