AI predicts when Sheffield Wednesday will next win a major trophy | OneFootball

AI has predicted when major silverware will next be coming to Hillsborough

At present, there is hardly any reason for Sheffield Wednesday supporters to look on the bright side, with the club's immediate future remaining in doubt amid continued talks of a potential takeover.

The Owls are, in the eyes of many supporters of the club and several divisional rivals, one of the biggest 'sleeping giants' in English football, having found themselves residing between the Championship and League One ever since their most-recent relegation out of the Premier League, which came in the spring of 2000 following nine years of unbroken top flight campaigns.

During those 'glory days' and the subsequently tumultuous years that have followed at Hillsborough, several players and managers have asserted themselves as cult heroes or legends in the eyes of Wednesdayites. However, it hasn't counted for much on-pitch success, with the Owls winning promotion out of League One three times in the past 25 years, of which two of those have come through dramatic play-off final victories over Hartlepool United and Barnsley in 2005 and 2023 respectively.

At present, though, it's fair to say that developments on the pitch in this part of the Steel City have taken a backseat, with supporters continuing to showcase their displeasure regarding the club's drastic plight under Dejphon Chansiri, with it being claimed that a winding-up petition could be 'days away' due to an unpaid £1m tax bill, on top of several other controversial events in recent months such as delayed wage payments, transfer and registration embargoes and a mass exodus of senior players and staff.

Whilst several high-profile bidders look to eventually take control of the club sat in the second tier relegation zone under Henrik Pedersen, FLW has asked AI when it believes a 10th major honour could be on its way to S6.

AI predicts when Sheffield Wednesday will next win a major trophy

Despite being outside the Premier League for such a long period of time, Wednesday still remain one of the country's best when it comes to the total of major honours accrued, with a tally of 10 since their foundation in 1867.

This includes the winning of four top-flight titles, all of which came pre-World War Two in the 1902/03, 1903/04, 1928/29 and 1929/30 seasons respectively.

The South Yorkshire side have also won what is, arguably, the most prestigious and historic domestic competition in the world - the FA Cup - on three separate occasions in 1895/96, 1906/07 and the 1934/35 season, with the latter of those also seeing them take part in the Charity/Community Shield, which they won for the only time in a 1-0 win over league champions, Arsenal, at Highbury.

The final and most recent of Wednesday's major trophy haul came in the 1990/91 season under Ron Atkinson, when his side, who were residing in the second tier at the time, upset his former club and favourites for the EFL Cup trophy, Manchester United, with a 1-0 success at the Old Wembley courtesy of John Sheridan's 37th-minute strike.

As of the current season, it is the last time a side outside the First Division or subsequently-formed Premier League has lifted the aforementioned trophy, despite the best efforts of Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, Tranmere Rovers, Birmingham City, Cardiff City and Bradford City in six of the 34 finals which have followed.

As such, AI predicts that Wednesday will emerge victorious in the 2030/31 EFL Cup final, albeit they could still find themselves outside the Premier League during the campaign as a result of a much-anticipated and needed rebuild under new ownership.

It claims that this could be achieved through the continued development of several young stars, as well as an improved atmosphere at Hillsborough that will see them to Wembley in the first place, before supporters will cheer their side over the finish line in North London.

Sheffield Wednesday may have to wait slightly longer for a major trophy in reality

Of course, anything is possible in football, so as outlandish as AI's claim may sound, it cannot be totally ruled out.

However, taking current circumstances into account, Wednesdayites are more likely to have to wait a tad longer before they can see their club end a lengthy drought for a major trophy, with supporters hoping that their exile out of the Premier League is ended simultaneously or beforehand.

At present, the club's very existence seems to be on the line due to the continued saga involving Chansiri and a takeover, meaning nobody is none the wiser as to what happens in the upcoming seasons.