How Sheffield Wednesday comeback captured heart of Ukrainian teenager at his first Owls match

Oleksiy Golovay, 18, moved to Sheffield from Ukraine a year ago and went to the game after his friend Ross Evans found himself with a last-minute spare ticket.

Hopeful that Wednesday could win on the night, Oleksiy had no expectations that they could reverse the 4-0 first leg deficit but the historic comeback transformed him into an Owls fan for life, and he’s hoping to go be at the Wembley final.

“When I first moved to England someone gave me a ticket for a Sheffield United game, but was 0-0, not very good and not exciting as last week,” Oleksiy said. “I’d always liked Sheffield Wednesday and that’s made me a fan, it’s expensive to go to the final but I really want to go.”

Oleksiy hails from Dunbo in western Ukraine, a city he described as ‘not that badly affected’ by the Russian invasion as it ‘only had one rocket’ launched towards it.

He moved to Sheffield to study at Chapeltown Academy, where he studies economics, business and English. That’s where he met Ross Evans, 17 from Grenoside, who’s supported Wednesday since he was nine and witnessed last year’s heartbreaking injury-time loss to Sunderland first-hand.

“We were walking home from college before the game and my brother didn’t want to go to having watched the first leg so I asked Oleksiy if he wanted the ticket,” Ross said.

“I was telling him the size of the crowds he didn’t believe that many people come to Hillsborough week in, week out, all game he was in shock at the number of fans and the noise they made.

“I’m definitely glad he’s picked Wednesday and not any other team.”

Ross insisted he was hopeful on a night that Owls entered with nothing to lose, and really started to believe when they entered half-time with a two-goal lead after Michael Smith’s scored an early penalty and Lee Gregory slipped his shot past the helpless Will Norris.

The pair were sat alongside another school friend, Rowan Blagburn, just ten rows behind the Kop End goal and could barely watch the penalty shootout.

Having quickly learned the vernacular of the terraces and even contributing some not-so-encouraging words for the Posh keeper during the shootout, Oleksiy joined his friends in rushing onto the Hillsborough turf after Jack Hunt calmly slotted the matchwinning penalty.

“Everyone ran onto the pitch and I was there, it was a new experience for me but it was so fun,” he added.

“I thought because they lost last game 4-0, I thought not many people would come to this game but it was so loud, such a huge event.”

“I thought Wednesday would win but I didn’t think it’d be 5-1 and they’d reach the final, he added.”