The Owls set a new club record for the number of clean sheets in a single league campaign on Tuesday night.
Our 3-0 win over Morecambe was the 18th was the 18th shutout of the 2022/23 season – a remarkable achievement and even more so considering there are still 16 games of the campaign to play.
The previous record of 17 was first set way back in 1978/79 under manager Jack Charlton. The Owls finished 14th in the old Third Division but managed 17 clean sheets to set a record that would not be equalled until 2014/15.
Then, having taken 36 years to equal the record, incredibly, Wednesday went on to achieve exactly the same feat the following season and racked up 17 shutouts in our 2015/16 Championship campaign.
With each passing clean sheet between now and the end of the season, the numbers will continue to climb and the current crop of Owls stars could reach heights that will never be seen again.
Within the 18 so far this season, we recently embarked on a five-game streak of not conceding a single goal in League One.
From defeating Port Vale 2-0 in late December, Wednesday did not concede until our 2-2 draw with Ipswich last week. That five-game shutout spell is the longest run of resilience any side has produced in League One this term.
And the impressive stats don’t end there. When it comes to playing on home soil, the Owls have turned Hillsborough into the proverbial fortress.
For the last time Wednesday conceded a league goal in S6, you would have to go all the way back to our 4-2 victory over Burton in late October.
Darren Moore’s side have kept clean sheets in each of our previous seven home league outings; Shrewsbury (1-0), Oxford (0-0), Port Vale (2-0), Cambridge (5-0), Fleetwood (1-0), Plymouth (1-0) and most recently Morecambe (3-0).
Penalty saves, last-ditch challenges, goal line clearances… bodies have been on the line!
The gaffer, a former central defender himself, has taken pride from his side’s performances and the positive stats they continue to post.
“It’s credit to the players because every single one of them has had a part to play,” he told swfc.co.uk.
“As a former defender I love clean sheets and well done to the players because this is a result of the hard work over the course of a long, demanding season so far.
“The goalkeepers and defenders will take the headlines and they deserve that, but getting so many clean sheets means the work rate is there all over the pitch.”
1⃣8⃣ without defeat in @SkyBetLeagueOne...
— Sheffield Wednesday (@swfc) February 14, 2023
And now 1⃣8⃣ clean sheets - a new club record! 👏#SHWMOR pic.twitter.com/gSskq58sXT