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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
James Andrew

Reverend and the Makers singer Jon McClure had bizarre dinner dates with former Sheffield Wednesday coaches Carlos Carvalhal and Bruno Lage

Sheffield Wednesday fan Jon McClure and Carlos Carvalhal

Reverend and the Makers lead signer Jon McClure is a lifelong Sheffield Wednesday fan, having grown up in the city and followed the club through the days of the Premier League, and subsequent relegations to the Championship and League One.

The club look back on the up now, though, after gaining promotion to the Championship by beating Barnsley in the League One play-off final. Darren Moore is currently the manager, but it is another Wednesday boss who McClure had a special bond with. 

Indeed, during Carlos Carvalhal's days in charge at Hillsborough, between 2015 and 2017, McClure reveals to FourFourTwo that he became friends with the Portuguese boss, as well as his assistant and future Wolves gaffer Bruno Lage.

"I used to join Carlos Carvalhal for dinner when he was Wednesday manager and we became matey," McClure tells FFT. "Carvalhal really liked going to our gigs. 

"In Portugal, the men present each other with beads as a sign of their friendship. I went to a restaurant once and Carlos gave me beads – my wife and brother were taking the mick out of me. 

"Occasionally he’d also bring along his assistant Bruno Lage, so it would be me, my brother, Carvalhal and Lage having meals in Sheffield."

McClure has also had the fortune of playing in a charity game on Sheffield Wednesday's hallowed home pitch, as well as at Stamford Bridge, where he can claim to be the first person to have ever knocked former boxer Joe Calzaghe to the ground.

"I played in a charity game at Hillsborough for St Luke’s Hospice, against an XI run by Jon Windle of Sheffield band Little Man Tate. 

"We were 3-1 down with three minutes to go, but then scored a goal a minute to make it 4-3 – I curled a shot right into the top bins in front of The Kop, and everything I’d accomplished as a musician up until that point paled into insignificance. 

"I also played in another charity match at Stamford Bridge and chopped Joe Calzaghe. I picked him up and said, 'Am I the first guy ever to put you down?' He laughed and said, 'Yeah you are actually', so that was a bit of a moment."

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