Seagulls draw sends Owls down to Division Two

Wednesday hit a new low on Easter Monday when, for the first time in 23 years, they dropped down to Division Two. A battling perfomance at the Withdean Stadium saw the Owls take a point, but a point wasn't good enough with Stoke City's 1-0 win over Coventry City. Chris Turner and his assistant Colin West will now begin preperations to build a squad capable of bringing Wednesday straight back into Division One.

It was exactly 10 years ago that Wednesday were flying high in the Premier League and preparing themselves for two trips to Wembley in two cup finals, of which neither would bring them success. Since that season it has been a long, sad road for Owls fans.

Trevor Francis was the manager then, and since that time Wednesday have gone through a further seven managers, Chris Turner being the eighth. From the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United - the Owls will next season be facing the likes of Cheltenham Town, Brentford and Rushen & Diamonds.

Wednesday still have two games to play out this season, with players likely to be playing for contracts in those games. The summer is likely to be one full of transfers with 11 of the current squad out of contract. At least six of those will definately go and will need replacing with players more likely to fit a pay structure of a Division Two team.

This report from the BBC Football website:

Bobby Zamora's equaliser consigned Sheffield Wednesday to relegation from Division One - but Brighton seem certain to follow them into Division Two. Stoke's win at Coventry ensured the Owls will be playing Second Division football next season.

But with Brighton six points adrift with just two games remaining, Steve Coppell's men remain strong favourites to join them. A visibly nervous Seagulls side went behind to Grant Holt's well-taken strike in the 16th minute, but Zamora's second-half penalty proved enough to save their skins for at least another week.

Home boss Steve Coppell threw injury-prone striker Paul Kitson into the fray in place of Gary Hart. His counterpart Chris Turner made three changes to the side that drew at Grimsby with Holt, Steve Haslam and Ashley Westwood all handed starts. Wednesday made the early inroads and Paul McClaren saw a close-range header saved by Dave Beasant before they took the lead. Westwood found space on the left and his cross was turned by Michael Reddy into the path of Holt, the striker plucked from non-league Barrow coolly drilling the ball past Beasant.

The goal stung Brighton into action, but with Danny Maddix and Leigh Bromby standing firm in the centre of Wednesday's rearguard, the hosts were restricted to a weak Kitson header which was comfortably dealt with by Kevin Pressman.

The hosts began the second half far brighter, and gained their reward when Holt handled a Kerry Mayo cross in the area on 57 minutes. Zamora kept his nerve to send Kevin Pressman the wrong way. Brighton should have taken the lead five minutes later but Pressman pulled off a stunning save from Kitson's firm header. With a draw of little use to either side, the game became scrappy with Westwood and Seagulls defender Danny Cullip booked in quick succession for unsporting behaviour.

Turner threw on striker Shefki Kuqi with eight minutes remaining, but the Owls could not find the goal that would have at least temporarily staved off relegation. But a draw means they are likely to have another trip to Brighton to look forward to next season.

Half-time: Brighton 0-1 Owls