How Wrexham star Josh Windass really feels about Sheffield Wednesday fans | OneFootball

The experienced forward swapped Hillsborough for the Stok Cae Ras last summer

Sheffield Wednesday and Wrexham are two of the sides who have dominated Championship-related discourse for the past eight months, albeit for extremely contrasting reasons.

However, there is now a renewed sense of hope and optimism surrounding Hillsborough heading into next season after American businessman, David Storch, and his consortium - Arise Capital Partners LLC - completed their long-awaited takeover of the Owls on May 1st.

Such developments brought an end to months worth of uncertainty in this part of the Steel City, with the club previously in administration from October, as well as seeing a previous takeover bid led by the controversial figure of James Bord, who previously held ties with cross-city rivals, Sheffield United, collapse in February.

Despite exiting S6 by placing Wednesday into administration amid fears of a winding-up petition in the autumn, the aforementioned takeover saga continued to revolve around Dejphon Chansiri right until the very last, only adding to the tension felt by supporters, before it was confirmed after a memorable 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the Championship season that Henrik Pedersen's team would not have to start the 2026/27 campaign in League One with a 15-point deficit as further punishment.

As a result, the Owls will certainly fancy their chances of completing the first stage of their latest rebuilding job under Storch's ownership, having being joined in the third tier by Oxford United and Leicester City respectively, with the Foxes' financial situation also well-documented at present.

It is a first campaign at League One level for the South Yorkshire side in three years, with Josh Windass of the aforementioned Red Dragons proving to be the hero in the 123rd minute of their play-off final versus Barnsley in North London.

Josh Windass hails Sheffield Wednesday support following David Storch takeover

During a 182-game spell for Wednesday after initially signing from Wigan Athletic on loan in January 2020, the 32-year-old forward became a fan favourite at Hillsborough for his contributions in a period of extremely mixed fortunes.

Of course, his last-gasp winner at Wembley against the Tykes epitomised this, and was the most crucial of his 53 goals for the club, before he departed last summer alongside Michael Smith by mutual consent, due to the continuation of unpaid wages amid a mass exodus of senior players and management.

Windass has since enjoyed an impressive first season in North Wales, scoring 16 times and providing seven assists as Phil Parkinson's team missed out on a play-off place to Hull City on the final day, but hasn't been afraid to, once again, showcase how he feels about Wednesday's loyal support after Storch's takeover was completed.

“I still speak to the manager (Pedersen) quite often,” said the attacker. “He is doing an incredible job under the circumstances.

“I know people say they haven’t won any games, but I think what people relate to in our country specifically is the beautiful struggle kind of thing.

“They have proven that no matter how down and out and how tough it has been, and the players obviously not necessarily being good enough this year to compete at the level, they have still given everything every single day, and that’s obviously people who watch all they want to see," Windass added.

When asked about the support he, and other players have received in S6, the forward stated: “They are massive. I obviously knew going from Rangers to there that I was going to a big club, but the away support especially is incredible every single week.

“They were on minus three points and they had 35,000 at Hillsborough watching them in a game against West Brom that meant absolutely nothing. I don’t think you get that in many places.”

Sheffield Wednesday can make Hillsborough a fortress in League One under Henrik Pedersen

As Windass mentioned, Wednesday's support, particularly on their travels, has been immense in the circumstances, and now they have the chance to turn Hillsborough into a fortress next season whilst marking a new era.

It has been reported that the club will not be subjected to a wage or spending cap in the upcoming summer window or throughout the campaign as a whole, which is yet another boost to Pedersen after 12 months when the Dane was extremely limited when it came to the options within his squad, as well as who he was able to recruit.

Windass, of course, will only be able to watch developments from afar as he concentrates on the ambitions set out by Wrexham's high-profile owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, about reaching the Premier League for the first time in the club's history, but it could end up being a joyous 2026/27 campaign from his personal perspective if both teams were successful.