Previous Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri leapt down for a gulp of claimed ‘football-ownership-know-how’ and instead spat out point deductions, not paying the staff on time, quite literally begging the fans for money and had more players leaving Sheffield, rather than joining. So, thank god for Barry Bannan.
And before you say it – he’s about to leave himself. But I personally believe Bannan is a freak of nature or quite possibly a rare-breed of individuals, who outlasted what I call the ‘Chansiri apocalypse’.
Yes, as weird as it may seem – Barry Bannan has officially played his final game for Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, in a 2-0 defeat to Bristol City. The former Scotland midfielder is changing badges for the first time since 2015, as he looks to cement a move to high-flying Millwall.
Some may see this as his loyalty not being as highly regarded as some fans thought it was. Others, and definitely the more widely-accepted shared feeling from the fanbase, honour the time he’s given to the club. Especially with that being in its darkest period.
I’ve definitely not seen him as much as others have. Although, I can officially say I saw Wednesday play on a Wednesday – back on November 5th, in a 1-1 draw against Norwich. Just the once was enough for me to know how much he’s adored by the Owls fanbase.
It might’ve been the Wednesday captain taking a corner, prompting a mighty applause from the crowd that Bannan duly acknowledged. Or, even on a larger scale – when he scored his fourth-minute goal that night. It was an absolute screamer outside the box, which even had the away fans simply mesmerized by it all, or certainly at least for the opening ten minutes.
The point-ordering at teammates in the middle of the park, the constant scanning for pockets of space, the fight that he had making it so clear and obvious that he lives and breathes Wednesday and, of course, the goal itself. Everything was there for me, served up on a plate, to know how important he has been (and still was) for Sheffield Wednesday.
I walked away seeing a battle at the bottom of the Championship. Yet, I left with furthering my knowledge – Mr Barry Bannan, quite simply, is the King of the north-west of Sheffield.
There’s debate on whether Wednesday have the insufficient means for Barry Bannan to still play for the club, with his contract being the most expensive out of the whole squad.
Or does it simply go down as just having to pay that little bit extra if you’re wanting a true professional of the game?
With a more fitting and capable owner, who lacks enigmaticism and rather gains pragmatism, when steering the ship at Hillsborough, could’ve resulted in continuing to work with the 36-year old midfielder, until retirement.
Then again, without the incompetency, we might’ve got a more disloyal Barry Bannan, who felt more at ease to jump ship, and would’ve done so years ago. Football’s a funny thing, right?
Because that’s the thing, there have been moments to leave this certain messy show, long before it became, well, even more messy.
Dean Smith showed interest in Bannan in 2018 and tried signing him back to his former club, Aston Villa, for around £8 million.
To Villa’s own disappointment, it was during a time where the Owls were way more financially-able to just say no, compared to how they are in 2026.
It was also one of the innumerable times that the midfielder realised how deeply loved and admired he was at the club.
The feeling resonated so much that it made it that whole lot harder to say yes when another team came calling for his services. It’s probably why he’s given a decades-worth of time to the club, which truthfully might’ve never had been the plan in the first place
The world needs more Barry Bannans.
If he had his own book of life lessons, it’d feature a chapter on how to be a selfless footballer, another on always having the fans at your best interest and further along there’d also be one on knowing the responsibility as the captain and the heart-beat of the team.
As important as they all are, we should leave the best ‘till last. Everyone should read up on the time he gave for this club and became a heroic symbol that the fans needed in times that even tested their own loyalty and certainly patience.
The captain stood by them. He wasn’t giving up on them and pulled through right until the end and football fans shouldn’t have the incentive to support a club for a singular player. But I feel some probably did only attend an empty Hillsborough, simply because Barry Bannan was playing.
As mentioned, he probably did stay beyond expectation when joining the club in 2015. But because of it, he’ll go down as the modern-day Sheffield Wednesday hero. There really is only one Barry Bannan.
