Sheffield Wednesday moved to the top of League One on Saturday after defeating Peterborough United for the third time in a week.

The Owls have had a fantastic few months, which began with the announcement of the Arise takeover prior of their Championship final-day victory over West Brom last season.

Plenty of momentum and good feeling were generated over the off-season, whether it was the elimination of a potential 15-point deduction, the hiring of new faces in board roles that former owner Dejphon Chansiri never used, or a busy window of additions that saw 18 new players join the club.

Perhaps it was all three, plus more. Most importantly, it has been utilised in their performances. Henrik Pedersen’s side has already won more than twice as many league games as they did last season, scoring 13 goals in the process.

Sheffield Wednesday’s impressive 9-point week

Indeed, Sheffield Wednesday finished the first three games of the league season with a perfect record.

There were two hard-fought road wins at Wycombe Wanderers and Peterborough within four days of each other, and they had previously demolished Bromley at Hillsborough, scoring seven without reply in a 7-2 victory.

While the Chairboys and Posh haven’t had the best starts to the new season, picking up maximum points on the road is impressive, especially considering the win over Bromley came against a team that had gone unbeaten in their opening two games.

Any early concerns about the club having some time to gel have been allayed by some excellent performances, particularly on the road, where Wednesday have more support than most of their third-tier rivals.

Barry Bannan praised Sheffield Wednesday’s support throughout the last week.

One of the 18 new additions was a returning legend in Barry Bannan, who spent nearly a decade at Hillsborough before leaving in January amid concerns over the club’s future.

The Scotsman has climbed into the top five all-time appearance makers for Wednesday in the last month, with the meeting at London Road bringing his total to 484. So far this season, he has two assists in seven games, but his experience and level of play have been a treat to witness for Owls supporters.

Bannan is no longer the formal club captain, but the 36-year-old remains one of the leaders in this group, and he turned to Instagram on Monday to applaud the travelling support at Peterborough on Saturday, stating that the team “want more,” despite their excellent start.

Great away day, scoring 9 points in a week. “Lads gave everything again; we will improve, but great start, and we want more 🦉 fans amazing again 👏,” he wrote.

The victory over Peterborough made it three away wins out of three, which is quite encouraging. They return home on Saturday to face bottom club Wigan Athletic, seeking to make it four wins in a row and build on their 7-2 victory over Bromley in their previous home game.

Sheffield Wednesday have been fair value for their early leading position in League One.

It’s easy to say that Wednesday fans have had some pretty unhappy months over the last year or so. Having a squad and an organisation behind the scenes that they are happy to support is exactly what they deserve.

Through five games, the Owls have scored the most goals in League One, created the most predicted goals, and had the second-highest number of shots and shots on target.

Selected Sheffield Wednesday attacking statistics in League One 2026/27.

League Ranking

Goals

First shots on target.

33. First expected goals.

12.41 1st

Touches in the opposition box.

145

Thirdly, significant opportunities were created.

3rd

For a crowd who witnessed their team finish last season with a -60 goal differential, free-flowing, attacking football with players that are exceptionally excellent for their level is not something they take for granted.

Bannan and the rest of the Wednesday players clearly understand this, and they are eager to continue putting on a show for fans who have found attending to football a pain in recent years.