If Wednesdayites feared that relegation and an enforced change of headquarters would prove to be a potentially fatal upheaval, then the manner in which the team opened the 1899-1900 season quickly restored hope. Almost exactly 22 years to the day after the Club had been formed (2 September 1899, to be precise) Wednesday comprehensively defeated Chesterfield 5-1 in the Owlerton curtain-raiser - a fitting introduction to a campaign in which all 17 home league games yielded maximum points (this feat has only been accomplished, either before or since, by six other teams in the entire history of the Football League).

It rapidly became clear that the Second Division would not hold The Wednesday for long. Sure enough, a 4-0 thrashing of Port Vale in April (thanks largely to a hat-trick from Jock Wright, who that year became the first Wednesday man to score 20-plus league goals in a single season) guaranteed an instant return to the top flight; the title being added after a 3-0 last-day rout of Middlesbrough at the new ground, which had enjoyed an unblemished debut season.

Back in the top flight, two early home successes lengthened Owlerton's winning streak to 19 league games, a sequence finally punctured when Preston North End became the first visiting side ever to claim maximum points on the ground in October. Nevertheless, a creditable top-eight finish - and ninth spot the year after - reaffirmed the Wednesday's standing as one of the nation's premier sides. But the revival did not end there.

During these 'consolidation' years, the Club had been steadily recruiting players who would ultimately have far-reaching effects on The Wednesday's immediate future - men like right-winger George Simpson, defender Harry Burton, goalkeeper Jack Lyall and inside forward Andrew Wilson. The latter, signed from Clyde in 1900, is a particular Wednesday legend - with his twin Club records of 545 games plus 216 goals in all competitions unlikely ever to be bettered.

Gradually, a team of some note had been assembled and when a string of five consecutive victories midway through the 1902-03 season elevated The Wednesday to second in the table, the Championship began to appear a plausible target - even more so when a 1-0 away victory at main title rivals Sunderland put "The Blades" in a commanding position. Two wobbles on the road against Bury and Everton then preceded a 3-1 Owlerton stroll against West Bromwich Albion in the final league fixture. Seven days later, Sunderland lost their game in hand and The Wednesday were crowned as Football League Champions for the first time.

The following season began in unique fashion, with both Sheffield clubs leading the way at the summit of the First Division. December's trip to Bramall Lane saw United in pole position with The Wednesday snapping at their heels in second spot - so far, the only time in history that this situation has occurred. Wilson was on target in a 1-1 derby draw, but by the time Wolves were humbled 4-0 at Owlerton on New Year's Day 1904, The Wednesday had nosed ahead in the Championship race.

A toothless 3-0 surrender to Manchester City in March's FA Cup Semi-Final ended whispers of a possible league and cup 'double', but when the Mancunians (having by this stage overtaken Sheffield United as chief title challengers) were edged out 1-0 in the league at Owlerton just one week later, Championship aspirations began to solidify - even more so after Wednesday's red-and-white neighbours were thrashed 3-0 in the April return game.

The side embarked on their concluding test - away to Derby County - a single point better off than Manchester City, who travelled to Goodison Park in a game they were to eventually lose. Unaware of this, however, The Wednesday triumphed 2-0 at the Baseball Ground to retain their crown - becoming only the fourth team in Football League history to do so (after Preston, Sunderland and Aston Villa&although seven other teams have managed it since).

Although season 1904-05 proved a major disappointment as a final placing of 9^th shattering hopes of a Championship 'hat-trick' (despite a rip-roaring start to the campaign which set a new club record of nine straight league victories), there was at least the consolation of an another exhilarating run to the FA Cup Semi-Finals; and something approaching normal service was resumed the following year when fifth place was achieved - with a second FA Cup gracing the trophy cabinet twelve months later, when Everton were beaten at Crystal Palace to sweeten the otherwise bitter pill of a 13^th-placed finish.

Indeed, that 1906-07 term was one of only two occasions between 1900 and 1915 in which the team were not amongst the leading seven clubs in the top flight. Throw in also that FA Cup success and two further appearances in the last four of the competition - and consider also that with stalwarts like Tommy Crawshaw, Harry Davis, Herrod Ruddlesdin, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Bradshaw regularly selected for England it was not unheard of for half of the national side to play their club football at Owlerton - and it is immediately evident that these early years of the new century were heady ones for followers of The Wednesday.

Two other developments of this era, both taking place off the pitch rather than on it, were the adoption of an Owl as the Club mascot and the initial development of Owlerton (as it was still known) into a venue of national repute and prestige. Doubtless both events seemed merely incidental at the time but they have since irrevocably shaped The Wednesday's identity, remaining synonymous with the Club until present day. Most football fans, if asked to describe Sheffield Wednesday Football Club even now, will be quick to list "blue and white stripes", "the Owls" and "marvellous stadium" among their first responses.

In the first instance, it was a player of the time - George Robertson - who presented the Club with a mascot in the shape of an Owl, in homage to The Wednesday's Owlerton home. For a fleeting period prior to that, the team's mascot had been The Wednesday Monkey, which occasionally took to the field in a blue-and-white costume, but until this point the Club's nickname had always been "The Blades"; a reflection of Sheffield's world dominance over the steel manufacturing industry (Sheffield United, incidentally, followed a similar route by calling themselves "The Cutlers" - but were quick to assume Wednesday's former alias once it had been discarded).

The second influential strand, the ground improvements, commenced in the summer of 1913 when a state-of-the-art enclosure (designed by renowned football stadium architect Archibald Leitch) was constructed along the south side of the ground, in parallel with the course of the River Don. This new South Stand - costing over £17,000 and encompassing dressing rooms, offices and even a billiards room - seated some 5,600 spectators, with room for up to 11,000 further supporters in the terraced section to the fore. The final touch was the addition of the now instantly recognisable clock-face and filial which still adorn the roof of the structure today. The transformation was completed with a flourish, when - following completion of the South Stand - the whole ground was re-named Hillsborough, primarily in deference to the thriving suburb which had sprung up around the football ground itself, officially being incorporated into the city of Sheffield some 12 years previously.

Though the stature of The Wednesday had immeasurably increased, the new stand's debut year almost coincided with a slip back into Division Two; for only a late rally featuring three victories in the concluding six games averted disaster. New recruits were evidently needed - left-back Jimmy Blair signing from Clyde for a club record £1,975 - but preparations for the new campaign were overshadowed by the outbreak of War. The team began well, occupying a top-three berth by Christmas, but faded to a closing position of seventh& although it hardly seemed to matter as the conflict in Europe worsened and the Football League was temporarily shut down. Various players were called into military service, including record signing Blair, long-serving goalkeeper Teddy Davison and prolific front man David McLean.

The Wednesday were actually in favour of suspending all football activities during Wartime, but were outvoted at a Football League meeting and subsequently found themselves in the Midland Section of the newly-regionalised competition, facing opponents such as Sheffield United, Barnsley and Huddersfield Town. Three fairly unremarkable campaigns followed before Germany signed the Allied armistice in November 1918, and the Football League was scheduled to resume in time for the 1919-1920 season. But with over a third of the pre-War senior squad not returning to Hillsborough - and those that did come back being four years longer in the tooth - the team was hardly at it's strongest when action got underway once again.

In footballing terms, what followed was the Owls' equivalent of the Somme. No goals in the first three fixtures, and just one win in the first 14, saw Wednesday propping up Division One by the festive period. An ignominious FA Cup exit to non-league Darlington at the first hurdle further weakened morale, and a failure to win any of the closing 15 league games anchored the side to rock bottom. Relying too heavily on their aging pre-War heroes and lacking firepower (the leading marksman, Jimmy Gill, netted only eight times all season; double his nearest rival), Wednesday were relegated after Chelsea ambled to a 2-0 win at Hillsborough with five games still remaining.