Sheffield Wednesday don’t know what division they will be playing in next season


The club could yet be deducted 21 points by the EFL for financial misconduct


Five years ago, they lost in the play-off final to Hull City


So where did it go wrong? (THREAD)


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The story begins in 2016/17, as Wednesday splash the cash after falling short at Wembley


Almen Abdi is the headline arrival, costing £4m from Watford


Abdi was released in 2019 after making 20 league appearances in FOUR years at the club


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The season starts well with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa


However, Fernando Forestieri refuses to travel to Norwich City the following week and demands to leave


Forestieri stays put and signs a new deal later but for many, his reputation is tarnished


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There's a shock departure early in the season...


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January comes along and Wednesday are in a strong position for another top-six finish


Jordan Rhodes arrives on deadline day for a club-record fee of £8m to get them over the line


He's scored 11 league goals in three and a half years


Prolific.


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A six-game winning run sees Wednesday finish the season fourth in the table


But after 0-0 and 1-1 draws with Huddersfield Town in the play-offs, they're beaten on penalties, with Forestieri missing the pivotal spot-kick


to the drawing board 


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2017/18 marked Wednesday's 150-year anniversary, with optimism of automatic promotion in the air...


Pre-season began in peculiar fashion as the club hit the headline for baking a cake


It weighed a whopping 285kg and broke the Guinness World Record


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Sheffield Wednesday ditch Sondico and use an in-house manufacturer for their anniversary kit


But there is a massive delay and the kit isn't unveiled until three days before the season starts


The kits eventually go on sale in 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗥


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The 17/18 transfer window proved difficult


After looking at over 200 centre-backs, in the words of Carlos Carvalhal, the club sign Joost van Aken for £4m


He's made just 15 Championship appearances to date and spent this season on loan in the Bundesliga.2


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After a nightmare start in the first Steel City derby for over five years, Wednesday pull level after being 2-0 down to Sheffield United


Then this happened...


Yes, that's £4m Van Aken getting twisted inside out by Mark Duffy


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There was a media blackout following the derby defeat


But Carvalhal saved something very special for their next pre-match press conference


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Forestieri is ruled out until April with a serious knee injury


16 players are injury at once in December and results worsen


Westwood, Lees, Lee, Bannan, Hooper, Fletcher, Hutchinson and Wallace all miss large portions of the season

Happy bloody birthday


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Carvalhal leaves the club on Christmas Eve 2017 after a 2-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough, with the club 15th and eight points above the drop zone


Despite winning the game, Boro boss Garry Monk is also sacked with the club three points outside the top-six


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Things go from bad to worse as manager-less Wednesday are beaten 3-0 on New Year's Day by Burton Albion


Just look at this defending

Some 150-year anniversary.


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Jos Luhukay comes in and steadies the ship, as Wednesday take 20 points from their final 10 games


They finish 15th whilst Atdhe Nuhiu scores a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Norwich on the final day of the season

His XI at Millwall will never be forgotten


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So, into the 2018/19 season we go


There's a massive scrap in pre-season away at Mansfield, which sees fit-again Forestieri accused of racism, leading to an 18-month investigation


Not very 'friendly' at all


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Wednesday have to cut their cloth due to FFP concerns

Hunt is sold, Westwood and Hutchinson are frozen out, whilst Rhodes is sent out on a season-long loan to Norwich


The club spend most of the summer under a transfer embargo


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Wednesday struggle to build any form under Luhukay and are spanked 4-0 at home by Norwich, six months after beating them 5-1


Teemu Pukki grabs a brace as fans call for Luhukay to be sacked and the return of Westwood and Hutchinson 


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Things to from bad to worse away at Swansea City, as the Owls throw away a one-goal lead to lose 2-1


Luhukay repsonds angrily to questions over his future, in what turns out to be his final match in charge


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Steve Bruce takes over in February and the Owls narrowly miss out on the play-offs after a fantastic run of form


It feels like a new dawn, Bruce has four promotion on his CV and is determined to take the club back to the Premier League


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Wednesday post pictures of new signings Julian Borner, Kadeem Harris and Moses Odubajo on their pre-season tour

All three players are free agents and can’t be announced due to a 'soft' embargo because of a delay in the club's accounts


Trouble is brewing

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At the start of June, Bruce is linked with the vacant managerial position at Newcastle United


He batted away speculation at first, then four days later his tune had changed...


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Another four days passed and Bruce was named the Newcastle boss, leaving Wednesday scorned and without a manager, two weeks before the start of the 2019/20 season


Not ideal preparation


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Garry Monk arrives at Hillsborough six weeks into the season despite being a free agent all summer


Things start well though with wins over Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough to keep the Owls in play-off contention


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November comes and the season is ticking along nicely


Remember the accounts verified by the EFL in July after a delay? Yeah well...

Seasons of heavy spending threaten to derail their season

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Meanwhile the FA find Forestieri guilty of 'using racist language' during the pre-season brawl at Mansfield, 18 months ago

He's banned for six-games as his career at Wednesday continues to suffer setback after setback

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Wednesday deny the charges and thus a nine-month legal battle begins


On the field, Rhodes nets a hat-trick away at Nottingham Forest, his first goals of the season


The Owls are third on Christmas day

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Wednesday form begins to dip as uncertainty over a points deduction rumbles on...


Westwood and Hutchinson are frozen out yet again


They get spanked 5-0 by Brentford before lockdown on a run of nine defeats in 14 league games to leave them in mid-table


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Three months of lockdown and still no resolution on the EFL charge


Victories over Bristol City are sandwiched either side of a three-game losing run


Steven Fletcher and Forestieri's leave on frees, leaving three-goal front man Rhodes leading the line again


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That brings us to Tuesday, July 21


With the Championship season set to reach a dramatic conclusion in the next 30 hours, Wednesday's wait to discover whether they're hit with a points deduction that will end their Championship status goes on.


and on. and on.


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The maximum deduction Wednesday could face is 21 points

The independent panel have been mulling over a decision for THREE weeks, yet fans are no clearer to knowing whether they will be watching League One football next year

If you did enjoy this (very) in-depth thread recapping the last four years, please drop us a follow for the latest Championship news


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If you fancy following the craftsman behind this painful thread

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