Guest Jack the Hat Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 48 minutes ago, Gildowl said: My grandad was a Blade, rest of family Owls. He told me that Owls supporters refused to eat bacon on Sunday morning if Owls had lost and Blades hadn't. The only link with this folk tale is the red/white of a bacon rasher and the resemblance to a Blade shirt. Grandad was born in 1887 and told me the tale in the early 1960s, never had any reason to doubt his version! The explanation has been given on here a few times. It’s to do with pig iron used in the steelworks. I can’t be bothered to type it all in. Hopefully someone else has the time to fill in the gaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wall Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 27 minutes ago, Pablo Bonvin said: Isn't there also some.reference to pig iron in there somewhere, that being the crappy useless byproduct of the furnaces? Anyway, TATAT. They're all two hats aren't they? Surely on that basis we should call them slags? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaping Lannys Perm Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Remember having the debate with a Leeds fan a few years ago. First I remember of it was in the last few away games of 2012-13. By the opening game at QPR in 2013-14, the entire Wednesday end was singing it. When I checked on YouTube, there were videos of us singing it at least 2 years before any evidence of the Leeds fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockieOwl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I think its from 2013 or 2014. The Kop band had a song with rubbish words "Over here, over there, Sheffield Wednesday everywhere" or something like that. Words were changed by those on North stand to what it is now. First time I remember it from is the last game of the season against Middlesbrough where we needed to win to guarantee to stay up and we won comfortably. I went to most away matches 2012/13 and don't remember it before that Boro game Not sure if it was said before but definitely not in a chant. In 2012 the popular one was "City is ours" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York_Owl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 The phrase has been around a while but the first time I heard the chant was at Peterborough away at the end of the 2012-13 season when the Super Wednesday ole chant morphed into WAWAW. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kameron Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 it's been in use since Adam nobbed Eve, often used to see who was who and giving the wrong answer often involved being on the receiving end of some f o o kers hairy knuckles, especially if you were a wet looking b a stard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slow83 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I remember going to the cricket probably late 90s and bumped into a big group of Wednesdayites we didn’t know. WAWAW was the greeting, over and over, to the point where it’s all you could hear in the pub, but it was never a song then. It was a saying/ greeting long long ago, that has been around particularly at away games and when meeting fellow Owls around the country/globe. Or to defuse any trouble amongst fellow fans. The song started in the last 10 years or so true but the saying has been around for decades. Barnsley and Leeds have both cringeworthily started using it recently since we started the song, imagine if we started saying MOT - wouldn’t happen would it so I don’t know why they do it. I suppose they do say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
room0035 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Its a football thing we had the unknown Italian song then with a season every team in the country was singing. We also coined Andy Pearce, Andy Pearce Andy Andy Pearce He gets the ball he scores a goal Andy Andy Pearce. Then some bloke from Man Utd called Andy Cole scored a load of goals and claimed it was always a song for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggowl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, matthefish2002 said: I am sure WAWAW is less than 10 years old. I cant remember anyone using it when Sturrock / Laws was manager. I think it was Lee Strafford that started this or certainly popularised it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChapSmurf Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 58 minutes ago, Jack the Hat said: The explanation has been given on here a few times. It’s to do with pig iron used in the steelworks. I can’t be bothered to type it all in. Hopefully someone else has the time to fill in the gaps. This is the reason, and the only reason, we refer to them as pigs. They cannot use the phrase back, but they do. If I have the facts correct, pig iron was made by lower skilled workers, who often came from the inner city and poorer areas. Due to the location of their homes, they often supported Utd., as this was the closest club to them, distance wise. Because of this, they - and they only - were nicknamed "Pigs". "Pigs" should not refer to Wednesday fans at all, but over the years it has been adopted by the idiots across the city. The steel fabricators, who were paid more, who mainly lived outside of the inner city region, tended to support the Owls more, again due to their location. Whilst there were exceptions to this location rule no doubt, the origins of the term "Pig(s)" comes from the steel industry. There is no other explanation and it has nothing to do with not eating bacon sandwiches or the made up story of a pig farm close to the Hillsborough ground. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casbahowl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 1 hour ago, lanzaroteowl said: It's more a hoolie term used to separate 'us' from 'them' in a pub etc as in "All Wednesday aren't we?" . This ^^^^^ Back in the 80's the Hoolie scene was ridiculous in Sheffield town centre between the two clubs with West St, Division St & Arundel Gate being like a war zone most weekends! League positions at the time were pretty similar to now with "the others" in the ascendancy. "All Wednesday Aren't We" was very much a call to arms to disparate groups of Wednesdayites and also a warning that "the others" were gathering in numbers in places like Silks, Berlins & The Marples with the intent of attacking small gatherings of Wednesday and to "get ready"! The acronym was eventually sanitised into today's WAWAW sometime in the noughties i believe. 5 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhForAnotherShez Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 37 minutes ago, slow83 said: I remember going to the cricket probably late 90s and bumped into a big group of Wednesdayites we didn’t know. WAWAW was the greeting, over and over, to the point where it’s all you could hear in the pub, but it was never a song then. It was a saying/ greeting long long ago, that has been around particularly at away games and when meeting fellow Owls around the country/globe. Or to defuse any trouble amongst fellow fans. The song started in the last 10 years or so true but the saying has been around for decades. Barnsley and Leeds have both cringeworthily started using it recently since we started the song, imagine if we started saying MOT - wouldn’t happen would it so I don’t know why they do it. I suppose they do say imitation is the highest form of flattery. that's what I understand the origin was, as a owls arguement was ensuing in a pub (bit like Owlstalk), some guy stood up to defuse the potential trouble and came out with "come on, WAWAW?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakewell Owl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Gildowl said: My grandad was a Blade, rest of family Owls. He told me that Owls supporters refused to eat bacon on Sunday morning if Owls had lost and Blades hadn't. The only link with this folk tale is the red/white of a bacon rasher and the resemblance to a Blade shirt. Grandad was born in 1887 and told me the tale in the early 1960s, never had any reason to doubt his version! My Grandad, who died before i was born apparently refered to that lot as "bacon backs" and that was back in the early 1950's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveyboy66 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 17 minutes ago, casbahowl said: This ^^^^^ Back in the 80's the Hoolie scene was ridiculous in Sheffield town centre between the two clubs with West St, Division St & Arundel Gate being like a war zone most weekends! League positions at the time were pretty similar to now with "the others" in the ascendancy. "All Wednesday Aren't We" was very much a call to arms to disparate groups of Wednesdayites and also a warning that "the others" were gathering in numbers in places like Silks, Berlins & The Marples with the intent of attacking small gatherings of Wednesday and to "get ready"! The acronym was eventually sanitised into today's WAWAW sometime in the noughties i believe. Before mobile phones when we were playing in London we used to meet up in the Dolphin near St Pancras as we walked in if we saw a face we knew we used to ask WAWAW to make sure the pub wasn't full of Chelsea or West Ham. The song morphed in the 90's at some point. When we beat United in 1967 at the Lane their programme said that we wouldn't eat bacon if we lost and that dem blades were likely to go home and give their wives a kicking ( no change there then ) if they lost. Someone posted that article in the programme on here at some point. Added to that in 62/63 season we changed our shirts to a thin blue stripe which made us look like butchers. United of course copied us but their shirts made them look like rashers of bacon. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanzaroteowl Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 23 hours ago, casbahowl said: This ^^^^^ Back in the 80's the Hoolie scene was ridiculous in Sheffield town centre between the two clubs with West St, Division St & Arundel Gate being like a war zone most weekends! League positions at the time were pretty similar to now with "the others" in the ascendancy. "All Wednesday Aren't We" was very much a call to arms to disparate groups of Wednesdayites and also a warning that "the others" were gathering in numbers in places like Silks, Berlins & The Marples with the intent of attacking small gatherings of Wednesday and to "get ready"! The acronym was eventually sanitised into today's WAWAW sometime in the noughties i believe. This^^^^ Also the Wednesday 'Boys' were a very disparate grouping of smaller firms. These didn't always get on and arguments and rivalries were not far away. This is one of the main reasons the BBC usually faired better. So a call of " All Wednesday aren't we!?!?" Was used to quell these spats. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthefish2002 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I think the 'Wednesday Till I Die' we nicked from Bradford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack the Hat Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 46 minutes ago, ChapSmurf said: This is the reason, and the only reason, we refer to them as pigs. They cannot use the phrase back, but they do. If I have the facts correct, pig iron was made by lower skilled workers, who often came from the inner city and poorer areas. Due to the location of their homes, they often supported Utd., as this was the closest club to them, distance wise. Because of this, they - and they only - were nicknamed "Pigs". "Pigs" should not refer to Wednesday fans at all, but over the years it has been adopted by the idiots across the city. The steel fabricators, who were paid more, who mainly lived outside of the inner city region, tended to support the Owls more, again due to their location. Whilst there were exceptions to this location rule no doubt, the origins of the term "Pig(s)" comes from the steel industry. There is no other explanation and it has nothing to do with not eating bacon sandwiches or the made up story of a pig farm close to the Hillsborough ground. Not quite. People from Sheffield were known as blades due to the steelwork which was our nickname until moving to owlerton in 1899. When we stopped using bramall Lane 10 years earlier to play at olive grove they started a new club to make up the lost revenue. Wednesday were the big club with united being a big like our reserves. In the steelworks the pig iron guys were less skilled than the steelworkers so had a similar relationship to the steelworkers as us and united - not to do with location of workforce. But you are pretty much right. So by my reckoning in the years from 1867 to when we went to OWLerton 1899 we were the blades and from 1889 to 1899 they were the pigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkskaphil Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I always imagine “WAWAW” being said in the way that the unseen schoolteacher from the Peanuts cartoon TV series speaks. I always imagine “ALAW” being said in the way Ian McCaskill used to greet viewers at the start of his weather forecasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 I live and work in Leeds and agree that they've nicked it from us, but it's much more prevalent here now than in Sheffield. Hell, I've just driven past a digital advertising board on the side of the West Yorkshire Playhouse with "All Leeds Aren't We" flashing at me in six foot high letters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Claw Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 did any weeds fan try and nick the walaw logo erm no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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