WILL VAULKS has had the good fortune to be presented with a play-off winners’ medal amid the rarefied surroundings of Wembley not once, but twice.
The midfielder will not lift a trophy with his teammates or receive a personal gong if Sheffield Wednesday succeeds where Vaulks’ former club Rotherham United failed back in 2018–19, following promotion on the hallowed turf at the end of the previous season, and fulfil what would be an emotional Championship safety mission.
In Vaulks’ opinion, the accomplishment would still be greater under the given conditions.
The Millers, who were promoted the previous year and dropped to the second division in 2020–21 and 18–19, have a history of having trouble holding onto their second-tier standing.
Before a ball was kicked in August 2018, many had already written Rotherham off as inevitable relegation after their play-off victory in 2017–18.
They fought their way back to their starting point.
They bucked the recent trend last season, but unless something astonishing happens, normal service will be resumed in 2023-24.
Wednesday has more inherent advantages in terms of squad depth, spending capacity, and club size at this level. However, that ignores what transpired to be a very turbulent time in the club’s contemporary history after their promotion in May of last year.
Before Danny Rohl diverted attention and restored some order on the pitch, Wednesday looked like a basket case.
For Wednesdayites, remaining in the Championship would not be a huge thing in a typical season and set of circumstances. This season has not been like any other.
Speaking ahead of the team’s trip to the Millers on Saturday, Vaulks stated: “If I’m being completely honest, this season has been harder than last season given the way the year has gone.”
This is a more difficult challenge for me. If we continue to stay up after where we are, it would essentially be a celebration of mediocrity.
“But if we can stay in this league, it’s bigger (than promotion) with the way things have lined up.”
“Last year, we were quite excited about our promotion; yet, we only just managed to do that. We had to get promoted, according to the employment interview I attended before signing.
“The challenge is to stay in this league, which is where we should be, and it would probably be a bigger achievement.”Vaulks was in the home lineup for this specific match just over five years ago in mid-February of the 18-19 season.
In a thrilling finale, Dom Iorfa’s strike on his debut in the 100th minute gave the visiting Owls the equaliser. Vaulks has brought it up with his colleague a fair few times since.
They are both supporting the same team on Saturday in a game that, while not necessarily considered “the” derby by Wednesday supporters, is nevertheless crucial to their survival struggle.
The Wirral-born player has previously participated in a major derby between Cardiff and Swansea as well as a few lesser-known ones between Falkirk and Dunfermline and Cardiff and Bristol City. Not to mention Owls and Millers’ all-Yorkshire affairs.
His early job experiences north of the border were very eye-opening.
“You might not have 30,000 people there, but that derby (Kincardine) is a feisty derby and they absolutely hated each other,” Vaulks continued.
“I remember a (Falkirk) lad headbutted one of their players and got sent off. The fans cheered that more than when we won the game! I am not condoning that, but it was feisty and I remember we won 1-0 away.
“Having those games quite early in my career really helped me. It’s about managing the occasion and harnessing that bit of fight. It’s the wrong thing to blank it completely and pretend it’s not a derby because these games mean more to the local people.
“I’d had managers who have done that in the past and sat in a ‘Q and A’ not long after the game and fans not believing he wasn’t bothered we’d lost the game. I know, being a football fan growing up, what it means to people.”
It is days like Saturday which you suspect Vaulks will miss when he calls time on his playing career, although certainly not for a good while yet.
“You only get contracts or moves by doing well on the pitch, and hopefully at the end of the season we’re in this league and the club want to talk to me,” Vaulks stated.
“But the club has the option if they don’t. Even though some people believe that it is, it’s not always up to us as players. I would really like to be here.
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