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| The South Stand and Leppings Lane End, when we were finally admitted (from the North Stand) |
Teams: Sheffield Wednesday - Fulham
Venue: Hillsborough Stadium, Hillsborough, Sheffield
So, I've been to Hillsborough on many occasions, but always as an away fan, whether that be clad in red and white stripes with 6,000 other United fans, or just out of pure spite, turning up on the day and buying a ticket in the away end (Scunthorpe in 2011 was a memorable 3-2, albeit a win for the Owls), so when Nick suggested we head to Hillsborough after work, I was at first a little reluctant. This would be my first time sat with the Wednesday fans, and as any good Blade knows, they smell. Still, what the hell? I do need to chalk off a League Cup match, and now that United have decided that the League is far more important than a crappy little Cup this season, I'll not have the chance to attend this particular Cup at the Lane, so it may as well be today. In any case, it's only a League Cup second round game, so there's aren't going to be that many fans, right?
Venue: Hillsborough Stadium, Hillsborough, Sheffield
So, I've been to Hillsborough on many occasions, but always as an away fan, whether that be clad in red and white stripes with 6,000 other United fans, or just out of pure spite, turning up on the day and buying a ticket in the away end (Scunthorpe in 2011 was a memorable 3-2, albeit a win for the Owls), so when Nick suggested we head to Hillsborough after work, I was at first a little reluctant. This would be my first time sat with the Wednesday fans, and as any good Blade knows, they smell. Still, what the hell? I do need to chalk off a League Cup match, and now that United have decided that the League is far more important than a crappy little Cup this season, I'll not have the chance to attend this particular Cup at the Lane, so it may as well be today. In any case, it's only a League Cup second round game, so there's aren't going to be that many fans, right?
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| It was apparently worth missing the first 20 minutes, just so the stewards could say I had one of these. |
Wrong. Over 14,000 Wednesdayites tried to cram into only the two open stands (the South top tier and Kop were shut, as was the Leppings Lane End Upper). The club were clearly woefully unprepared, with turnstiles closing after part of family group had already passed through. One turnstile operator at the Penistone Road end of the North Stand even tried to close the external gates with a little lad - no older than about 7 or 8 - on the other side. That was, until his dad told the employee in no uncertain terms what he'd do to him if he continued. It was frankly a shambles, with each operator in turn running out of tickets, shutting up, and demanding fans moves to another gate. It took a lot of begging before it was deemed acceptable that people may simply pay cash and not receive a small piece of thin card in return, and does beg the question of why more areas of the ground weren't open, and why, having seen the congestion, the kick-off wasn't delay as it had been at the Rotherham United - Sheffield United friendly. Yes, friendly (I stress, a match of no consequence was delayed by over fifteen minutes just so the fans could get in to see it).
When we finally did get to our seats, we were relieved to note that we'd not missed any notable first-half action, with the score still poised at 0-0. With Wednesday doing the majority of the attacking in the first half, and shooting towards the Leppings Lane End, we only really got a good view of the action during a (relatively) rare Fulham break. Jermain Johnson, or 'JJ' to the fans, entertained with some inciting runs down the right wing, cutting inside to shoot with his left foot, and he was rarely too far from target.
The first action we saw of the half came with one of those rare breaks, with Fulham charging down the left, just in front of us in the North Stand, only for offside to be called when, perhaps it wasn't. To be fair, there was a another, slightly more bizarre incident in the second half for Wednesday, when the linesman on the far side flagged Gary Madine offside, but the referee didn't blow his whistle. Gary, however, checked his run, when had he played to the whistle, one would have felt that he was entitled to put the ball in the back of the net. This led to lots of infuriated shouts of "play to the whistle" from the surrounding barmy army.
That was, however, after the goal which turned out to be the winner was scored by "Goal machine" Gary Madine himself from a spot-kick. It was no less than Wednesday deserved, as they were for long periods the better side. The only criticism of the performance would be that they sat back and didn't push for the second goal which would have seen the tie safe. In the end, it was not needed, but in a future round, this could back to bite them hard. however, for this round, the 14,000 crammed into Hillsborough mostly went home happy, although there was one rather grudging Blade amongst them to spoil the mood. Having said that, I have to say that from - the other side - Hillsborough is quite an enjoyable day out, made all the better by my minimal journey home.
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| Queuing for the North Stand on Penistone Road, 5 minutes after kick-off |
That was, however, after the goal which turned out to be the winner was scored by "Goal machine" Gary Madine himself from a spot-kick. It was no less than Wednesday deserved, as they were for long periods the better side. The only criticism of the performance would be that they sat back and didn't push for the second goal which would have seen the tie safe. In the end, it was not needed, but in a future round, this could back to bite them hard. however, for this round, the 14,000 crammed into Hillsborough mostly went home happy, although there was one rather grudging Blade amongst them to spoil the mood. Having said that, I have to say that from - the other side - Hillsborough is quite an enjoyable day out, made all the better by my minimal journey home.
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