What is Hillsborough’s capacity? All you need to know about the home of Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday’s home ground Hillsborough will once again be hosting Championship football next season.

The Owls won promotion from League One through the play-offs and will return to the second tier next campaign after a two-year absence.

Hillsborough proved to be a fortress this season and Wednesday had the joint-second best home record in the division along with Ipswich Town, losing just one game on their own patch which came against Barnsley all the way back in September.

It has been a turbulent decade for the Owls, spending nine years in the Championship, including missing out on promotion to the Premier League twice in the play-offs in 2016 and 2017, before their relegation to League One in 2021.

As Wednesday preparations for life back in the Championship, we looked at the capacity of Hillsborough and compared it with some of those they will be coming up against next term.

What is the capacity of Hillsborough?

Hillsborough has a capacity of 39,732, which will make it the second-largest stadium in the Championship next season.

Only Sunderland’s Stadium of Light can hold more than the Owls’ home ground with a capacity of 48,707, while Leeds United’s Elland Road (37,890), Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium (33,746) and Cardiff City’s Cardiff City Stadium (33,280) are among the other biggest venues in the division.

The smallest ground in the Championship is Rotherham United’s New York Stadium which has a capacity of 12,021, followed by Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park (17,441) and Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road (18,439).

Wednesday are known for their passionate fan base, and they had one of the highest attendances in League One this season, attracting an average crowd of 25,378, according to Transfermarkt.

Their highest home attendance was 33,442 for the top-of-the-table clash against Plymouth Argyle in February, while their lowest came for the Papa John’s Trophy game against Leicester City U21s in October with just 3,173.

For the Owls’ last season in the Championship in which fans were permitted to attend games, they recorded an average attendance of 18,573 as they suffered a decline in form in the second half of the season under Garry Monk, finishing 16th in the table despite sitting third at Christmas.

Given their impressive attendances in the third tier, it is likely that average will be significantly higher next season and Wednesday will be hoping they can replicate their exceptional home record from this campaign on their return to the Championship.