How Barry Bannan reacted when he first heard of Sheffield Wednesday interest | OneFootball

The Scottish midfielder has made a swift return to Hillsborough from Millwall

The beginning of Sheffield Wednesday's latest era under the ownership of David Storch has been full of positivity ahead of the upcoming League One season, and now those levels will have undoubtedly reached fever pitch following the return of Barry Bannan to Hillsborough.

Indeed, the aforementioned Storch acquired the club on May 1st, ahead of the final day of the 2025/26 Championship season, where a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion saw Henrik Pedersen's team end the campaign on a 'positive' points total after being hit with an 18-point deduction earlier in the year.

Since then, the American has added the likes of David Bruce and ex-Stockport County sporting director, Simon Wilson, to the hierarchy in S6, and several transfer moves have already been made as the Owls look to immediately assert themselves as a force in League One, where they will play for the first time in three seasons.

Wednesday had already completed deals to sign Ricardo Santos, Sil Swinkels, Callum Slattery, Jordi Liongola and the highly-rated teenage forward, Harry Gray, on loan from Yorkshire rivals, Leeds United.

However, since the end of last season, just months after Bannan departed for Championship side, Millwall, on an 18-month contract, there had been intense suggestions that a return to S6 was on the cards for the 36-year-old Scotsman.

That has now been confirmed, with the midfielder signing a fresh one-year contract, and he has already issued his thoughts on an emotional agreement.

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It is impossible not to think of Wednesday in the modern era without associating Bannan with the South Yorkshire outfit, having previously amassed 477 appearances, 37 goals and 75 assists in a 10-and-a-half year first spell after initially signing from Crystal Palace.

The former Aston Villa academy graduate was part of Carlos Carvalhal's side which lost in the Championship play-offs two years running in 2016 and 2017, before winning the League One final six years later under Darren Moore.

After the last game of his first stint against Bristol City in January, Bannan was seen in tears, before making just 16 appearances for the Lions, who missed out on automatic promotion and then promotion through the play-offs two months ago.

Reacting to his return to Hillsborough, he told the club's media: “This club means so much to me and my family so to have the opportunity to come back, I didn’t have to think twice about it. I’m just delighted and I can’t wait to get going again.

“I always had it in my mind I would be coming back to Wednesday in some capacity so to get this done now is brilliant. There’s a lot of optimism and excitement around the place – we are on the up," he added.

“We know what this season requires – a lot of hard work and togetherness with everyone fighting for each other, everyone on the same page. Obviously, I know everyone from last season and the new lads already seem at home, so there’s a lot to look forward to and I’m just so pleased to be back part of it.”

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Ultimately, given Bannan's cult hero status in the Steel City, the finalisation of his transfer has generated plenty of excited reactions from Wednesdayites.

"Thats just unbelievable....from the sadness of him leaving to the joys of his return....he will tear up league 1 again...welcome back," one Owls supporter wrote.

Another said: "So glad to have you back Baz. What a top player. Love this news."

One supporter left the simple response of "Mr Sheffield Wednesday," however not all were fully on board with Bannan's comments.

Reacting specifically to Bannan's quote, another supporter stated: "It didn’t in January….. but let’s get to work now you are back clean slate and all that," whilst a similar verdict was issued with the words: "Left when things were tough but is back now things are looking brighter. Still doesn’t sit right with me that one."

Unsurprisingly, though, those of a Millwall persuasion were not entirely shocked an agreement had been reached, with one Lions fan claiming Bannan was "The most pointless signing ever."

Another Millwall supporter issued the stance of: "Would love to know why we even signed him. Clearly wasn’t wanted or needed."

Meanwhile, a Wednesday fan also said to those in South London: "A transfer that should never have happened. Had we not had the preferred bidder we had in January, it never would have. Good luck to Millwall for next season."

Clearly, Bannan's move to The Den didn't work out, even though it aided Wednesday in the short-term from a financial perspective, and the midfielder can now return to familiar territory with the ambition of helping his side achieve glory this season.