Continuing our popular ‘Yesterdays’ feature, we recall a young goalkeeper who made his debut between the sticks at the tender age of 15 years, eight months and 26 days, having signed a professional contract with the Owls on this day in 1975.
But the game in question – Wednesday v Orient – was actually played over two years earlier when the man, or boy, of the moment was a mere apprentice!
Peter Fox was the aspiring custodian, and unsurprisingly, he still holds the record of being the youngest ever player to represent the Owls.
With senior goalkeepers Peter Springett and Peter Grummitt sidelined, teenager Fox was drafted into the first team to face the Londoners at Hillsborough and, remarkably, kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win having suffered a broken toe in the process!
Fox went on to play 52 games for Wednesday before switching to Stoke, where he set another benchmark, this time his 477 appearances serving as a Potters record for a goalkeeper.