Takeover deal draws sell-out crowd to Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday have had a record breaking season - for all the wrong reasons.

The first team in English League history to go a whole year without a home win.

The first team to be relegated with a zero points tally.

The earliest relegation in the history of the English Football League.

The list goes on.

Yet news of the takeover by David Storch's Arise Capital Partners to take the club out of administration saw 33,750 fans turn out to watch the final match of the season - ironically setting the record for their highest Championship attendance of the season.

And Wednesday's new era under Storch got off to a flying start with a 2-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion, only their second victory of the season.

Outside the ground, supporters - many sporting Hawaiian shirts and floral garlands - gave their reaction to the takeover.

Rob Brookes said it was "unbelievable".

"We've got our club back," he said.

"It was emotional at times, but the new chairman spoke really well and it sounds like a good future for us.

"Thirty-four thousand and relegated, and you've got that kind of atmosphere? This fan base is just unbelievable."

Nikki Brookes added: "It was emotional when the chairman was speaking at the beginning. I think we all had tears in our eyes. The atmosphere was second to none. Brilliant."

Sisters Lucy Finney and Cara Stepney said: "Everyone's just happy. It's like we've got our team back. Everyone's just dead chuffed.

"This is what we were like when we knew we were going to Wembley. It's light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's a huge club, we just love it. It just shows what this fan base is and what it means to the community."

Pedro Marsden added: "It was absolutely fantastic today - the fans were brilliant. We're going down, we don't care, simple as that. We'll be back. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger - we'll be back."

Speaking ahead of the match, as details of the takeover started to emerge, James Silverwood from the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust said: "I'm ecstatic. It's been a long time, a lot of pain, lots of ups and downs but I'm just delighted for all Sheffield Wednesday fans all around the world.

"I think this is a real opportunity for us to move forward together and start a rebuilding project.

"There's a lot of work ahead, it won't be an easy road, it will be tough at times, but I absolutely know that we have got the ability within the fanbase, within the new ownership group and the new leadership group to really restore Sheffield Wednesday.

"I think the new ownership group and new leadership group will show fans that they have not only got brains but they have got some bottle as well, and I really think that Sheffield Wednesday has got its brightest days yet to come."

Asked how he might feel on Saturday, he added: "I think it will be the best experience that a large generation of Sheffield Wednesday fans, myself included, will possibly have ever witnessed. I think I will probably cry. I'm not ashamed to admit that."

Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East and a lifelong Wednesday fan, said he shared Silverwood's optimism, but reminded fans there was no quick fix.

"I'm extremely happy but also relieved, because there were times in the last few weeks when the club could have gone," he told BBC Radio Sheffield's Football Heaven.

"If no one had come in and bought it, it would have run out of money. We know from the administrators they probably had enough money to keep going until next week, that's how close it came."

However, he warned there were "an awful lot of problems" still to overcome, from the electrics and toilets at Hillsborough to the training ground, adding "you can't go and buy instant success and a team that is going straight to the Premier League in two years time".

On the record turnout, he said: "I think there's only Sheffield Wednesday fans first of all could turn up, over 30,000 people, to watch the game and secondly could actually go and enjoy themselves and celebrate."

He added: "Alright, we're celebrating the ownership, but with the season we've had most other clubs would have an empty ground."

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