Barry Bannan's daughter had one emotional reaction to his Sheffield Wednesday return | OneFootball

Barry Bannan's daughter Elsie joined Sheffield Wednesday supporters in their emotional reaction to his return to Hillsborough from Millwall...

Barry Bannan's daughter had one particularly emotional reaction to the news that her dad was returning to Sheffield Wednesday from Millwall, and it is easy to understand why. Just a year earlier, his future at Hillsborough had been uncertain amid the club's financial problems, with Sheffield Wednesday facing an incredibly difficult period in the wake of Dejphon Chansiri's running of the club.Fast forward to 2026 and David Storch and his fellow investors of Arise Capital have helped transform the mood, despite relegation to League One, making the Owls a club players want to join again after almost an entirely new squad arrived during the summer to bolster Henrik Pedersen's ranks.

Barry Bannan could have left Wednesday for good but Elsie always hoped he'd come back

Barry Bannan could have walked away from Wednesdayin the summer of 2025. With the club's finances in such a precarious position, his future was uncertain and he admitted his daughter Elsie had cried when he told her that he might have to leave.

He revealed this via the official Sheffield Wednesday website, but those tears turned to tears of happiness when he eventually decided to stay. A few months later, though, the difficult decision had to be made.

The Scot joined Millwall in January 2026, with his departure helping Wednesday reduce their sizeable wage bill and ease some of the financial pressure engulfing the club. The club captain and talisman was an iconic figure and not one the fans wanted to lose, nor Elsie either.

It was never really a footballing farewell, though, and his spell at The Den lasted only a matter of months. Once Storch's takeover had changed Wednesday's fortunes, Bannan returned to Hillsborough in the summer.

This time, Elsie apparently burst into tears again when her dad told her he was going back. Bannan spoke via Joe Crann on Nutmeg FC, stating: "When I agreed on the phone, I went to do bedtime with her. So I've told her Friday night when I'm putting her down to sleep.

"And she burst out crying, cuddled me, and then just followed up by saying, 'it's not sad tears, it's happy tears'. That was kind of the same story when I signed last summer. So she was delighted, obviously.

"This club is massive to her, as weird as it sounds. It's all she's known, really. She grew up with me at Sheffield Wednesday and started to learn more about what her dad had done. She started to get involved, she loves the limelight, and she got it quite a lot at games.

"So, nah, she was delighted."

Barry Bannan has found a home at Hillsborough

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Bannan's career has taken him through the likes of Aston Villa, Blackpool, Leeds United, Crystal Palace, and Bolton Wanderers before he found somewhere that truly felt like home at Sheffield Wednesday.

He joined the Owls in 2015 and has since become one of the defining players of the modern era at Hillsborough, building a life there with his partner and children as well as establishing himself as a fan favourite.

His brief move to Millwall — before rejoining the club in League One recently— would therefore have been difficult for the entire family, particularly given how deeply embedded they have become in Sheffield as a city, let alone Wednesday as a club.

Yet Bannan deserves enormous credit for making that sacrifice when Wednesday needed it. Leaving in January was not about abandoning the club; it was another example of a player putting Wednesday's interests ahead of his own.

Sheffield Wednesday fans can understand the tears from Barry Bannan's daughter

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If Elsie was emotional about her dad returning, she certainly would not have been the only one. There were probably plenty of Wednesday supporters who felt exactly the same way when Bannan's exit occurred and when his return to South Yorkshire was confirmed.

He is more than simply another player at Hillsborough now; he is a genuine club legend, the captain who has remained through some of the darkest periods in the Owls' recent history, and the metronomic midfielder the team is often built around.

At 36, Bannan knows his playing career is entering its final chapter, even if his influence remains enormous. That makes this season particularly important. Wednesdayhave been given a fresh start under Storch, but Bannan will surely want to help turn that optimism into promotion.