The 2020–21 season is Sheffield Wednesday's ninth consecutive season in the Championship. The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Season overview July On 31 July, Wednesday received a 12-point penalty for breaching the League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules for the three season reporting period ending in 2017–18, with the penalty taking effect for the 2020–21 season.
August On 12 August, the club restructured their coaching setup with James Beattie coming in as assistant manager, Darryl Flahavan as the goalkeeper coach and Andrew Hughes as first team coach.
On 14 August, Lee Bullen and Nicky Weaver left the first team to work with the academy.
On 17 August, Wednesday announced they would be appealing the 12 point penalty, with a verdict not expected until later in the year.
October On 7 October, it was revealed that owner Dejphon Chansiri was securing debt against the club's Hillsborough Stadium.
November On 4 November, their 12-point penalty was reduced to 6 points following discussions with the League Arbitration Panel.
On 9 November, Garry Monk and his staff had their contracts terminated after 3 wins from their opening 11 games
On 13 November, experienced manager Tony Pulis would be appointed the new manager,
On 18 November, Pulis would bring in Craig Gardner as his first team coach.
On 20 November, Pulis would bring in Mike Trusson as his assistant manager
December On 17 December, it was announced that the players were not paid in full for the month of November, the second time this has happened in 2020.
On 28 December, Tony Pulis would be relieved of his duties after 10 games in charge, picking up 7 points from a possible 30 and just one win. The chairman would also say "there are also other issues which have had a bearing on this decision." First team coach Neil Thompson would be placed in charge in a caretaker role.
January On 7 January, while Neil Thompson was in caretaker charge, himself with assistants Lee Bullen and Steve Haslam would be affected with COVID-19, meaning they would miss their FA Cup third round clash with Exeter City. Academy coach Andy Holdsworth, assisted by Daral Pugh, Nicky Weaver and Tony Strudwick would take charge of the game.
On 13 January, the club's next two league games against Coventry City and Wycombe Wanderers were suspended following other positive COVID-19 tests.
On 31 January, it was announce that the players were not paid again for the month of January, with news that salaries were capped at £7,000 per month.
February On 8 February, it was leaked that Spanish entrepreneur and former advisor to the club, Erik Alonso had an offer to buy the club rejected by Dejphon Chansiri. The offer was rumoured to be between £25m - £30m and backed by a wealthy Indonesian consortium.
March On 1 March, Darren Moore was appointed the first team manager and the third permanent manager of the season, leaving his position at Doncaster Rovers. He would be joined by Jamie Smith as his assistant manager and Paul Williams as his first team coach.
On 9 March, the club published the club's annual accounts for the year ending 31 July 2019.
April On 2 April, prior to the game against Watford it was announced manager Darren Moore wouldn't be in the dugout due to a positive COVID-19 test.
On 15 April, after Darren Moore's return to the dugout, he would suffer a setback in his recovery, developing pneumonia as a result of COVID-19.
On 26 April, Owls youngster Will Trueman would win the prestigious LFE Championship Apprentice of the Year award.
May On 8 May, Darren Moore would return to the dugout for the crucial end of season game against Derby County. The game would see Wednesday, after 9 years in the Championship, relegated back to League One following a 3–3 draw in the must win game. After the match, Chansiri confirmed that manager Darren Moore would remain manager for the following season.
On 20 May, it was announced that Liam Dooley would be the new Chief Operating Officer for the club.
On 31 May, it was revealed again that players had still not been paid in full for some months and that there were some players considering walking away over ongoing wages issues.
June On 25 June, Wednesday announced a new long-term partnership with Italian sportswear provider Macron, commencing from 1 July 2021.
Also on 25 June, Adriano Basso was appointed the new first team goalkeeper coach.
On 28 June, their 2021/22 pre-season officially began with a 10-day training camp in Wales.
Pre-season As of 21 August, Wednesday announced one pre-season friendly against Leicester City.
Competitions Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches On Friday, 21 August 2020, the EFL Championship fixtures were revealed.
FA Cup
The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition. The draw for the fourth and fifth round were made on 11 January, conducted by Peter Crouch.
EFL Cup
The first round draw was made on 18 August, live on Sky Sports, by Paul Merson. The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on September 6, live on Sky Sports by Phil Babb.
Transfers and contracts Transfers in Date Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 28 July 2020 CM Fisayo Dele-Bashiru Manchester City Undisclosed 13 August 2020 CB Chey Dunkley Wigan Athletic Free transfer 2 September 2020 CF Elias Kachunga Huddersfield Town Free transfer 2 September 2020 AM Josh Windass Wigan Athletic Undisclosed 12 September 2020 RW Korede Adedoyin Everton Free transfer 30 September 2020 FW Callum Paterson Cardiff City Undisclosed 14 January 2021 RW Andre Green Aston Villa Free transfer 18 January 2021 LW Calum Huxley Wrexham Free transfer 25 January 2021 CM Sam Hutchinson Pafos Free transfer
Transfers out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2020 FW L'Varn Brandy Allenton United F.C. Released 1 July 2020 FW Preslav Borukov Etar Released 1 July 2020 FW Omar Damba FC Santboià Released 1 July 2020 LB Michael Ellery Witton Albion Released 1 July 2020 FW Steven Fletcher Stoke City Released 1 July 2020 FW Fernando Forestieri Udinese Released 1 July 2020 LB Morgan Fox Stoke City Released 1 July 2020 CM Sam Hutchinson Pafos Released 1 July 2020 DM Toby Kenyon Stocksbridge Park Steels Released 1 July 2020 CM Connor Kirby Harrogate Town Released 1 July 2020 DF Jack Lee Free agent Released 1 July 2020 FW Jordan O’Brien Corby Town Released 1 July 2020 DF Sam Oliver Irlam Released 1 July 2020 FW Fraser Preston Boston United Released 1 July 2020 RM Jack Stobbs Grantham Town Released 1 July 2020 FW Elliott Vasalo Winterton Rangers Released 1 July 2020 DF Joe West Farsley Celtic Released 1 July 2020 FW Sam Winnall Oxford United Released 1 August 2020 GK Paul Jones King's Lynn Town Released 1 August 2020 CM Kieran Lee Bolton Wanderers Released 1 August 2020 FW Atdhe Nuhiu APOEL Released 9 December 2020 RW Manuel Hidalgo Sri Pahang Released 1 February 2021 CM Conor Grant Rochdale Undisclosed
Loans in Date Position Nationality Name From End date Ref.20 August 2020 AM Izzy Brown Chelsea 30 June 2021 16 October 2020 FW Jack Marriott Derby County 30 June 2021 16 October 2020 CB Aden Flint Cardiff City 4 January 2021
New contracts Date from Position Nationality Name Length Expiry Ref. 18 February 2021 MF Barry Bannan 2 years June 2023 12 May 2021 DF Ryan Galvin 1 year June 2022 12 May 2021 MF Lewis Farmer 1 year June 2022 12 May 2021 GK Luke Jackson 1 year June 2022 12 May 2021 DF Declan Thompson 1 year June 2022 12 May 2021 MF Liam Waldock 1 year June 2022 20 May 2021 DF Ciaran Brennan 1 year June 2022 20 May 2021 MF Alex Hunt 1 year June 2022 20 May 2021 MF Sam Hutchinson 1 year June 2022 26 June 2021 FW Paulo Aguas — — 26 June 2021 FW Alex Bonnington — — 26 June 2021 DF Josh Dawodu — — 26 June 2021 MF Jay Glover — — 26 June 2021 FW Charles Hagan — — 26 June 2021 GK Josh Render — — 26 June 2021 MF Will Trueman — — 26 June 2021 FW Basile Zottos — —
Squad statistics Appearances
4
|colspan="14"|Players that left the club mid-season:
Goalscorers
Includes all competitive matches.
PlayerChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal1FW18Josh Windass901102FW5Callum Paterson81093FW20Jordan Rhodes70074MF11Adam Reach51065DF13Julian Börner30036MF10Barry Bannan20027DF2Liam Palmer1001DF6Sam Hutchinson1001DF15Tom Lees1001MF26Liam Shaw1001FW45Elias Kachunga0011Own goals 2 0 02Total 40 2 244
Disciplinary record
No. Pos. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total 26 MF Liam Shaw 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 MF Kadeem Harris 6 1 0 0 0 0 6 1 13 DF Julian Börner 5 1 0 0 1 0 6 1 4 DF Joost van Aken 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 15 DF Tom Lees 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 18 FW Josh Windass 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 MF Barry Bannan 9 0 0 0 1 0 10 0 22 DF Moses Odubajo 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 2 DF Liam Palmer 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 FW Callum Paterson 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 21 MF Massimo Luongo 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 6 MF Sam Hutchinson 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 8 MF Joey Pelupessy 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 19 DF Osaze Urhoghide 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 11 MF Adam Reach 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 23 DF Chey Dunkley 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 28 GK Joe Wildsmith 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 45 FW Elias Kachunga 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 14 DF Matt Penney 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 24 MF Izzy Brown 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 29 MF Alex Hunt 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Clean sheets
No.Nat.PlayerMatches playedClean sheet %LeagueFA CupLeague CupTOTAL 1 Keiren Westwood 20 30% 6 0 0 6 25 Cameron Dawson 9 44.44% 3 0 1 4 28 Joe Wildsmith 23 30.43% 5 1 1 7
Awards Player of the Month Player of the Month awards for the 2020–21 season.
Month First Second Third Ref.September Josh Windass Massimo LuongoNot awardedOctoberNot awardedNovember Julian Börner Barry Bannan & Joe WildsmithNot awardedDecember Chey Dunkley Liam Shaw Tom LeesJanuary Callum PatersonNot awardedFebruary Osaze UrhoghideNot awardedMarch Jordan Rhodes Osaze Urhoghide Joey Pelupessy
Player of the Year Player of the Year award for the 2020–21 season.
Winner Ref Barry Bannan
References