Hillsborough – Sheffield Wednesday

Although the ground has not had the level of new investment some other clubs have recently received, it is still a beautiful ground oozing character. It has four large separate stands, all of which are all covered and are roughly the same height, giving a uniform feel to the stadium. On one side is the North Stand. This large single tiered stand was opened in 1961. It was hailed as an architectural marvel, as at the time it was the largest cantilever stand ever built in Britain and only the second such type of stand to have been constructed (the first was at the Old Showground in Scunthorpe). The two-tiered South Stand on one side of the ground is the largest of the stands and is superb looking. It was originally opened in 1914 and was designed by the famous football ground architect Archibald Leitch. A second tier and new roof were added in 1996, to expand capacity for the European Championships, for which Hillsborough was a host venue. In keeping with the original look of the stand, a triangular gable incorporating a clock adorned with a copper football was placed on the new roof. The stand has a large lower tier with a small upper tier above. At the back of the lower tier is a row of executive boxes. The team dugouts and Directors Box are located on this side.

At one end is the Spion Kop. This was previously a huge open bank of terrace that was at one time the largest in Britain. It gained a roof in 1986 and was made all seated in 1993. Opposite is the West Stand or Leppings Lane End. This two-tiered stand was opened in 1966, in time for the Club to host some World Cup games played that year. Like the Kop, it has a number of large supporting pillars. One corner of the ground is filled with seating between the North & West Stand, this area is uncovered. On the other side of the West Stand is a large video screen, under which is tucked a Police Control Box. Unusually for such an old ground, it doesn’t have a set of floodlight pylons. Instead the stadium is illuminated by lights running across the front of the stand roofs.

Outside the ground near the main entrance is a memorial to the 96 fans who died at Hillsborough in 1989, at the FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool & Nottingham Forest.

The Club had previously announced plans to increase the capacity at Hillsborough to almost 45,000. This was primarily through the proposed expansion of the Leppings Lane End, including the building of an additional tier and the ‘filling in’ of the corner between this and the South Stand. This was in the hope that England would win the bid to stage the 2018 World Cup (Hillsborough was listed as one of the potential venues). However the failure of this bid, means that plans have been shelved for the time being. They may be ‘dusted off’ if the Club gain promotion to the Premier League.

Away fans are normally placed in the upper tier of the West Stand (the Leppings Lane) end of the ground, where up to 3,700 away supporters can be accommodated. If there is a particularly large following (or for an FA Cup Tie) then the corner described above may also be made available, plus the lower tier of the West Stand. This can take the allocation up to 8,000. Alternatively, if a small away support is expected then the open corner between the Leppings Lane & North Stand is only made available. There are a number of supporting pillars in the West Stand, which could impede your view. On the concourse food on sale includes; A range of Pies (£3.50), Sausage Rolls (£2.70), Burgers (£3.80) and Hot Dogs (£3.80). The turnstiles open 90 minutes before kick off for Saturday fixtures and at 6.30pm for evening matches. I had an enjoyable day out at Hillsborough, where I found the atmosphere around the ground to be relaxed. I thought the ground was certainly one of the best in the League, if not the country, in terms of setting and attractiveness.

Lee Hicklin adds; ‘About a hundred yards down Leppings Lane there is a programme and football memorabilia shop, which is worth a visit’. Whilst Clive Plank informs me; ‘If you go to the front of the stadium into Herries Road, then on the right there is a Bieres Pork Sandwich Shop. You cannot miss it because there is always a queue (but they get through very quickly and efficiently). It does the most scrumptious pork sandwiches with buns from regular to jumbo and kingsize complete with crackling and all the works.’

Card Payments are accepted for food and drink inside the stadium. In fact, in some of the home stands, cash is no longer accepted.

A pub that admits away supporters is the Railway Hotel on Penniston Road, which is the main A61 that runs by the stadium. Walk up the A61 in the opposite direction to Sheffield City Centre (Meadowhall & M1), passing a Burger King and Garage on your left, and you will reach the pub on the right, just before a railway bridge.    Also, I did pass a couple of pubs (the Norfolk Arms & The Red Lion) on the way into Sheffield on the A61 from the M1, where away fans were drinking. Bill Harris a visiting Millwall fan adds; ‘I found an excellent Pub called The New Barrack Tavern on the A61 just before McDonalds on the way to the ground, from the city centre. Forget the exterior, inside the pub has some excellent decor and no juke boxes or fruit machines. Although on my own I was made to feel very welcome and spent a good couple of hours talking football to the locals’. Craig Murray a visiting Bournemouth fan also enjoyed the New Barrack Tavern; ‘It’s a ‘proper’ pub, serving a great selection of real ales and imported lagers at reasonable prices. They also had really tasty, locally-made pork pies behind the bar. I wasn’t wearing colours but the locals were very friendly and happy to chat footy once I opened my mouth and they realised I was an away fan. The pub’s roughly 15-20 minutes walk from the ground.’ This pub is owned by the Castle Rock Brewery and is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. It normally has seven beers on handpull, plus one cider polypin. It is also serves food. Please note that this is a home pub that welcomes small numbers of visiting supporters who appreciate their real ale, not a pub specifically for away fans.

For those with a little bit more time on their hands or planning to travel to the ground by Supertram, then the Hillsborough Hotel near the Langsett/Primrose View tram stop (two stops from Hillsborough going towards Meadowhall/Halfway) is worth a visit. This CAMRA Good Beer Guide listed pub, has a range of real ales available, hot food and is home to the Crown Brewery, whose beers it also has on offer. In fact, on my last visit, a lovely smell of hops wafted throughout the bar. Also from the outside area at the back, you can see people descending down the artificial ski slope in the distance. John Piper adds; ‘From the Langsett/Primrose view stop. Cross over the road and walk back about 50 metres, in the direction of the city centre and the Hotel is on the corner. Afterwards just hop back on the tram (Yellow route – destination Middlewood) and get off at the Leppings Lane stop. An all-day ticket for the Supertram and is currently £3.70 and can be bought on board’. In Hillsborough itself (and conveniently situated by the tram stop, so much so that you can literally get straight off the tram and walk through the doors of the pub) is a Wetherspoons called the Rawson Spring. This pub is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and is about a 12-15 minute walk to the ground, or you can go back on the tram and up to the Leppings Lane stop. If you do go into this pub, then try to guess what the building was used for, before becoming a pub.

Nick Palfreyman informs me; ‘With regard to where to drink, pubs close to the ground are normally pretty crammed full on matchdays and not easy to park by. The tram route, which can be boarded at Sheffield Station, out to Hillsborough (tram stop for the ground is’ Leppings Lane’) passes a good few excellent pubs. It is the Yellow Route with ‘Middlewood’ on the destination board. In the city centre near the West Street Tram stop is the Red Deer pub, which serves several real ales. By the University stop is the Harley, by the Shalesmoor stop is the Wellington, again real ales. and five minutes walk from that stop, by Kelham Island Museum (Alma Street) are the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Tavern, both jammed with real ale, and CAMRA Award winning pubs. If in a car you can park near these pubs and then use the tram to reach Hillsborough  An all-day tram ticket allows you to hop on and off as you choose. See the Supertram website for more information. If arriving in Sheffield by train then as Joe Oates a visiting West Ham United fan suggests; ‘The Howard pub, on Howard street opposite Sheffield Railway Station. I found it to be a very warm and welcoming place for away fans to visit. A reasonable selection of the usual draught beers/lagers and three ales on the pump. Prices were very reasonable and a good selection of pub grub. It is then a ten minute walk to Castle Square Tram station for the Yellow route’.

Otherwise alcohol is available to visiting supporters in the away section of the ground, in the form of bottles of Bulmers, Heineken and Fosters (all £4). The Beer and food kiosks are separate, meaning that you may need to queue twice which isn’t great.

Leave the M1 at Junction 36 and follow the A61 into Sheffield. Continue along the A61 for approximately eight miles. You will see Hillsborough Stadium on your right. This is not the shortest route to the ground, but this is definitely the easiest and avoids Sheffield City Centre.

Car Parking

There is some street parking to be had if you arrive early, although some roads near to Hillsborough are permit only, so make sure to check for warning signs before you park. Otherwise, there are some unofficial car parks along the A61 that charge in the region of £4. Gary Rickett-Ambrose adds; ‘There is a car park directly behind the Kop and the Wednesday Club shop. It is called the Wednesdayite car park and is open to fans of both teams. It costs £7 for visitors and its post code is S6 1QE’.

Alternatively, you may find it easier to park at Meadowhall Railway Station, near to the well known Shopping Centre (unless of course it is in the run-up to Christmas or the January sales, when the shopping centre is very busy), just by Junction 34 of the M1, where you can park for free and then take a yellow tram to Leppings lane, which costs £3 return and takes about 35 minutes. There is also the option of renting a private driveway near the Hillsborough Stadium via YourParkingSpace.co.uk.

Post Code for SAT NAV: S6 1SW

Sheffield Railway Station is located over three miles away from the ground. Either get a taxi up to the ground (which cost around £10), or bus from the bus station which is a one minute walk away (as you leave the railway station entrance turn right. Cross over at the pedestrian crossing, and follow the signs). Head for the far side of the terminus. Bus No.53 to Ecclesfield runs regularly to the ground (every ten minutes), the journey time is about 30 minutes.

Sheffield Tram

Jeremy Dawson informs me; ‘If arriving by train, then by far the easiest way to get to the ground is by Supertram, which has a stop right next to the railway station and they run every ten minutes during the day . Leaving the station on a blue tram, going towards Malin Bridge, you will reach the Hillsborough stop, where it is then around a ten minute walk to the ground. Alternatively you can take another Supertram from Hillsborough this time on the yellow line to Leppings Lane which is right by the ground.’ You can also take the same blue tram from the railway station into the City Centre and change there onto a yellow tram (destination Middlewood) for the Leppings Lane stop. The journey time of the Supertram is around 20 minutes. You can buy an all day ticket onboard (they actually have conductors) for the Supertrams which works out cheaper than buying two single tickets. The day ticket also has the added advantage that you can use it to also visit some of those excellent Real Ale pubs located around the city, however don’t blame me if you then don’t subsequently make it to the match! Called a ‘Dayrider’ it costs £3.90 for Adults and £2 for Children. For more details please visit the SuperTram website. The SuperTram also accept ‘PlusBus’ tickets, which you can purchase as an ‘add on’ when buying your train ticket.

Booking train tickets in advance will normally save you money! Find train times, prices and book tickets with Trainline. Visit the website below to see how much you can save on the price of your tickets:

When you’re talking about Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium history the one really obvious thing that springs to everybody’s mind is the Hillsborough stadium disaster; that occurred in April 1989 where 96 people lost their lives. You cannot ignore that tragic incident when talking about Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium but if we’re talking about the places where the Owls have played previously there is a fair few grounds to chalk off.

Sheffield Wednesday’s first home ground was Highfield before the club bounced around numerous places including Myrtle Bar and Sheaf House. A home stadium that might surprise a few though is that they also played their hosted matches at Bramall Lane, which is now home to their city rivals, United. Their first permanent stadium though was Olive Grove; it was home to them for over 10 years.

Like a number of Clubs, Sheffield Wednesday operate a category system, whereby the most popular games cost more to watch. However, the Club have a staggering seven different categories (A – G) of ticket pricing, which is confusing to say the least (especially I guess if you work in their ticket office!), so I have just listed the most expensive (A) prices below, but the odds are you will pay less for your match:

Home Fans
South Stand:
Adults £49 Over 65’s £39/Under 21’s, Under 17’s £15, Under 11’s £10, Under 5’s £5*
North Stand:
Adults £45 Over 65’s £35/Under 21’s, Under 17’s £15, Under 11’s £10, Under 5’s £5*
Kop Stand:
Adults £42 Over 65’s/Under 21’s £32, Under 17’s £15, Under 11’s £10, Under 5’s £5*

Away Fans
Adults £42 Over 65’s/Under 21’s £32, Under 17’s £15, Under 11’s £10

* Under 5’s tickets have to be purchased in advance.

In addition current members of the Armed Forces and Under 21’s can qualify for the concessionary ticket price.

Official Programme £3

Sheffield Wednesday vs Sheffield United rivalry: There is no doubting what the biggest derby game is for Sheffield Wednesday; that’s the Steel City derby. Obviously the two clubs are located near to each other but delve further back into the history books and you’ll find that Wednesday turning their back on Bramall Lane as a stadium was the catalyst to form Sheffield United.

Other rivals for Sheffield Wednesday include Leeds United, Rotherham United, Barnsley, Chesterfield and  Doncaster Rovers. None of those games come close to matching the heat generated when the two Sheffield clubs lock horns though.

Sheffield Wednesday FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).

For details of disabled facilities and club contact at the ground please visit the relevant page on the  Level Playing Field website.

Record Attendance

72,841 v Manchester City
FA Cup 5th Round, 17th February 1934.

Modern All Seated Attendance Record

39,640 v Manchester United
Premier League, 2nd February 2000.

Average Attendance

2019-2020: 23,733 (Championship League)
2018-2019: 24,429 (Championship League)
2017-2018: 25,995 (Championship League)

Official Web Sites: 
www.swfc.co.uk
Our Wednesday forum
Unofficial Web Sites: 
London Owls
Anzowls,
Owls Online
Owlstalk
Vital Sheffield Wednesday
SheffieldWednesday.com
Wednesdayite (Supporters Society)

If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.

Thanks also to Alex Manners for providing the video of  his review of the Hillsborough Ground Sheffield Wednesday. Visit his YouTube Channel to view other videos of ground visits he has made.