There’ll more than likely be a feeling of peculiarity to Sheffield Wednesday’s clash with Grimsby Town this evening.
The two sides face-off in the third round of the Carabao Cup having each pulled off remarkable coupon-busting feats last time out; Wednesday’s all-change youth side edging past a strong Leeds United outfit on penalties while the League Two Mariners shocked giants Manchester United via the same method.
The match will be played to the backdrop of supporter unrest at S6, with a huge number of home fans choosing to observe the ongoing boycott of spending in protest against the ongoing ownership of Dejphon Chansiri. A crowd of 7,801 supporters were present for the Owls’ Leeds success, with around 3,700 of those in the away allocation.
It is highly likely that travelling Grimsby supporters will outnumber home fans at tonight’s game, with Wednesday having responded to the Mariners’ request for more tickets by opening up the North Stand beyond the 4,000 away tickets already sold. At least 6,000 tickets have been sold to away fans. One calculation of home ticket sales, taken from the evidence of the Owls website, puts the number of home supporter tickets sold at less than 3,500.
Sheffield Wednesday are set to return to Hillsborough for Carabao Cup action.placeholder image
Sheffield Wednesday are set to return to Hillsborough for Carabao Cup action. | Michael Regan/Getty Images
Grimsby boss David Artell acknowledged the curiosity of the situation but made clear he does not expect an easy night for his players against a youthful Wednesday side going into the match with little to lose - and plenty to gain.
“It’s a terrific old ground and a really historic football club,” Artell said. “They’ve obviously got a bit of turbulence with all the stuff going on. We’ll be backed by a magnificent number and we’ll probably outnumber the home fans, which is an unbelievable thing to say really. I certainly understand, I think everyone understands, from their fans’ perspective.
“But we’ve got to make that tell for us and be important for us. But let’s not beat around the bush, they’re a Championship team and they’re a good Championship team. They play above our level and it’s as simple as that, it’s going to be a really tough night for us.
“Everyone will be looking at it saying ‘Oh they’re a club in turmoil so we should win’. This is going to be a tough night for us. They’re a good team and a team that plies their trade two leagues above us. So anyone that thinks we can just walk into Hillsborough and go ‘That’ll do’. No. They beat Leeds in the last round. It’s going to be a really tough game, but hopefully we can give those magnificent fans something to cheer about.”
Grimsby supporters who are attending the game have been encouraged by the Mariners Trust not to spend in the ground in solidarity with the boycott.
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