Covering Sheffield Wednesday as a fan is a life of extremes - Joe Crann’s column

I’d been out of the country for about a decade, travelled back to watch them, followed everything from afar, and when the opportunity arose to follow my team home and away for a living then I absolutely jumped at the opportunity.

I’ve said before, I think, that if you’d asked me at 14 what my dream job would be then what I’m doing right now is it. We were in League One – well, Division 2, technically – back then as well, but as an aspiring football journalist there was only one goal really.

So fast-forward a decade or so, and working for The Star covering the team I spent my life supporting was an absolute no-brainer. It’s one of those life achievements you don’t pass up.

Before I go on, just to clarify, I genuinely love what I do, this isn’t a complaint. It’s still a dream to be doing it…

But one thing I didn’t cater for when I took this job was just how much it would affect my general mood. And I mean that both ways.

I’ll always be objective in my work, of course. But, put it this way, my weekend is a lot better when Wednesday win.

Obviously that’s the same for all of you reading this as well, but you know when they say ‘Don’t take your work home with you’? Not really much of a choice is there.

So when Wednesday win, it’s great. Match of the Day will be on, I’ll be watching all the football I can over the weekend. After a defeat, when my Twitter’s full of vitriol about this, that and the other, I want nothing to do with it.

In my last job I didn’t really mind who won what. I didn’t take it home with me.

It’s all very different now… When it’s bad, I have to watch it being bad, then ask about why it was bad, then write about how bad it is. And hope that the next one is less bad.

When it’s good though, it’s glorious. So here’s hoping there’s more good than bad on the horizon. For all of us.

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