Things have changed a lot for the Owls this summer, which got us thinking about the list of Sheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers, and where Josh Windass sits in that ranking.
It’s safe to say Sheffield Wednesday is a club in chaos right now, with players departing in droves, a manager who’s on borrowed time, and a chairman who can’t pay the bills.
The latest blow saw Josh Windass join Wrexham on a free transfer after terminating his Wednesday contract.
Windass has been a key figure for the Owls over the last few years, scoring his fair share of goals. He’ll be a big loss ahead of the new Championship campaign, but his departure also sees him miss out on a place in the Sheffield Wednesday history books.
Photo by Mark Leech/Getty ImagesSheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers, the top five5. Mark Bright – 66 goals
He may have been part of a wild Sheffield Wednesday fight club back in the day, but Mark Bright was handy with his feet as well as his fists. The striker joined the Owls in 1992 from Crystal Palace and stayed at Hillsborough for four years.
Bright bagged 66 goals in 164 games in blue and white, forming a potent strike partnership with another Wednesday legend, David Hirst (more on him very soon).
4. Redfern Froggatt – 68 goals
A post-war icon for Sheffield Wednesday, Redfern Froggatt signed from the local YMCA and went on to bag 68 goals in over 200 appearances for the Owls.
He did tarnish his reputation somewhat by handing in a transfer request. However, a move to Sheffield United was turned down and he stuck with Wednesday for his whole career.
3. Lee Chapman – 69 goals
Lee Chapman enjoyed a long and fruitful career, becoming something of a journeyman with stints in England, France, Wales and even Norway. Part of that journey was spent in S6 with Sheffield Wednesday, with a four-year spell with the Owls proving very successful indeed.
During that time, Chapman scored 69 goals in 164 matches, more than he scored for any of his other clubs.
2. David Hirst – 99 goals
In 11 years at Sheffield Wednesday, David Hirst wrote himself into Owls folklore and is rightly regarded as the greatest forward of the modern era for the club.
Hirst scored 99 goals in over 300 matches for Wednesday during the peak of their powers in the 1990s, and was one half of that brilliant strike partnership we mentioned earlier with Mark Bright.
1. Johnny Fantham – 142 goals
Born and bred in Sheffield, Johnny Fantham never ventured far, turning out for Wednesday, Rotherham United, and Macclesfield in his 16-year career.
Fantham scored 142 goals in 375 games for the Owls. He will probably never be dethroned as the top of the pile for Sheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers. He helped Wednesday reach the FA Cup final in 1966, ending up on the losing side of a 3-2 defeat to Everton.
All data on Sheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers comes via Transfermarkt.
Photo by George Wood/Getty ImagesJosh Windass was on the brink of becoming one of Sheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers
Make no mistake, Sheffield Wednesday will regret letting Josh Windass go this summer, but Windass has also impacted his own legacy by moving on.
Windass left the Owls with 53 goals to his name for the club. He scored 13 goals in 2024/25, and if he had stuck around and replicated that form this coming season, he would have joined the elite top five of Sheffield Wednesday’s all-time top scorers.
Still, he’s the best goalscorer Wednesday have had since the turn of the century, and he can be proud of that at least.