Why Sheffield Wednesday fans will be scratching their eyes this Saturday | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday fans will be scratching their eyes on Saturday when they face Millwall at Hillsborough - and here's why...

It could be argued that there are some players who simply belong to a football club, which is the case when Millwall travel to face Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday.

For nearly a decade, Barry Bannan and Sheffield Wednesday have felt inseparable. So when Millwall arrive at Hillsborough this weekend and Bannan steps out in the away colours, there will be more than a few Owls supporters blinking twice just to make sure what they’re seeing is real.

It will be the first time it truly feels real for many, live in the flesh, because Bannan playing against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough? It’s something many probably never truly imagined, especially having turned 36 in December.

But that is the reality after his January transfer window switch to The Den. Bannan was signed in the summer of 2015 from Crystal Palace, arriving in South Yorkshire with pedigree but without the fanfare that would follow.

Barry Bannan is set to return to Hillsborough for Millwall against Sheffield Wednesday

Wednesday were building under Carlos Carvalhal and had quietly assembled one of the most talented squads in the Championship. Bannan slotted in seamlessly. He was a technical and relentlessly competitive footballer, and quickly became the heartbeat of a side that would reach the play-off final in his first season.

From there, his influence only grew. While managers came and went, relegation battles replaced promotion pushes, and financial uncertainty loomed large, Bannan remained. That loyalty did not go unnoticed. In 2020, he was handed the captain’s armband — a fitting recognition of both his standards and his standing within the dressing room.

By the time he eventually departed, Bannan had racked up just shy of 500 appearances for the Owls, placing him among the club’s modern greats. He wasn’t just a consistent performer; he was the player everything flowed through. When Wednesday needed composure, it was Bannan demanding the ball.

When they needed a moment of quality, it was usually his left foot providing it. There have been countless highlights in a Wednesday shirt. The stunning long-range strikes to leave Hillsborough gasping. The tireless midfield display in the 2016 play-off semi-final against Brighton. The leadership he showed during the League One promotion campaign under Darren Moore.

In so many ways, he drove standards in pressurised seasons, including for five months of the 2025/26 campaign. That includes, of course, the unforgettable comeback against Peterborough United in the 2023 play-off semi-finals — a night that will live long in the memory of everyone inside S6.

Through the highs and the lows of the last 10 years, Bannan was a constant. That’s why Saturday’s fixture carries such emotional weight. This isn’t just another former player returning with a new club. This is their captain, a true leader, and a player many supporters would comfortably describe as a Sheffield Wednesday legend.

For Bannan himself, it will undoubtedly feel strange, too. Hillsborough was his home for the best part of a decade. He grew into his thirties there and started a life and family within the city. He captained the side through adversity. He built a bond with the fanbase that very few modern players manage to forge.

To walk down that tunnel and turn into the away dressing room will feel unfamiliar at best for the now Millwall man. To step out on the pitch at Hillsborough in the shirt and colours of another side will feel wrong at worst.

Barry Bannan could still have a huge impact for Millwall

Millwall, meanwhile, will hope sentiment doesn’t come into it. They have signed a player whose experience, composure, and technical quality still shine through. Even in the latter stages of his Wednesday career, Bannan remained one of the Championship’s most effective midfield operators.

At his best, we can all see that he is still capable of dictating tempo, pushing standards, and maintaining the bite in his game that has always made him such a fierce competitor. But football has a way of creating moments that transcend tactics.

The reception he receives will be fascinating, too. It would be a surprise if it’s anything other than warm, and possibly much more. Wednesday supporters recognise what he gave to the club. In an era where loyalty is fleeting, Bannan stayed through the toughest of times. That matters.

Yet, once the whistle blows, nostalgia will give way to 90 minutes of Championship football. And that may be the strangest part of all: potentially seeing Bannan spraying passes around Hillsborough, just not in their blue and white.

For years, he was the face of Sheffield Wednesday. And for many in S6, that is all they are used to.