Ahead of the Class Of 91 celebrations at The Magna on Thursday, Lawrie Madden has reflected back on that memorable campaign with swfc.co.uk.
The defender, who was with the Owls from 1983-1991, replaced John Harkes late in the Wembley final win over Manchester United and has fond memories of his time at the club.
With Wednesday 1-0 up courtesy of John Sheridan’s stunning first half strike, Madden said: “Ron told me that if the score remained the same, then I would be coming on. If Manchester United equalised then Trevor Francis was going to come on.
“Harkes was a very fit guy but had blown a gasket because he had worked so hard with seven minutes plus stoppage time to go.
“Late in the game Steve Bruce and I were challenging for the ball that was running towards the corner flag but I got there first, ran past him down the right hand side, gave to Hirst and that was pretty much it.”
Tomorrow at The Magna in Rotherham, Madden is relishing the prospect of re-living all the great memories from a season that not only saw Wednesday win the Rumbelows Cup but also clinch promotion to the top flight.
“It will be nice to catch up with those players,” Madden continued.
“Some I see quite often and some not so because they live in many different parts of the world. The night has all the ingredients to be a great event, along with the fans and punters.
“That season meant so much to them and it was a very important occasion. Our younger fans won’t have been there at the time but they will have been told about what we all achieved because it is a special part of our history.
“That season, we were confident wherever we went, we never went to any ground to ‘park the bus’, that wasn’t Big Ron’s style. We always went into games to win them and believed we could.
“The fans were magnificent on the day and all season. Stan Boardman, the comedian was on the coach with us before the game, looked out of the bus and said: “Look around at those fans. Look at all the blue and white. You can’t let them down today.”
“Ron said afterwards that he should win the Manager of the Year for that speech! But I feel lucky to have been a part of the team and had some great years at Hillsborough.”
Lawrie – a regular in the press box at Hillsborough these days with his media duties – sees many likenesses with the class of 91 and Carlos Carvalhal’s charges today.
He added: “They remind me in some ways of the 91 team. The way they play, the way they entertain and they score a lot of great goals.
“There are some big games coming up, the next two are at home and we are all right behind them.”