Bygones: Why Sheffield Wednesday means so much to Mel Sterland

Mel Sterland signs pro contracts with the then Owls boss Jack Charlton.

MEL STERLAND'S two league title successes either side of the Border may have come elsewhere but little compared to representing his beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

It is why the former full-back, brought up on the Manor estate in the Steel City and a regular on the Kop back in the days when supporters were still open to the elements, is eagerly looking forward to tonight’s gala dinner to celebrate the Owls being formed exactly 150 years ago.

“This is such a special football club,” Sterland, still a regular at Hillsborough, told The Yorkshire Post. “It doesn’t matter whether you are a fan or an ex-player, Sheffield Wednesday is a club that gets under your skin.

“I was taken to watch my first game by my brother and was hooked straight away. To go from that to captaining such a great club and playing so many games was fantastic for me and something that still makes me proud.”

Sterland racked up 347 appearances during 11 years with the Owls. He was also part of two promotion-winning squads, played in two FA Cup semi-finals and became the club’s first full England international in more than two decades when making his one and only senior appearance in 1988.

These statistics, however, tell only a fraction of Sterland’s time at Hillsborough with the contrasting managerial styles of Jack Charlton and Howard Wilkinson offering a wealth of stories.

“I actually served my apprenticeship under Len Ashurst,” recalls the former defender. “But he left and ‘Big Jack’ came in. He was brilliant with me, even if we didn’t start off too well when I went in to sign my first contract after finishing my apprenticeship.

“There were no agents back then, so it was just me and him. I was nervous as I knocked on the door, being that age and going into see someone who had won the World Cup on my own was frightening.

Mel Sterland at home in Sheffield, pictured with his U21s cap.

“Anyway, I went in and there was Jack, fag hanging out of his mouth and this big hat on. He looked me up and down, knowing full well why I was there, and said: ‘What do you want?’

“My Dad had told me to ask for £250 per week. So, I did – and Jack nearly choked on his fag! His hat also fell on the floor.

“After shaking his head, he just pushed a bit of paper at me and said: ‘Sign that’. It was £60 per week and £50 appearance money. I signed and couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”