Riding confidently on the crest of that promotion wave, Wednesday lodged themselves in the top six of the Second Division by October of their return season.

In typically headstrong fashion, Charlton had resisted the temptation to enter the transfer market, keeping faith with the squad that had earned elevation from Division Three.

Based primarily on sound home form (and another confidence-boosting defeat of Sheffield United, over two legs in the League Cup this time), the side immediately catapulted themselves into the top six, a feat way beyond pre-season expectations.

Remarkably, the average age of SWFC's first choice eleven during this period was just 22 (a figure slightly increased by the mid-season capture of Yugoslavian international midfielder Ante Mirocevic, for a new club record of £250,000) and this general lack of experience perhaps told in the later stages as a second consecutive promotion proved a bridge too far for Charlton's rookies; the Owls faltered badly in the pressurised final furlong, winning only two of the last 12 league games.

In view of this alleged immaturity through the team, it was perhaps surprising - or, considering the manager's penchant for the unorthodox, perhaps not - that the two major acquisitions of summer 1981 were hardly veterans: 21-year-old Coventry City frontman Gary Bannister (£100,000) and 22-year-old Everton schemer Gary Megson (£130,000).

Wet behind the ears or not, the Wednesday side tore into their Second Division opponents with gusto and were soon sitting proudly on top of the pile thanks to five wins from the opening seven games.

Sadly, this encouraging start was undermined by inconsistency. SWFC did not manage to record any back-to-back league conquests between September and March, and only one of the eight home league fixtures between November and March yielded three points - the Football League points system having been restructured during the close season.

With Bannister contributing exactly one goal every other game, however, Wednesday had remained in the promotion positions until the final month of the campaign, when an edgy Hillsborough stalemate with Chelsea, a controversial draw at Rotherham and a toothless surrender to Bolton all amounted to another year in Division Two.

Norwich City were promoted instead, despite their 2-1 loss at Hillsborough on the last day - the crowning irony being that, under the old points system, it would have been the Owls (with 20 wins and 10 draws from their 42 matches) rather than the Canaries (22 wins and 5 draws) who were soaring back to the top flight.

On the basis of that near miss, expectations were sky-high that summer that SWFC would quickly complete their recovery and march back to the promised land - especially when the long-required qualities of leadership and experience were added with the capture of Everton centre-half Mike Lyons.

The sole blot on the landscape was the shock £100,000 defection of fans' idol Curran (to Bramall Lane!), but even that sour taste was rinsed away by a purposeful opening to the 1982/83 season that saw Wednesday victorious in nine of the first 13 league games - including a 3-1 success over Bolton which provided the quickest ever SWFC goal at Hillsborough; John Pearson netting after only 13 seconds of play.

Whilst setting the early pace at the top of the table, the Owls also progressed to the League Cup's last eight for the first time in their history.

Their eventual exit at Arsenal in January, though, also accompanied a run of terrible league fortunes in which a single victory was recorded in 13 games (although it WAS a corker; a 5-4 thriller versus Charlton Athletic with the Owls recovering from a 3-1 half-time deficit) and the promotion priority seemed to slip out of focus as the FA Cup took centre-stage.

Easing past Southend, Torquay and Cambridge, the side dismantled Burnley 5-0 in a quarter final replay, putting Wednesday into the semis for the first time since 1966.

Delight turned to disappointment, however, as the Owls drew First Division strugglers Brighton but - suffering cup heartbreak at Highbury for the second time inside three months - froze on the day, failing to capitalise on Mirocevic's second-half equaliser and losing out 2-1.

Their morale shattered, Wednesday could not close the gap sufficiently on the other promotion contenders in the remaining league games and limped to a disappointing sixth spot.

Prior to the new season, Charlton had stated his intent to hand over the reins should promotion again elude the Owls - and ever a man of his word, he resigned, shortly after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the campaign's closing day.

Wednesdayites wished for a big name to replace 'Big Jack', and most were decidedly nonplussed by the appointment of Notts County boss Howard Wilkinson. The question now was: could the SWFC squad member of the 60s build on the foundations his predecessor had laid?

The answer was an emphatic "yes" though many did not realise quite HOW emphatic that answer would be until Wilkinson's Wednesday were surveying the division from first place, having launched the 1983-84 campaign with a string of 15 matches unbeaten.

The team's direct style of play, though not universally admired, was devastatingly effective; quality in key positions and the pioneering use of wing backs combined with an unprecedented level of fitness - the squad were frequently taken on stamina-building cross country runs at Bradfield and Ladybower - meant the Owls were literally capable of steamrollering opponents into submission.

And they generally did. Among the earlier successes were particularly comprehensive drubbings of Blackburn (4-2), Newcastle (4-2) and Cardiff City (5-2).

What made this promotion quest all the more remarkable was that it unfolded against the backdrop of two respectable cup runs; to the last eight of the League Cup, where only reigning holders Liverpool halted Wilkinson's juggernaut after an Anfield replay.

In the FA Cup, meanwhile, another quarter final replay collapse to First Division opposition - at Southampton this time - scotched dreams of Wembley but in truth, focus seldom wavered from the obvious priority.

A 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on April 28 1984 finally ended Wednesday's 14-year exile from the top division, but a slight wobble in the closing four fixtures allowed Chelsea to leapfrog the Owls on goal difference and claim the Championship on the final day.

Promotion was greeted ecstatically by the supporters, but the silverware would have been a fitting tribute to a campaign which yielded some 88 points - a magnificent total; the biggest in the club's history for a single term.

Wednesday were up, though, that was the main thing. And as they blasted out of the blocks with a 3-1 spanking of Nottingham Forest the following August, it rapidly became clear that the Owls were not only equipped to survive at the higher level. they were going to excel.

Despite Bannister's surprise £200,000 exit to QPR (a new club record sale), a blue and white whirlwind tore through the division and some of English football's biggest names were blown away - with UEFA Cup holders Spurs and reigning European Champions Liverpool both humbled in the campaign's opening eight games (the latter at their Anfield fortress), whilst Arsenal succumbed in the first league game ever to be televised live from Hillsborough.

Three straight victories at the turn of the year - one of them a superb 2-1 triumph at Old Trafford - consolidated a top six position, but that was gradually eroded as progress continued in both knockout competitions.

Andy Blair became the first man to score a hat-trick of penalties in a League Cup tie when he keeping his cool three times in the 4-2 trouncing of Luton Town, whilst the quarter final produced one of the most gripping spectacles Hillsborough has ever staged, Chelsea overturning the hosts' 3-0 half-time advantage to lead 4-3 before a last minute Mel Sterland penalty levelled matters.

There was another last minute goal in the replay, this time helping the Londoners into the semis whilst the FA Cup run was curtailed by yet another late decider, amidst much controversy at Ipswich Town in round five.

Wednesday smashed their club record outlay to bring QPR striker Simon Stainrod aboard for £250,000, and he duly notched his first goal in a 3-1 win over his former employers.

All but one of the next five games, however, ended in defeat - by which time the Owls had slipped to their final position of eighth.

Improvement was eagerly anticipated in 1985/86, and the side obliged with four wins in the first month of the season, seemingly unaffected by the summer reshuffle which had seen leading marksman Varadi cost West Bromwich Albion £285,000 with Hawthorns favourite Garry Thompson moving in the opposite direction for £450,000 (in both cases, the fee reset SWFC buying and selling records).

The Owls then ended the 15-game unbeaten charge of runaway leaders Manchester United in front of 48,000 at Hillsborough to leap into the top three themselves.

With Lee Chapman and Brian Marwood - shrewdly acquired by Wilkinson for bargain amounts; a feature of his tenure - already contributing a healthy flow of goals, the Owls had no shortage of firepower.

But it was a complete unknown, Sheffield-born Carl Shutt, whose dramatic injection of 12 goals in 17 games illuminated the second half of the season.

Plucked from non-league Spalding United the previous March, the former machine setter began 1986 with a goal in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

But his main impact came in the FA Cup, with goals against Derby and West Ham aiding Wednesday's drive to the semi finals. Shutt hit the target again in the Villa Park showdown with Everton but the Owls lost 2-1.

The team commendably shook off their woes to win five of the remaining seven games and claim fifth spot, a ranking which - save for the UEFA ban imposed on English clubs in the wake of events at Heysel - would have earned a return to European competition.

As it was, Wilkinson now found himself between a rock and a hard place. Higher calibre performers were needed to bridge the gap and convert the Owls from 'nearly men' into genuine heavyweights.

But without the necessary financial resources to overhaul itself, Wednesday's express train began to lose momentum. The summers of 1986 and 1987 brought several failed attempts to land big names and results began to deteriorate.

The 1986/87 campaign, however, began in encouraging fashion. Close season signing David Hirst immediately endeared himself to supporters by netting against Everton on his home debut, and by the time Wednesday lamped Oxford United 6-1 in October (beginning a goal deluge which continued with a 7-0 League Cup battering of Stockport County three days later; whilst QPR also conceded seven at Hillsborough later in the term), they were flying high in the table.

Christmas arrived with the Owls still inhabiting the top five, but a demoralising 10-game winless streak decimated hopes of sustaining that lofty perch.

This fall from grace was partly masked by FA Cup success which yielded the club's fifth quarter final date in four years - but unfancied Coventry City ruined the party by triumphing 3-1 in front of a disbelieving Hillsborough crowd.

Matters in the league improved only marginally as a tense 2-1 Easter victory over Manchester City - which helped secure a final placing of 13^th - quelled fears of a possible relegation dogfight.

Early the following season, the fear had mutated into outright panic. Wednesday were propping up the table in mid-September and showing little invention or energy in their displays.

Spirits were lifted by a run of six victories in seven games (which also kickstarted a spurt to yet another League Cup quarter final, ultimately ended by Arsenal) and a productive Christmas period allowed the Owls to edge into the top half of the table.

But the illusion could not last. Paired once again with 'bogey side' Everton in the FA Cup, SWFC matched the league champions stride for stride in three typically blood and thunder encounters - but self-destructed just as the tie appeared to be turning in their favour; crashing out 5-0 in front of their own fans.

The manner of that setback (the visitors had scored ALL their goals by half time) and the fact that it was followed by five further defeats inside six games, merely added to the general air of discontent. But things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Wednesday actually began the 1988/89 campaign brightly, holding seventh place after winning three of the first six games.

But after the last of these successes (a 1-0 Hillsborough defeat of Aston Villa), Wilkinson opted to take up the vacant Leeds United manager's post and the search was on for a new SWFC boss.

Initially, assistant manager Peter Eustace acceded to the throne and under his caretaker tutelage the side won both games - failing to prevent an embarrassing 'away goals' exit to Blackpool in the League Cup but conversely soaring to fifth in the table after beating Southampton. In late October, Eustace was confirmed as manager on a permanent basis but ironically, his days were already numbered.

In the 16 league games following the ex-Owls midfielder's appointment, Wednesday took only 10 points from a possible 48, scored only 10 league goals and slid into the relegation zone.

After less than five months in charge (the shortest reign of any SWFC manager), Eustace was relieved of his duties and the SOS call went out to erstwhile Manchester United and Atletico Madrid boss Ron Atkinson to avert catastrophe.

The very arrival of 'Big Ron' renewed confidence and hope amongst players and fans alike, with the Owls losing only three from the following nine to loosen the escape hatch.

With typical acumen in the transfer market, Atkinson cashed in on Sterland (who earlier in the season became the first SWFC player to represent England in 22 years, and was now the subject of the club's record sale at £750,000 to Glasgow Rangers) to reinforce the first eleven, bringing in - amongst others - Carlton Palmer, whose £750,000 price tag from West Brom also broke a club record, and Steve Whitton, who would ultimately net the winner in the decisive clash with Middlesbrough, relegating the Teesiders instead.

The significant improvement shown under Atkinson in the closing months of that season boded well for the next term, especially when more signings were made during the summer break.

One of those, Dalian Atkinson, bagged the first goal of the 1989/90 term with a well-taken volley against Everton. Slight problem, though - it secured only a point against the Merseyside outfit and even worse, it was the Owls' only goal of the first five games - a sequence which had encompassed total surrenders at Chelsea (0-4) and Arsenal (0-5).

Unsurprisingly, Wednesday were bottom of the division by some distance; a position which - despite an 8-0 League Cup stroll against Aldershot, in which Whitton cracked home four goals and Atkinson three - did not alter until late November. Already, the Owls were facing a football Everest.

Fortunately, 'Big Ron' had by this point recruited three skilled mountaineers. The arrival of John Sheridan, Phil King and Roland Nilsson within days of each other is now viewed as a crucial long-term turning point in the club's fortunes over the next half-decade.

The trio immediately endeared themselves to the Hillsborough faithful (Sheridan in particular thanks to a stunning solo goal in the 3-2 Zenith Data Cup victory over Sheffield United; the city's first competitive 'derby' in nine years) and gradually Wednesday began to inch out of trouble, garnering some impressive results along the way - Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United were all scalped as the Owls contemplated a top-half finish with six games to go.

Unaccountably, however - for the side was still performing extremely well - five of those half-dozen fixtures were lost and after capitulating 3-0 to Nottingham Forest on the final day, Wednesday plunged back into Division Two on goal difference. S6 went into shellshock.

But the Owls were about to return fire.