{"id":361,"date":"2025-05-23T15:55:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/sywf\/?p=361"},"modified":"2025-05-30T14:28:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T13:28:31","slug":"owl-or-nothing-running-sheffield-wednesday-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/sywf\/2025\/05\/23\/owl-or-nothing-running-sheffield-wednesday-ladies\/","title":{"rendered":"Owl or Nothing: Running Sheffield Wednesday Ladies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OWL ABOARD!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something incredibly alluring about how Sheffield Wednesday Ladies Chairman, Dave Higgins, speaks about the club he\u2019s shepherded for over a decade. Arguably, this is partly driven by his lifelong support for the men\u2019s team, yet there is this sense that Ladies are built into his very fabric and vice versa.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as he might want it to be the case, the Ladies’ team isn\u2019t officially linked with the side that plays at Hillsborough. The Championship side is managed by German gaffer Danny Rohl and bankrolled (to various degrees) by Thai businessman, Dejphon Chansiri. This fact seems to weigh heavily on Dave\u2019s mind. “We\u2019re the official ladies\u2019 section, but we\u2019re not under the club\u2019s wing. We use their badge, kit, and facilities- but we pay for it all. People don\u2019t realise we\u2019re separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An outsider might look at this as a shocking fact and a disappointing reality of non-league women\u2019s football. They would be right. Despite not taking a penny from the club for his role, Dave is fully immersed in the financial realities of running a club of the magnitude of Wednesday Ladies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People assume we\u2019re looked after by Sheffield Wednesday<\/a>, but we\u2019re self-sufficient. Nobody gives us money except what we generate through player subscriptions. It costs around \u00a340,000 to \u00a350,000 a year to run the club. Kit alone can cost us \u00a315,000 to \u00a320,000 every two years, and pitch fees are about \u00a315,000 annually. And we do it all as volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019ve had meetings with every Sheffield Wednesday chairman in the last 15 years. We\u2019ve always been willing to come under their wing, but the logistics- like who handles payments or subs get in the way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most women\u2019s clubs in the country, Wednesday Ladies are battling against the elements to try and stay afloat whilst meeting expectations, which are more exorbitant than most in their league. Playing in the North East Regional Women’s Football League (sixth tier) may not be quite what you\u2019d expect for a side who wears the emblem of such a historical Yorkshire football outfit, but Dave has stark ambitions for the future. “Short-term, our goal is to make the National League. But getting there is tough. It\u2019s not just about talent\u2014it\u2019s about money, facilities, and time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking to me in his living room, Dave\u2019s rather comfortable-looking sofa and busy wallpaper give the impression of him being just an average bloke in an average house- yet there is more than what meets the eye. In the two-up-two-down that is his Sheffield abode resides arguably one of the other most important people in the Sheffield and Hallamshire grassroots scene, his wife, Julie Higgins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As well as tying the knot of marriage, Dave and Julie are a union that represents the strength of grassroots football for thousands of people in Yorkshire. Along with being a councillor for the Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA for women and girls football, Julie acts as one of the largest cogs in the Wednesday Ladies’ engine- the Club Secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Without Julie, we\u2019d be absolutely knackered. She\u2019s not just the club secretary; she\u2019s the gaffer. Welfare, pitches, fixtures- she does it all. Everyone in South Yorkshire grassroots football knows Julie Higgins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie\u2019s responsible for about 4,000 players. That\u2019s from under-sevens right through to the four divisions at Sheffield and Hallamshire. She does this with just a small committee.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The super-team of Dave and Julie Higgins doesn\u2019t have a traditional hero origin story, but a football genesis born out of necessity and a need to save their beloved club\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOOTBALL FACTIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity to become Sheffield Wednesday Ladies Chairman can\u2019t necessarily be described as a gracious step, more as a move to right an increasingly unstable ship. Over a decade ago, the original Wednesday Ladies first team split from it\u2019s junior sides and the men\u2019s club, trying to assert themselves as an independent side. Not only did this not work, but it became an incredibly complex situation to resolve. At the time, Dave had been involved at the club through his daughter and her junior playing career for the Owls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen she was eight years old, she wanted to play football. I\u2019m a Sheffield Wednesday fan\u2014I used to take her to matches. A good friend of mine, Kevin Pressman, who was the goalkeeper back in the old Premiership days, used to get us tickets for the players’ lounge. My daughter grew up around footballers, and by the time she was nine, she decided she wanted to be a footballer herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sheffield Rangers, there were only about 20 clubs in South Yorkshire at the time. They used to meet once every three weeks at designated grounds- there was no real structure. That\u2019s how far things have come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started as a parent on the sidelines. By the time my daughter was 14 and joined Sheffield Wednesday Ladies, I got more involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly involved, Dave watched from the sidelines as the breakaway Wednesday Ladies ran up debt. Meanwhile, managing one of the younger sides still a part of the original set up, he was then called into a meeting that would prove pivotal to the future of the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey told us: \u2018We want Sheffield Wednesday Ladies, your team, to take on the mantle.\u2019 That was a pivotal moment. We had six or seven junior teams then, and it felt like the foundation for something bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife and I stepped in as vice chairman and vice secretary and then took over as chairman and secretary when the previous leadership retired. It was a huge responsibility, but we\u2019ve never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went from being \u2018another body\u2019 helping out with fitness to assistant manager, then manager, and eventually chairman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years since, It\u2019s not all been a fairytale for his beloved club, as they continue to develop and face adversity. Recent exponential growth in women\u2019s football, partly due to the success of the Lionesses\u2019 and their Euros victory in 2022, has given the national setup a boost and drawn eyes to what will surely be a burgeoning industry over the coming decades. “Women’s football has come so far in 20 years. It\u2019s gone from girls finding a group of mates to play with to players aiming for the Super League. The opportunities now are unbelievable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now though, there is money, but virtually none below the Women\u2019s National League setup (tier four).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoney is the biggest factor. Why shouldn\u2019t women\u2019s football get more support from the FA, Sky, or even the men\u2019s game? It\u2019s like a dam with a tiny hole, and by the time money trickles down to grassroots, there\u2019s nothing left.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the club lacks money, they are overflowing with heart and soul. One of the more salient points of passion from Dave was the fact that the club offers opportunities to women and girls at all ages. With a ginormous smile on his face after a sip from his mug of hot beverage, Dave walked me through what could be described as his bottom-line for the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n