page_title: History of Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
section_title: Return to the Championship
hierarchical_section_title: History of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. / The 21st century / Return to the Championship
caption_attribution_description: Sheffield Wednesday Lift the 2005 League One Playoff Trophy Homemade Image
context_page_description: The history of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. is an article about an English football club from Sheffield, England. Established in 1867, the club would see early regional success followed by a rocky transition to professionalism. Although it has spent the majority of its Football League years in the top flight, its position within the league has varied from the very top to almost slipping to the fourth tier.
  The club has won four English League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one FA Community Shield.
context_section_description: Sturrock revitalised Sheffield Wednesday's fortunes and they finished fifth in League One at the end of the 2004–05 season, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. They defeated Brentford 3–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals, moving them into the playoff final on 29 May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium. 41,000 Wednesdayites descended on Cardiff for what was the biggest game in twelve years for the club. They weren't to be disappointed as the Owls took a 1–0 lead through Jon-Paul McGovern on the stroke of halftime. However, Hartlepool fought back and took a 2–1 lead with 20 minutes of the game remaining. Sturrock made a brave triple substitution bringing on 18-year-old striker Drew Talbot and the Owls' top scorer of the season, Steve MacLean (who had been out injured for the previous three months and had not kicked a ball). They combined with 10 minutes left as the Owls levelled the game 2–2. Talbot was adjudged to have been pushed down inside the box and Sheffield Wednesday were awarded a controversial penalty, which also resulted in the dismissal of Hartlepool player Westwood. MacLean duly slotted home the resultant penalty. They went on to win 4–2 after extra time, goals from Glenn Whelan and Drew Talbot, achieving promotion to the Championship.
  On 17 April 2006, Sheffield Wednesday retained their place in the Championship with two matches remaining, with a 2–0 away win at Brighton, condemning Brighton, Millwall and Crewe to the drop in the process. Wednesday went on to finish the season in 19th place, 10 points clear of the relegation zone. They were statistically the best supported team in the Championship; their average home league attendance of 24,853 marginally beat newly relegated Norwich with 24,833.
caption: Wednesday Lift the 2005 League One Playoff Trophy
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