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Sheffield Wednesday supporters have another protest up their sleeve, and this is set to be the most disruptive one yet.
Owls fans are consistently taking action against unpopular Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri after a summer of missed payments to staff, a transfer embargo, safety issues with the North Stand and Henrik Pedersen losing his only senior goalkeeper to injury.
During Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Wrexham, Wednesday staged a ‘black and gold until it’s sold’ protest, with their supporters wearing black and gold shirts, bringing in black and gold balloons and displaying protest banners at the Racecourse Ground, with Wrexham showing solidarity with their own black and gold kit.
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Wednesday welcome Swansea City to Hillsborough on Saturday, and after blowing whistles during their clash against Leicester on the opening day, there are already plans for the home fans to take their protests efforts up another gear to interrupt the match when they host Swansea.
Sheffield Wednesday fans will throw teddy bears on the Hillsborough pitch
Wednesday’s fan group The 1876 Group outlined plans for the clash against the Swans earlier this month.
The protestors are planning to throw teddy bears onto the pitch in the 10th minute of the game to disrupt the match.
In a statement on August 17, the group said on X: “As with previous protests we’ve organised, our goal is to ensure we send a message but try and create something positive as a byproduct. For the community we call home. With this in mind, we are planning a teddy bear protest.
“Our idea is simple but meaningful: in the 10th minute, fans will throw soft toys onto the pitch. These toys will then be collected and donated to Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We’ve already reached out to the hospital and plan on contacting the club to discuss how this can be arranged smoothly. Should the club choose not to engage, we will explore alternative ways to disrupt the game.
“We are also in discussions as a group on how else we can protest. This will take place for the game against Swansea City on the 30th August. Let’s do some good whilst also showing the EFL that we can and will disrupt games if we have to.”
When asked by other supporters about the risk of the teddy bears being taken off fans at the turnstiles, the 1876 Group confirmed they had spoken to the club and confirmed they hadn’t rejected the move yet.
If Wednesday do ban the teddy bears, the protest group said it would bring tennis balls in instead.
As long as the teddy bears are new with tags, they can be donated. The organisers have asked fans to bring bears easy to throw from the stands as they plan the protest that hasn’t been seen in the EFL before.
Sheffield Wednesday supporters boycotting Leeds United fixture
Wednesdayites are also planning to send a message to their controversial owner during their Carabao Cup second round fixture against Premier League Leeds this Tuesday.
Owls fans want to hit Chansiri in his pocket to force him to sell the club, and are planning on boycotting the cup fixture to make a step towards doing that.
A statement from the Supporters Trust read: “Every ticket puts money into the hands of an owner who has shown nothing but contempt for the fanbase. We know missing a match against a rival hurts, but sometimes fans must make a sacrifice.”
Fans are being asked to give money that would have been spent on a match ticket to charity instead, highlighting Sheffield’s Children Hospital once again.