From playing Newcastle United at St James’ Park and getting Alan Shearer’s shirt, to coming up against Premier League Crystal Palace in the third round as a manager with Stockport County, the FA Cup holds special memories for Dave Challinor.

As a Liverpool fan, Challinor has witnessed some brilliant times in the competition, with the Reds having lifted the famous cup on eight occasions.

As a player, the new Owls boss remembers a trip to St James’ Park with Tranmere Rovers in 1998 in the fifth round. Although they lost 1-0, Challinor came away with the shirt of Toon and England icon Alan Shearer, who scored the winner.

During his playing days, former defender Challinor, a long-throw specialist, liked to swap shirts with the opposition, and he still has them to this day.

“My wife says they should be up around the house, but they're not,” he smiled when in conversation with The Star. “At the minute they're in a pile in the corner, as reminders of that.”

As someone who has worked his way up the leagues as a manager, the FA Cup still holds a lot of meaning for Challinor, who led Stockport to the third round in 2025 only to lose out narrowly 1-0 to top-flight Palace at Selhurst Park. When in the National League, his Hatters side also knocked out then third-tier Bolton after winning a thrilling eight-goal replay 5-3.

With Wednesday in League One and starting out in the first round at Oldham Athletic on Sunday, he is now experiencing the other side of that as the Latics look to cause an upset.

“As a manager, especially starting lower down, you tend to start in qualifying rounds and getting to the first round becomes the big hurdle,” he continued. “And when you come in at the first round, getting into the third round becomes the big target. When you are Sheffield Wednesday, I think it's probably a little bit different. You are one of the the big ties.”

Sunday is Challinor’s first game since being appointed Wednesday’s new manager. Although the league is the priority, Challinor and The Owls won’t be taking the tie at League Two Oldham lightly.

“It's an amazing competition for some people,” he added. “It will have lost its edge, maybe at the very top because of the amount of games that they play. The FA Cup is something that when you were a child you would sit and it would be a six hour program. It became a day thing where your whole family watched it. It's something that I've been brought up on. So it means a lot. It is a special competition and one that we want to take really, really seriously and progress.”