7 moments that explain why Barry Bannan is a Sheffield Wednesday legend | OneFootball

Barry Bannan is undoubtedly the player most synonymous with Sheffield Wednesday in the current era, having represented them for almost 500 games between 2015-2026.

Bannan played in both the Championship and League One for the Owls, before leaving for Millwall in January.

The Scottish midfielder is set to return to Hillsborough on Saturday, the first time he’s come up against the South Yorkshire side since the 2009-10 season with Blackpool.

Ahead of his first game against Wednesday in over 15 years, we’ve looked into how he became such a legend at the club.

Second season at Wednesday

In his second season as a Wednesday player, Bannan scored once and assisted seven times in the Championship, before assisting the goal it looked for a while might take the club to the playoff final.

At level pegging after the first leg of the semi-final against Huddersfield, Bannan assisted Steven Fletcher in the 51st minute to put Wednesday 1-0 up.

But just over 20 minutes later, Wednesday conceded through an own goal, and went on to lose on penalties – Bannan scored his.

Unbeaten 2019 run

In March 2019, Bannan assisted four goals in three Championship games, against Derby, Bolton and Blackburn (a draw and two wins).

That came within a run of 12 games unbeaten in the league for Wednesday, of which Bannan captained three.

He also finished that season with two goals and two assists in the final two games.

First season as captain

At the beginning of 2020-21, Bannan was made captain at Wednesday, replacing Tom Lees in the role.

It was a poor campaign for Wednesday, who were relegated from the Championship as the bottom club, though they were only three points from safety in a competitive league, and were docked six points, eventually resigning them to their fate.

Bannan was named Wednesday’s player of the season, and after seven seasons in a row playing in the second tier, after representing Premier League clubs prior to that, the Scot remained at Wednesday for his first season in League One.

Most productive season, 2021-22

The drop to League One allowed Bannan to boss things for Wednesday, scoring nine goals and delivering 12 assists in England’s third tier.

In February, he was nominated for the league’s player of the month award. Wednesday played six league games that month and Bannan scored two goals and assisted three more.

His hot streak continued into March, when he scored three goals and assisted two more.

Bannan scooped many awards, including being named Wednesday’s player of the season and a member of the League One team of the season, while he was also nominated as the league’s player of the season and scored the goal of the season.

Promotion from the Championship

Wednesday had missed out on promotion back to the Championship through the playoffs with Wednesday in 2021-22, but they spectacularly returned there the following season.

In the Championship itself, Bannan scored seven goals and again assisted 12 – he finished the season with two goals and four assists in the final seven games of the season to ensure Wednesday finished strong, but that they were two points shy of Ipswich meant they must tackled the playoffs again.

Bannan played almost every minute in the playoffs before he was injured in the latter stages of the final. That included 120 minutes in the stunning second leg of the semis, and 116 minutes in the final.

Wednesday looked down and out after the first leg of the semis, 4-0 down to Peterborough, before winning 5-1 in the second to take the tie to penalties.

Wednesday won 5-3 on penalties to confirm their return to the Championship – Bannan crucially scored his after Peterborough’s Dan Butler had missed the previous spot kick.

Bannan was again in the League One team of the season and nominated for its player of the season, while triggering an extension to remain under contract in South Yorkshire.

100 and 10

In 2024-25, back in the Championship, Bannan ticked off two important milestones at Wednesday.

An assist against West Brom on September 28 was Bannan’s 100th goal contribution in a Wednesday shirt. Three months later, Bannan climbed into the top 10 appearance-makers for the club – he’s now sixth on that list.

Rejects interest and takes pay cut

Turmoil at Hillsborough in 2025 saw wages – both of players and non-playing staff – paid late for months. Those included Bannan’s wages, amid talks over a new contract.

Despite the fact he had “interest from elsewhere” and he might not have been blamed had he left, Bannan penned a new contract for 2025-26, reportedly having taken a huge wage cut to help Wednesday out financially.

Bannan said at the time: “I’m delighted to get it done and I can look forward again. I’ve made it clear over the years my love for the club and the love I receive back.

“This club is a big part of me and my family. With the season getting closer, this last week has been tough because there was interest from elsewhere and I had a lot to think about.”