{"id":368335,"date":"2025-08-23T23:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368335\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T23:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:03:13","slug":"why-sheffield-wednesday-fans-are-thanking-rivals-wrexham-and-co-chairman-mcelhenney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368335\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sheffield Wednesday fans are thanking rivals Wrexham and co-chairman McElhenney"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe way people stood with us meant everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not, as you might expect, the sentiment of a Sheffield Wednesday fan after Saturday\u2019s 2-2 draw featured a commendable show of solidarity from their Wrexham counterparts in the campaign to force out owner Dejphon Chansiri.<\/p>\n

No, these words belong to Rob Clarke, breakout star from the Welcome to Wrexham documentary and a veteran of the days when it was the Welsh club fighting for their future.<\/p>\n

He remembers standing shoulder to shoulder with rival supporters after Wrexham had been served with an eviction notice by their owners in 2005, culminating in a Fans United Day at the Racecourse Ground attended by fans from up and down the country.<\/p>\n

It was a similar story six years later when a staggering \u00a3100,000 was raised by supporters inside 24 hours to prevent Wrexham from being kicked out of the Conference (National League)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most donations came from north Wales, including one fan pledging his wedding money and another offering the deeds to his house. But others also rallied round in the hour of need.<\/p>\n

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Sheffield Wednesday fans thank Rob McElhenney and Wrexham (Jess Hornby\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a Cardiff (City) fan going on Facebook and urging others to donate \u00a320,\u201d says Clarke, whose emotional speech in an impromptu fans\u2019 meeting at The Turf in 2011 helped spark that ultimately successful fundraising push.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlenty did, and it\u2019s things like that you remember all these years on. As supporters, we need to stick together. Owners come and go, some good and some not so good. Same with players and management. But supporters are always there as the lifeblood of the club. It\u2019s why we have to stand together at times like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack and Gold till it\u2019s sold\u2026\u201d is one of the slogans under which Wednesdayites are protesting against an owner who has overseen a chaotic summer featuring late wages, a transfer embargo and even the North Stand at Hillsborough being temporarily deemed unsafe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After Wrexham reversed their initial decision to ban a protest banner due to \u201cpolitical connotations\u201d, co-owner Rob McElhenney urged his own club\u2019s fans to get involved by sporting last season\u2019s gold away shirt. (Gold has long been the colour of Wednesday away strips.)<\/p>\n

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There are 10k more gold shirts available. The profits from any gold shirt purchased between now and Monday will go to Sheffield Wednesday ST #upthetownS<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/a5yE82hdFb<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Mac (@RMcElhenney) August 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The actor also pledged that the proceeds from any gold shirt sales over the weekend would go to the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust. With 1,500 Wrexham gold shirts sold across online and the two city centre club shops, this will be a welcome windfall for the group.<\/p>\n

Fulfilling this unexpected demand for a kit whose shelf-life expired last May wasn\u2019t straightforward, with early arrivals at Wrexham\u2019s new Eagle Meadows club shop being asked to come back later as staff awaited stock from the warehouse.<\/p>\n

Eventually, though, everyone intent on going for gold got their hands on the shirts for \u00a325, including Clark. \u201cWe felt helpless when our club was under threat, and I\u2019m sure the Wednesday fans feel the same now,\u201d adds the owner of Mad4Movies in the Butchers\u2019 Market.<\/p>\n

Wrexham are a prime example of how the darkest of days for a football club can eventually give way to the dawning of a golden age. It\u2019s been over 20 years since a concerted fan campaign against owners Alex Hamilton and Mark Guterman, which ultimately helped save the club.<\/p>\n

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Kieffer Moore celebrates with Conor Coady after scoring Wrexham\u2019s first goal against Wednesday (Jess Hornby\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

This included a march past the Cheshire home of Hamilton, who would later be banned from being a company director for seven years after a judge found him not to have acted in Wrexham\u2019s best interests when trying to sell the club\u2019s home stadium for development.<\/p>\n

Several more bumps in the road would still lie ahead until surely one of football\u2019s more unlikely rescue acts McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds locked on to Wrexham in 2020, a year that had begun with the club occupying a place in the National League relegation zone.<\/p>\n

As if to underline how quickly fortunes can change in football, Wednesday kicked off the same year sitting sixth in the Championship. An illustration of the Yorkshire club\u2019s ambitions back then came via a pack of forwards including Steven Fletcher, Fernando Forestieri and Jordan Rhodes.<\/p>\n

All are long gone now, with Fletcher having since played his part in two of Wrexham\u2019s three promotions. But Wednesday clearly retain a fighting spirit on and off the pitch, as perhaps was best personified by Barry Bannan.<\/p>\n

The Scot only rejoined Wednesday a week before the season, after his contract had run out amid those unpaid wages in the summer. But, at 35 years old, he ran the show in the second half as the visitors put an extra man in midfield. The hosts had no answer.<\/p>\n

One minute, Bannan was orchestrating things from deep like an NFL quarterback, the next he was popping up in the home penalty area to finish crisply after Svante Ingelsson\u2019s cross was only half-cleared.<\/p>\n

Bannan\u2019s goal, scored on his 450th appearance for the club, came moments after the home fans had stood to applaud the Wednesday fans\u2019 chant, \u201cI don\u2019t care about Dejphon (Chansiri), he don\u2019t care about me, all I care about is Sheffield Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such an entente cordiale was admirable. Less impressive was how this generosity of spirit extended to the field after half-time, as Wrexham invited sufficient pressure that an equaliser seemed inevitable along time before Bailey Cadamarteri levelled with nine minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked like a Championship side in the first half and a First Division (League One) team after the break,\u201d bemoaned Phil Parkinson afterwards. He could, though, appreciate the sympathy shown for Wednesday\u2019s plight in the stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wrexham fans are humble because they know where the club has come from,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one likes to see another club go through what\u2019s happening at Sheffield, a great club with a great history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some things in football really are bigger than the result. Saturday was one of those, with the Wrexham fans\u2019 conduct clearly catching the eye of visiting manager Henrik Pedersen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey remember where they came from,\u201d said the Dane. \u201cAnd what they have been through in their life. On the way up, you remember how it was in the past. They show a big, big respect to us by what they did with the shirt, what they did in the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Jess Hornby\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n