Play-off final: Ritchie Humphreys ready to see Sheffield Wednesday back in the Premier League
Saturday 28 May 2016 17:11, UK
It’s 20 years since Sheffield Wednesday topped the Premier League and 16 years since they were even in the top flight. But one player from that period is still lacing up his boots and PFA chairman Ritchie Humphreys is wondering where the time’s gone for the Owls…
"People always remember that first day of the 1996/97 season because David Beckham scored from the halfway line," Ritchie Humphreys tells Sky Sports. "That's a really iconic moment in Premier League history." But that's not why Humphreys remembers it.
"I also scored that day for Wednesday," he says. "It's funny the way it's coming around. When it gets to August, it'll be 20 years since I first came on the scene. After winning those first four games, we were top of the Premier League. We did well that year."
In the end, they finished seventh. Not that it was considered particularly out of the ordinary at the time. The Owls had won the League Cup in 1991, finished third in the top division in 1992 and then went to Wembley four times in a month the following year.
Both cup finals were narrowly lost to Arsenal, the FA Cup after a replay, but the memory of a semi-final win over Sheffield United after extra-time has lingered long - particularly for a boyhood Blade in Humphreys.
"It was kind of weird for me because I had been released by Sheffield United, the team I'd supported as a boy," he says. "But to go to an FA Cup final at 15 was amazing. We got the opportunity to go down as part of the centre of excellence."
Three years later, he was Wednesday's bright young thing, scoring in wins over Aston Villa and Leeds before netting a memorable Monday Night Football goal against Leicester - chipping Kasey Keller from long range.
"Absolutely brilliant," said former Owls boss Trevor Francis on co-commentary for Sky Sports. "Absolute arrogance," replied Alan Parry in delight.
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Seen by some as the natural successor to Chris Waddle, Humphreys had arrived. "It all started back then," he says. "It will never leave me. I got an England Under-21 cap straight away off the back of those performances."
He might not have hit the same heights since but it's been a successful career spanning more than 700 appearances for seven clubs. At 38, he's looking to sign a new contract at Chesterfield and extend his stint as the PFA's chairman.
"I played in Chesterfield's last reserve game," he recalls. "We won 3-2 and I scored the first goal. Somebody pointed out that the first goalscorer - me - was older than the other two goalscorers put together. That did make me feel old."
Many of the Humphreys' team-mates at Sheffield Wednesday are now in their fifties. They were seasoned internationals well before some of his current colleagues were born. "They are the best players I've played with," he admits.
"Chris Waddle, John Sheridan, Des Walker, Chris Woods, Dan Petrescu, Paolo Di Canio… What an upbringing for me? When we were YTS lads, pretty much the whole team were internationals. So you couldn't help but learn.
"There were also guys like Regi Blinker, Marc Degryse, Benito Carbone, Steve Nicol at the back end of his career. It doesn't seem that long ago but when you think of everything that's happened since…"
For Wednesday supporters if not Humphreys, much of what's followed has been a disappointment. Relegated from the Premier League in 2000 - "top players had to leave because of the wages and stuff" - the club dropped into the third tier by 2003.
"I'd left by the time they went to League One but we've seen it happened to a few clubs in Yorkshire with Leeds and Bradford too," he adds. There was a play-off promotion in 2005 - against Humphreys' Hartlepool - but the low point was yet to come.
After dropping into League One again in 2010, the following season saw the lowest average attendance of the past 30 years - a still respectable 17,817 - as the team finished outside of the top 60 in the country. Now they're one game away from returning to the game's elite.
It's been a long time. I hope they do it for the city.
The prize is huge, worth an estimated £170m to the club. But its significance to Sheffield is more than mere money. "I've got friends in the city who are all Sheffield Wednesday and they'll all be there on Saturday," says Humphreys. "It's a tremendous day.
"For a club of that size to be out of the top flight for as long as they have is a big deal. It's been a long time. I hope they do it for the city. It's got the fan base and it's got the history. Hopefully they'll find their way back."
