As the season enters its final stages now is the time that superstitious supporters look towards past trends and omens as a means of predicting what may happen during the run in.
For Sheffield Wednesday there are a couple of patterns that appear to be more than a little worrying for those that believe in this sort of thing.
With Wednesday expected to need at least five more wins to try and ensure Championship safety it would perhaps be unrealistic to expect them to win all five of their remaining home games given that they have lost as many on home turf as any other club in the division. Therefore an upturn in fortunes in away games will be required but with 6 away matches to come the omens are not good, especially in the away shirt.
Of seventeen league games played on their travels so far the Owls have won just three. More alarming is the record when wearing the change strip of yellow shirts. All of Wednesday’s away wins have come when wearing the traditional blue and white stripes with three wins, three defeats and two draws when wearing the home shirt away from Hillsborough.
Of the nine league games played in yellow shirts Wednesday have collected just three points thanks to draws at Peterborough, Crystal Palace and Ipswich. In those nine matches the Owls have scored a total of one solitary goal and have conceded 16. Of the six away matches still to come five of the teams that the Owls are yet to face on their travels play in either blue or white shirts at home meaning that Wednesday must put a quick end to their yellow peril if they are to give themselves a chance of survival.
Another worrying pattern is the fact that Wednesday have a tendency to change division in the first year of a new decade, a trend that dates back almost to the start of the 20th century and happens with concerning regularity.
Going right back to the 1899-1900 season, Wednesday won promotion from division two that season by way of winning the league. Ten years later saw a rare blip in the trend with Wednesday achieving a mid-table spot but in 1919/20 the club were relegated to division two. Ten years later having already gained promotion back to the top flight the club won the league. The 2nd World War put a halt to the football at the start of the next decade but the pattern picked up again in 1949/50 when second place in the division two again secured promotion.
The trend was broken in 1960 but a decade later it was picked up again as the Owls were relegated from the top flight. In 1980 promotion put an end to the dark days of a spell in the third division and in 1990 a crushing defeat to Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough on the final day of the season signalled relegation once more. Ten years ago Wednesday lost their Premier League status after finishing 19th in the top flight.
Now, ten years down the line promotion is not going to happen and so Wednesday need to buck this trend if they are to avoid their regular change of division as we enter into a new decade.