Wednesday Fans Steering Group Key Points

Various reports emerged from the Steering Group meeting at Hillsborough on Wednesday April 12th, 2017 ahead of victory over old foe Neil ‘Colin` Warnock`s Cardiff City at beautiful Hillsborough stadium that was maybe not a full of Owls fans as she could be. A question many have asked all season, with the likes of Villa, Leeds and Newcastle all already visited at S6 but unable to fill the West Stand it appears despite investment under Chansiri South Yorkshire Police and the city`s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) have limited Hillsborough to under 34,000. The same stadium that held over 37,000 Wednesdayites in May 2011 against Wycombe in worse or more dated condition.

Thanks to twitter updates from malcolm_fox2 heres some of the key talking points from last Wednesday evening.

Wednesday will manufacture their own kits from next season with the home being all blue with white sleeves akin to the same shirt worn during the 1965 to 1972 period, including the near miss of the 1966 FA Cup won by Everton. Sourced from factories used by the big manufactures directly opposed to via a supplier like Puma or Umbro means the club have more control. In recent seasons Southampton have undertaken this with successful results.

The club have announced that legions of Owls fans oversees from next season will be able to watch home games live via the Wednesday Player service, as a side note to this it may change if the club are promoted due to the Premier League’s overseas broadcasting contracts.

Hillsborough`s capacity has been reduced on safety grounds this season to 33,800, despite lots of improvements that have been made. The club will have its annual inspection in two weeks where they hope capacity will increase back to 36,000ish with the red herring of the NW corner ruled out being able to be used.

CEO Joe Palmer stated that dIscussions with the Safety Advisory Group are fragmented at best and the club may consider further action if capacity isn`t increased as a result of the inspection. Fans feel that the Owls and Blades fans are still suffering from the tragic events of 1989 with SAG unwilling to change their inflexible ethos.

Chansiri will consider full stadium redevelopment on promotion to the Premier League, or moving to a purpose built stadium if fans believe that is the best option, that’ll be a massive debate with pro`s and con`s on each side of the argument.

In stadium food and drink is an evolving scheme with the trial of selling local beer on the North Stand a success, the club are looking to build on this next season and also offer smaller ‘street food` stalls for other local producers. As well as looking at providing vegetarian and gluten free options from the clubs kiosk outlets. Outside catering venues have been considered including the Owls Superstore carpark and a mezzanine floor in the club shop to incorporate a bespoke Owls cafe.

There will be improved pre-match entertainment in the Kids` Zone in the Family Stand next season as well as improved kids tickets offers.

Lastly, the new club website will be launched in the summer and home tickets will be still available four or more weeks in advance of the fixture.