Sheffield Wednesday's David Bruce: 'Everything we do is going to have the fan at the very heart'

“The way David and Michael Storch and Tom Costin (the club's new owners) view the world is probably similar to how I see the world, which is very much you build a sports property, a football club, anchored around the thing that's most important, the fan,” Bruce recently told the Owls’ website.

“You don't have a business unless you have a fan.”

It says a lot about Bruce, who was briefly part of the Owls' Gateshead centre of excellence as a child, that before taking the job he decided to watch a game from the away end at Middlesbrough.

Bruce has just ended a stint at Sunderland which encompassed all but the extreme ends of a journey from League One to the Europa League. In the doldrums four years ago, the enthusiasm of their supporters have been a huge part of their rise.

Their squad decimated by the financial problems of Dejphon Chansiri's final year as owner, with a rotting stadium and a sub-standard training ground, the Owls' fanbase was a shining light in a dark season, so it is good they have been enthused by Bruce and Storch, pictured.

“We know we've got such a brilliant fanbase that if we do some of the right things and create the right type of journey, we're going to have incredible support alongside us,” he said.

“Everything we do, how we come in every day, how our staff are rewarded, how they think about what they need to do in their various departments is going to have the fan at the very heart of all of their actions.

“This business is very straight-forward: if you look after the fan, all the good stuff comes out of that.

“Unless you've got a fan that is connected, that is happy, that is engaged then you don't get the good stuff that comes out of what football clubs and owners are looking at.

“The connection is paramount to this football club.”

Like just about every club, Wednesday's away supporters are its heartbeat, and have routinely sold out away sections since relegation in February. Bruce joined them at the Riverside in April.

“I wanted to feel what it was like to be a fan,” he said. “It was probably a different feeling to the West Brom game (the first after Storch's takeover was completed).

“The fans had been through such a difficult journey and you could feel that coming out in their support.

“To bring some credibility and authenticity to the role as soon as possible it was really important to try and consume as much of the football club as I could.

“This club is blessed with amazing fans who'll do anything for this football club but we've just got to show we appreciate them and there are different ways to connect and feel like a part of this football club again. I don't think there is a renaissance story and a rebirth story like this anywhere in European football right now and that's what makes it exciting for everyone.

“It's time to reset and push this football club on to where we think we can all take this football club to.”