LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 29: Barry Bannan of Sheffield Wednesday celebrates with teammate David Stockdale after the team's victory and promotion to the Sky Bet Championship in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final between Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley Stadium on May 29, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
“There’s a hatred” Sheffield Wednesday man looking to right wrongs of Sheffield United clashes – makes Celtic Rangers reference
Sheffield United finished bottom of the Premier League and will play alongside Wednesday in the Championship next season after the Owls’ heroics kept them up on the final day. The two sides last met in March 2019 in what was the third consecutive goalless draw in the fixture. The Owls will start the season ahead of the Blades in the table after the red side of the city was handed a two-point deduction after defaulting on payments to other clubs during the 2022/23 season.
Owl captain Bannan has yet to taste derby day victory in Wednesday colours, his first outing coming in the 4-2 ‘bounce’ defeat at Hillsborough in September 2017 before that run of draws. Amid talks over a new contract – which are expected to be completed to take him into a 10th season at S6 – it’s a head-to-head record he intends to correct this time out.
Not only that – he’s gunning to finish higher than the Blades.
“It’s a big, big game,” Bannan told The Star. “In my time here we’ve not been on the right end of results so it’s a wrong that I want to put right next season. It’s amazing for the city that there’s going to be a Sheffield derby. When the the derby comes around the city is electrifying. As players you want to play against your rivals and you want to be the best in the city, so hopefully we can have the bragging rights and be the best team in the city next season.”
A keen Celtic supporter, Bannan has played in Birmingham derbies in the colours of Aston Villa. He says he resonates with the passion of supporters and that it is matches such as the Sheffield derby that footballers want to play in most. He also refuted any cliched notion that matches such as those are ‘just another game’.
“I grew up following one of the biggest derbies in the world, so I know what they’re all about,” Bannan said. “This is no different, it’s a massive, massive derby. There’s a hatred that the
supporters have for one another on derby days that is really, really crazy. But this is what you want to play in. Football without derbies and rivalries is nothing really, you want to be playing against your rivals where there’s more on the game.
