The Queen liked Sheffield Wednesday’s name – and what was said when she visited Hillsborough

Her Majesty, who passed away at the age of 96 earlier this week, visited Hillsborough on two separate occasions, once a couple of years after her coronation, and then again in 1986 when the roofed Kop was opened at S6.

It was during that second state visit that – as per Owls historian, Jason Dickinson, in his official history of the club – she voiced her opinion on the club’s name, and Wednesday were very pleased to welcome her.

Bert McGee, the Wednesday chairman who would go on to get an OBE a few years later, welcomed the Queen and was present as she unveiled the plaque to celebrate the Kop’s latest expansion.

Speaking in his programme notes for the opening of the stand in December 1986, McGee said, “It is 32 years ago since Her Majesty the Queen, with His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh KG, last visited Hillsborough there have been many changes since.

“Indeed the intervening years form a very significant and interesting part of Sheffield Wednesday's history. From being very well established at the top of the First Division of the Football League, we came into troubled waters and traversed the Second and Third Divisions, almost down to the Fourth. We are again in our rightful place in Division One of the Football League, playing football in one of the best stadiums in Europe.

“Since Her Majesty was last here we have built the North Stand, the West Stand, the Sports Hall and then, this year, extended and roofed the Kop, to make it unquestionably the largest standing terraced Kop with cover in the UK. Our capacity has risen to 55,000 and we have almost 25,000 seats.

“Today is a marvellous opportunity to appreciate and applaud those improvements but also to appreciate there is still much work to be done, on and off the pitch. Our facilities, although second to none, will still continue to be improved and our playing staff will go similarly from strength to strength.

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“Today Sheffield is represented in the stadium by all manner and kinds of citizens, from young school children to senior citizens, and it is a great honour to this club to be able to welcome, with pleasure, Her Majesty to open our new Kop and give us all a day to savour and remember.”

In total Her Majesty spent just 40 minutes at Hillsborough for the event, arriving at 2.30pm before there was a recital by the City of Sheffield Girls Choir. She unveiled the plaque around 2.47pm before leaving the stadium at 3.10pm.

The Queen visited Sheffield on many occasions during her long reign as the country’s monarch, most recently making the trip in 2015 when she and her husband, Prince Phillip, attended the Royal Maundy Service at Sheffield Cathedral in April of that year.

It was confirmed on Saturday that her state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on September 19th at 11am, a day that has been declared a public holiday.

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