Sinister: I could be your car's one good headlight

[Nigel R. Townshend]

JENOWL22 at aol.com writes:
>Lay of Sheffield Wednesday. They are good because their nickname is the owls 

no they rubbish and they're not the owls there the pigs

as history will tell us:

"The Wednesday" sports club was formed on 4th September 1867. The club was founded as a
"Gentleman's Cricket Society. The football club was not founded until 13 years later, and first
played its games at the Olive Grove Sports Ground in Heeley before moving to a new stadium in the
Owlerton district of Sheffield.

The first Ordnance Survey maps (1850's) mark a building close to where the stadium now stands as
'Swine Cottage'. They also show another farm on Penistone Road, south of where the North Stand is
situated, which was also believed to be a large piggery. 

Pork farming is thought to have been practised in the area since the early 1800's, and did not
cease until around 1900 when the city's rapid expansion put an end to livestock production in the
area. At its height the "Owlerton Piggery," as it was known, provided work for some 50 employees.

Initial discussions about a nickname began soon after the Wednesday arrived at Owlerton. In
reference to their new home, most club officials were in favour of "The Owls." However, another
suggestion was also popular. In view of the area's strong tradition of pork farming, a popular
grass-roots alternative was "The Pigs." 

Indeed the clubs board was split 50 / 50 when they took a vote on the new nickname. The Chairmans
vote swung it and they decided upon The Owls. However as one board member was quoted in the minutes
We may now be called The Owls, but well always be The Pigs to me.

Although the name "Owls" prevailed, many working class supporters continued to refer to their team
as "t'pigs." As late as the 1920's, fans used to welcome their team onto the field with the
characteristic grunting sound we still associate with the club. BBC commentator Edward Milburn, who
famously described Hillsborough as a sea of grunts moments after The Wednesday won the First
Division title in 1932, once referred to this peculiarity.

Although most Wednesday fans deny it today, the evidence that they are "pigs" is unequivocal.


from                                  
http://www.sufc.co.uk/      


ps sorry i will never blatenley miss use sinsiter ever again for promtoing sheffield united and
besmirching sheffield wednesday

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