[themaclad]

Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End

Hillsborough 19/8/2023 ko 15.00 hrs

Hillsborough Stadium is a football stadium in Sheffield, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since opening in 1899.[2]

The ground has been substantially re-developed, with new stands on each side and the original South Stand re-built for UEFA Euro 1996.[3] It has two large two-tiered stands and two large single-tiered stands, all of which are covered. All four stands are of a similar capacity, with the South Stand being the largest and the West Stand (usually housing the away supporters) being the smallest.

The ground was the scene of the Hillsborough disaster on 15 April 1989, in which 97 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The subsequent Taylor Report into the disaster led to a series of long-overdue safety improvements at the ground and other large stadiums around the country, including the requirement for clubs in the top two divisions in England to have all-seater stadiums and the withdrawal of perimeter fencing around the pitch; the latter had only been installed a few years prior to the disaster.

The club's plans to renovate the stadium and expand the capacity to 44,825 have been approved by Sheffield City Council with the aim of hosting World Cup matches. The playing surface was upgraded in 2015 to the Desso GrassMaster system,[4] including a complete replacement of the under-soil heating and drainage systems, while the scoreboard was replaced by a modern 'big screen' prior to the 2015–16 season. The stadium previously played host to World Cup and European Championship football in 1966 and 1996, respectively.

The stadium's capacity has currently been temporarily reduced to 34,854 on safety grounds, although work is continuing to restore its maximum capacity.[5]

LAST TIME OUT





MANAGER

Francisco Javier Muñoz Llompart (born 5 September 1980), known as Xisco, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played mainly as a left winger. He is the current manager of EFL Championship club Sheffield Wednesday.

He played 194 matches and scored 20 goals over nine seasons in La Liga, spending four years at Betis, also representing Valencia, Tenerife, Recreativo and Levante and winning the 2004 UEFA Cup with Valencia. Starting in 2011, he played four seasons in Georgia with Dinamo Tbilisi.

In 2019, Xisco rejoined Dinamo Tbilisi as part of the technical team, and in 2020 became the head coach of the club. In December 2020, he was appointed at Watford, achieving promotion to the Premier League in his first season.

The joy of Ex

Bambo Diaby recently left us to join the Owls top bloke although prone to gaffs

MET BEFORE



The first one on the list had this epic that got me a free cup ticket against the Gunners



NEWBIES



https://www.swfc.co.uk/

http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=59

https://www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/

Other games



HISTORY

Forgemasters, founded in 1805, is the sole remaining independent steel works in the world and dominates the north-east of Sheffield around the Lower Don Valley.[113] The firm has a global reputation for producing the largest and most complex steel forgings and castings and is certified to produce critical nuclear components, with recent projects including the Royal Navy's Astute-class submarines.[114] The firm also has the capacity for pouring the largest single ingot (570 tonnes) in Europe and is currently in the process of expanding its capabilities.[115] In July 2021 Forgemasters was bought outright by the UK Ministry of Defence for £2.56 million, with the intention of investing a further £400 million over the next decade.[116] The decision was based on the important role Forgemasters plays in the construction of the UK nuclear submarine fleet as well other vessels for the Royal Navy.[116]

While iron and steel have long been the main industries of Sheffield, coal mining has also been a major industry, particularly in the outlying areas, and the Palace of Westminster in London was built using limestone from quarries in the nearby village of Anston.

[themaclad]

Who’s Available?

Ryan Lowe has confirmed that Liverpool loanee Calvin Ramsay will be sidelined for six to eight weeks after suffering an injury setback.

The manager also expects to be able to choose from the same squad which was available to him last time out against Sunderland.

Robbie Brady isn’t far off a return from a calf injury, while Ben Whiteman is back with a ball at his feet.

Pre-Match Chat

Watch manager Ryan Lowe’s pre-match interview ahead of a return to his former club.

Opposition Focus

Sheffield Wednesday secured their return to the Championship after two years away in remarkable fashion via the Play-Offs.

Darren Moore’s side came back from a 4-0 first-leg defeat to Peterborough United, winning 5-1 in the second and then progressing via a penalty shootout, before scoring in the dying moments of extra-time at Wembley.

Moore departed, however, and Xisco Muñoz has since taken over as boss, and he’ll be hoping to quickly improve on a start which has seen them lose their opening two league matches.

A Recent Clash

A superb Tom Barkhuizen volley earned North End a 1-0 victory at home against the Owls in November 2020.

Match Officials

Referee: Jeremy Simpson
Assistant Referees: Richard Wild and Jonathan Hunt
Fourth Official: Simon Mather

Jeremy Simpson will take charge of this weekend’s fixture, almost a month on from refereeing PNE’s draw against Fleetwood Town in pre-season which included a red card for both sides.


MACS VIEW

Another week of transfer failings still only have one fit forward still a paper thin squad. Take a point at Hillsborough were wins are rarer than rocking horse poop.
Jeremy's doiung the game, hope for the best he managed to turn the friendly at Fleetwood into a war zone. Won't be there should be playing cricket but currently injured, so leave the report up to IMRE

[themaclad]

Sheffield Wednesday 0 Preston North End 1 Lindsay

Sheffield Wednesday line-up: Vasquez; Palmer, Iorfa, B Diaby, Famewo; Byers, M Diaby (Smith, 65); Delgado (Paterson, 73), Bannan, Musaba (Gassama, 73); Gregory (Fletcher, 77). Subs not used: Dawson, Vaulks, Windass, Bakinson, Ihiekwe.

PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Browne, Ledson, Best (Whatmough, 77); Holmes (Woodburn, 77), Frøkjær (Mawene, 88); Keane Subs not used: Cornell, Cunningham, Bauer, Rodriguez-Gentile, Taylor, Leigh.

Attendance: 25,138 (1,766 PNE fans).

Referee: Mr J Simpson.

Preston North End made it back-to-back wins as Liam Lindsay’s header earned a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

After a relatively even first half, Lindsay got on the end of a Kian Best free-kick four minutes into the second period to give his side the lead and that was enough to make it seven points from the opening three matches of the Sky Bet Championship campaign.

There was one change made to the side which beat Sunderland on home turf last weekend, with Duane Holmes coming in for Ali McCann to make his first league start for the club.

Brad Potts had North End’s first real chance of the match in the ninth minute and on another day he might have seen his left-footed, cushioned volley find the back of the net, but goalkeeper Devis Vasquez was able to tip round the post.

At the other end, PNE were answering the questions asked of them, epitomised by two important blocks by Andrew Hughes in the same phase of play, denying Barry Bannan first and then Juan Delgado.

Best – who had crossed for that earlier Potts effort – was involved again in the 34th minute as the teenager sent another promising ball into the area, with this one being sent wide by an improvised Will Keane volley.

Freddie Woodman was called into action six minutes before the break to deny Lee Gregory, who was at full stretch to try and beat the PNE No.1.

North End then took the lead four minutes into the second period as Best once again whipped a brilliant cross right into the danger area and Lindsay was there to powerfully head home into the bottom corner for his first goal since May 2021.

Skipper Alan Browne then looked to get his side’s second in the 61st minute from a 20-yard free-kick, but his strike was deflected wide by a defender in the wall.

At the other end, Woodman was alert to rush out and gather the ball as Gregory looked to break through on goal, and the striker then fired an effort over the bar in the 72nd minute.

North End had some late defending to do as Wednesday bombarded the PNE box with crosses and long throw-ins, but the visitors in red held on for another three points.

---

Sheffield Wednesday manager Xisco Munoz told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"I am very disappointed about the result. We had some moments. I think we could have kept the ball better at times. We need to improve in our own box - we need to be talking about clean sheets - and we need to improve in the last third. This is the difference in the Championship.

"We had better control of the game but it was not enough to take the points and it's important right now to think about the process and start taking points."

Preston boss Ryan Lowe told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"I'm pleased for the group, they have been fantastic. We stuck to the game plan. We knew what we were going to come up against in Sheffield Wednesday, a big, strong, powerful team. they showed it at the end, but I felt comfortable watching it for a large part of the game.

"Credit to the boys they were fantastic in everything we asked them to do. They are different class in attitude and application. Long may it continue."

[themaclad]