Player Profile - Ross Wallace

Ross Wallace: Quality, character and big moments for Wednesday

Name: Ross Wallace

Position: Winger

Nationality: Scottish

Years at Sheffield Wednesday: 2015–2018

Appearances: 124

Goals: 13

Assists: 15

When Ross Wallace signed for Sheffield Wednesday in July 2015 after being released by Burnley, it did not feel like one of those transfers that would change much on its own. It looked like a sensible signing. An experienced Championship player, a good left foot, plenty of miles on the clock, and probably still enough about him to help us. What we got was a lot more than that. Wallace went on to become a big player for Wednesday across three seasons at Hillsborough.

He settled in straight away. On his debut against Bristol City, he set up Lewis McGugan in a 2-0 win, and a week later he scored his first goal for us away at Ipswich. It was a strong start, and it did not take long for supporters to warm to him. He also picked up the PFA Fans’ Championship Player of the Month award early in that first season, which tells you a fair bit about the impression he made.

What made Wallace such a good player for us was not just the left foot, though that obviously helped. He was a clever footballer. He could play off either side, drift inside, whip good balls into the box, and just seemed to understand the game. He was one of those players who did not need loads of space to hurt teams. Give him half a yard and he could make something happen. That mattered in the Championship, because that league is full of scrappy games where quality is often the difference.

He also had a habit of turning up in big moments. The Arsenal cup game in October 2015 is the obvious one. We beat them 3-0 at Hillsborough, and Wallace scored in one of the best nights that ground has seen in years.

Then there was the 2016 play-off run, which is where his place in Wednesday memory was really nailed down. He scored in the first-leg win over Brighton at Hillsborough, then scored again in the second leg as we got ourselves to Wembley. We all know the final against Hull did not go how we wanted, but Wallace was one of the lads who got us there in the first place. He was a big player in a side that gave us proper hope again.

His goal at Fulham deserves its own mention as well. Ask Wednesday fans about Wallace and that one comes up again and again. For plenty, it is one of the best goals they have seen live. That says a lot about the quality he had and the sort of moments he could produce.

That is why people still speak about him so warmly. He was not just a decent winger who had a purple patch. He backed it up. In 2016-17 he was still a major part of things, and one of the standout moments from that season was the Huddersfield goal in January 2017. It was a brilliant hit, the sort of strike that felt very Ross Wallace.

He had a bit of cheek about him too, which always helps if you want fans to take to you. The best example was probably that Huddersfield game when he pinched the tactical note meant for Elias Kachunga and had a quick look for himself. Sharp, sly, funny, and exactly the sort of thing that makes supporters warm to a player even more.

That side of him mattered. Wallace always came across like one of those dressing-room characters you want around the place. A bit of personality, a bit of edge. You cannot really measure that, but fans notice it. And looking back now, that is a big part of why he is remembered so fondly. Plenty of supporters still talk about him as one of the better signings of that period, and more than a few feel we never really replaced what he gave us.

The ending was the only bit that never quite sat right. His final appearance for us came away at Millwall in February 2018 after he picked up the injury that ended his season. By then, Wednesday as a whole had started to lose its way a bit, and it all felt flatter than it should have done for someone who had given us so much over those three years.

His season-by-season numbers for Wednesday were:

2015-16: 48 appearances, 6 goals, 6 assists

2016-17: 45 appearances, 5 goals, 7 assists

2017-18: 31 appearances, 2 goals, 2 assists

What I liked about Wallace was that he felt important without ever needing to be made into something he was not. He was not a world-beater. He was not some mythical figure either. He was just a very good player for us at a time when we had a side worth believing in. He gave us quality, he gave us big moments, and he gave us a bit of character as well.

That is a decent legacy to leave behind.

Sources

Appearances, goals and assists used in this article are based on FootballDatabase figures