is a professional
English Football club based in the
City Of Sheffield ,
South Yorkshire .
They currently play in the English
Football League Championship after they were relegated from the
Premier League in
2007 on the last day of the season. They play at
Bramall Lane , in
Sheffield wearing a strip of red and white striped shirts.
Their nickname is .
Sheffield United won the League in
1898 and the
FA Cup in
1899 ,
1902 ,
1915 and
1925 . They were beaten finalists in the FA Cup in
1901 and
1936 . Their best performance in the
League Cup was reaching the semi finals in
2003 .
See Also: History of Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is one of only a few football clubs in the country to form because there was an available ground to play on, the usual manner being that a club is set up, later to build themselves a stadium. The others were
Close Season . It has been suggested that some of The Blades original players came from an earlier amateur side called
Norfolk F.C. , who played in the
Youdan Cup . After the formation, Sir Charles Clegg became Chairman and President of Sheffield United, as well as Sheffield Wednesday and also the Football Association.
In
1878 , Bramall Lane became the first ground to have floodlights installed.
First to have floodlights : Article at ''HubPages.com'' website.
They took professional status almost from the start, and were the first ever club to be named "United".
The first United ever:
Guardian Unlimited , 'The Knowledge'. They played their first game against
Notts Rangers of the Midland Counties League on
September 7 1889 losing 4-1 at
Meadow Lane . Their first game at Bramall Lane did not come until
September 28 1889 against Birmingham St George of the
Football Alliance which they also lost, this time 4-0.
United's first season was comprised of friendlies and local cup matches, but notable for them reaching the second round of the
FA Cup at their first attempt by beating
Football League side
Burnley 2-1 at home. However, the next cup game against
Bolton Wanderers gave United their record defeat 13-0 and persuaded the committee that regular competitive league games were required.
They joined the Midland Counties League for the 1890-91 season, finishing fifth.
1 This season was the first time that the club introduced a red stripe to their shirts, having played their first season in all-white shirts Denis Clareborough (1998) Images of Sport: Sheffield United Football Club. ISBN 0-7524-1059-8. They then competed the following season in the in
1892 .
United secured promotion to the
First Division in
1892-93 , after finishing second to
Small Heath and beating
Accrington 1-0 in the Test Match. United enjoyed an unbroken 37-season spell in the top flight (which remains a record for a newly promoted team) winning the League Championship in
1897-98 and were runners up in
1896-97 and
1899-00 .
They won their first
FA Cup on
April 15 ,
1899 , beating
Derby County 4-1 at Crystal Palace, returning to the London venue to play
Tottenham Hotspur on
April 20 ,
1901 . Despite Spurs being a
Southern League club, they took
The Blades to a replay with a 1-1 draw. Seven days later, at
Burnden Park in
Bolton , the London side won 3-1 in the
Replay .
United returned to Crystal Palace the following year on
April 19 1902 , and were again taken to a replay. This time
Southampton (also from the Southern League) drew 1-1 but the
Replay exactly a week later, on the same ground was won 2-1 by the Blades.
The next final appearance came on
April 24 ,
1915 at Old Trafford when United beat
Chelsea 3-0 to win
"The Khaki Cup Final" , the last game before the Football League and FA Cup competition was suspended until the end of the
First World War .
The fourth and final win came with their first
Wembley Cup Final , beating
Cardiff City 1-0 on
April 25 1925 .
Between this and their last appearance in a ,
1927 : ''Chronomedia'' website.
After several close shaves - including 1919-20 when they won just 6 matches, and 1929-30 when a 5-1 win at
Old Trafford on the final day pulled them out of the bottom spot - they finished bottom of the First Division in
1934 and were relegated for the first time.
They fell just short in promotion battles in
1936 and
1938 - finishing third in the
Second Division on each occasion - but it was third time lucky when they pipped local rivals
Sheffield Wednesday for second spot in
1939 , winning their last game 6-1 against
Tottenham . They started the 1939-40 season brightly before
World War II curtailed the campaign.
The restart of League competition after the war came a year too late for The Blades as they won
League North - a regional competition featuring the Northern clubs from the top two Divisions - in
1945-46 . This good form was not to last, as the club were relegated again in
1948-49 , and suffered the agony of missing out on an instant promotion the following season when
Wednesday gained revenge for
1939 and pipped them for second place and promotion on
Goal Average with a 0-0 draw at home to
Tottenham Hotspur when a scoring draw or defeat would have sent The Blades up instead.
After a couple of average seasons, Teddy Davison ended his 20 year managerial career at the Lane. He was replaced by Reg Freeman, who guided the Blades to the
Second Division Championship in
1952-53 In English Football , scoring 97 goals along the way. Two seasons of struggle, but survival, in the
First Division followed before Freeman died in the summer of
1955 . His replacement,
Joe Mercer , was unable to stave off relegation in
1955-56 .
Mercer left the club in
1958 to join
Aston Villa and was replaced by former
Chelsea captain
John Harris . The team was always in the promotion frame and had some good cup runs, reaching the quarter finals in
1959 and
1960 , and finally achieved promotion in
1961 as runners up to
Ipswich Town . That same season, they reached the FA Cup semi finals but went down 0-2 to
Leicester City in a second replay after two scoreless draws.
Later in the decade, they were the first club to sell two £100,000 players; .
Sheffield United's most memorable post-war run was in
1971 . Ending the season with six victories and five draws to win promotion from
Division Two . The following season United took the
First Division by storm, playing the first ten games without defeat, recording eight victories and two draws. With one
League Cup victory during this period, United had had an unbeaten run of 22 matches. They finally lost the top spot in
Division One in a memorable encounter with
Manchester United at
Old Trafford on
October 2 ,
1971 , The Blades losing out 2-0 on that occasion.
The remarkable success in the early 1970s brought to a head the long-standing argument about the desirability of playing football and cricket at the same ground and a decision was taken to build a new stand to provide a fourth side to what was essentially a three-sided stadium. This stand (originally known as
'The South Stand' ) with a seating capacity of 7746 people, was opened in
1975 .
The completion of the new stand coincided with a slump in fortunes on the field, with relegation to the Second Division in
1976 . Relegation was a financial disaster and the drop in season ticket sales meant limited funds for strengthening the team. The club's bank was reluctant to give additional loans on top of the debt on the new South Stand.
Jimmy Sirrel left on
September 27 ,
1977 , with United next to bottom of the Second Division, and was replaced on a temporary basis by
Cec Coldwell who had previously taken control between the reign of
John Harris and
Ken Furphy . Results picked up but a bad run in January led to the appointment of
Harry Haslam , a 'wheeler dealer' who had successfully managed a
Luton Town side in similar circumstances for nine years. "Happy Harry" brought in
Danny Bergara , a
Uruguay an as Assistant Manager. With a reputation for finding talent, Haslam brought in a number of players, but was forced to sell promising players such as
Keith Edwards .
Alan Woodward left for the
United States as did
Bruce Rioch whose short loan spell brought a mini-revival in the club's fortunes.
The
1978-79 season ended with relegation to the
Third Division . United's first ever season outside the top two divisions started promisingly with the team at the top of the table at Christmas but then the team went into free fall, winning only three of the last sixteen games and were relegated to the
Fourth Division . The 1981 relegation came as a result of a last minute miss from a
Penalty Kick in the final game of the season against
Walsall , who would have been relegated instead had the kick (by Don Givens) been successful.
Dave Bassett took charge on
January 21 ,
1988 shortly before the club's relegation to the Third Division and masterminded two successive promotions which saw them in the First Division for the
1990-91 season.
Season in
1992 ]]
From
1990 , Sheffield United were in the top division of English football for four seasons - including the first two
Premier League campaigns. Brian Deane scored the first ever Premiership goal on
August 15 1992 5 minutes into the 2-1 win over Manchester United. Having been a certainty for relegation for the first half of the season, they were on Championship form for the second-half with only
Arsenal matching them for points won in the New year.
The Blades failed to win any of their first 10 league games in the
1991-92 Campaign , before another remarkable turnaround in fortunes saw them climb to ninth place in the final table. Had it not been for their dismal early season form, the Blades could have qualified for the UEFA Cup or even challenged for the league title.
Brian Deane was sold to Leeds United in the summer of 1993, and the Blades were unable to find a suitable replacement. They found it increasingly difficult to score goals in
1993-94 , and were relegated on the final day of the season when a last minute goal gave Chelsea a 3-2 win.
1994-95 saw the Blades finish eighth in Division One - not enough for even a playoff place.
Bassett resigned as manager in November
1995 to be replaced by
Howard Kendall , who was at the helm for 18 months until the end of the
1996-97 season, just a few weeks after United lost
Division One Play-Off Final to
Crystal Palace .
Over the next two-and-a-half years, Sheffield United had three unsuccessful managers -
Nigel Spackman ,
Steve Bruce and
Adrian Heath - although they reached the FA Cup semi final again in
1998 . In December
1999 the club turned to
Neil Warnock in a bid to re-establish the club as promotion challengers. At this time the club was over £20m in debt and the priority was cutting costs, so Warnock's first three seasons in charge ended in mid-table finishes in Division One.
2002-03 was a promising season for Sheffield United, reaching the semi-finals of the
FA Cup and
League Cup , losing both ties to Premiership clubs,
Arsenal and
Liverpool . They also reached the Division One playoff final, but were beaten 3-0 by
Wolverhampton Wanderers at the
Millennium Stadium .
In both
2003-04 and 2004-05, Sheffield United narrowly missed out on a place in the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League finishing 8th in both seasons.
2005-06 was the team's twelfth straight season at the second level of
The English Football Pyramid - a period longer than any other team currently in the
Championship , and their longest spell in any Division since
1934 .
It was in 2006 that they became the first foreign team to own a Chinese football club,
Chengdu Blades (formerly known as Chengdu Five Bulls) from the
Chinese Jia League .
Chengdu Blades ownership: Article at ''People's Daily Online''.
After beating
Cardiff 1-0 on
Good Friday and never being outside of the top two places all season, United required only one point from their final three games to secure their promotion. Results later that evening meant only
Leeds United could in theory catch Sheffield United, but the following day,
April 15 2006 , they failed to beat
Reading at
Elland Road . After many disappointments in the previous few seasons, Sheffield United won promotion back into the
Premiership .
Two notable moments during their first match back in the top flight (at home to 's own website.
However after a 2-1 defeat to
2007 )
Immediately after the relegation, Sheffield United Plc Chairman
2007 )
2007 . Retrieved
4 July 2007 .
at Bramall Lane]]
See Also: Bramall Lane
The Blades play at
2006 The first ever floodlit football match took place at Bramall Lane on 15 October 1878.
Sheffield United may be known for their red and white striped kits, but in fact when they first began, the Blades played in white shirts and blue shorts. They briefly flirted with narrow red stripes for the 1890-91 season, before returning to all white the following year. The stripes returned in the 1892-83 season, with black shorts replacing the blue in
1904 . The shirts remained largely unchanged until collars were first removed in
1955 , replaced by V-necks until the 1966-67 season (when white socks were also used), and from here on the neck style varied hugely.
The traditional red and white striped remained while the 1974-75 season, when elements of black were added, until the 1979-81 kit. This was essentially white with a red breast, and with thin stripes down either side, and was created to accommodate the
Cantor's logo, the club's principle sponsors. This was to be replaced by a striped kit, with the sponsor
Bentleys (1981-82) and
Renault (1982-83) written vertically down a white stripe over the left-hand side. Stripes continued while the 1995-96 season, albeit with various aids to accommodate the sponsors, including a yellow square for
Laver from 1988-1992 (the 1990-92 shirt also featured narrow black stripes through each white stripe) and a black hoop, also for Laver in the 1994-95 season. Then came the diamond kit, which was so badly received that the club reverted to stripes rather hastily the following season. Since then, red and white stripes and black socks with varying trim have been the order of the day, with black shorts for all but the 2002-05 seasons, when white and then red were tried.
3 Retrieved
9 April 2007 . Sheffield United's home colours have been the inspiration for the kit of
Irish club,
Derry City . In 1934, Derry City adopted the stripes, while
Billy Gillespie was manager of the club, in recognition of Gillespie's achievements at Sheffield United."
Derry City FC - A Concise History ", ''CityWeb'', 2006.
The first time a crest appeared on the shirt was actually the 1891-92, when a red crest appeared on the white shirt, but this disappeared the following season. United used the City of Sheffield Arms from 1965-1977, when a new crest was used, introduced by former manager
Jimmy Sirrel , but designed apparently over 20 years previously by former player
Jimmy Hagan . This consisted of two white crossed swords, or blades, the club's nickname, with a
Yorkshire Rose above, on a black background. This is surrounded by a red ring with "Sheffield United F.C." written around the top and "
1889 ", the year the club was founded, underneath. This had been altered very slightly a few times, with a simple black embroidered crest appearing on shirts from 1987-90, and an all-white crest on a red-edged black shield for the 1992-99 seasons, when shields were in fashion with English football clubs, but from 2000-present it has reverted to its original form.
Sheffield United's shirt sponsor was Hfs Loans for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons. Following the takeover of Hfs Loans by Capital One, Capital One took over the final year of the sponsorship deal, with a view to extend this at the end of the season.
(on loan to
Gretna Fc )
(on loan to
Dundee United )
-->
Like many English clubs, Sheffield United supporters have a wide variety of chants and songs, the most famous of which is /from
Hyde Park Flats to
Wadsley Bridge /United! You've got me swinging a pig/As you do, as you do, as you do!"'' and ''"No pigs fans in town/No
Hillsborough to sadden my eyes/
Jack Charlton is dead/and the pig's fans have fled/and the year is
1889 !"''. They can also be heard to sing ''"Are you Wednesday in disguise"'' to poorly-playing teams - an attempt to undermine both the opposition and Sheffield Wednesday.
See Also: Sheffield United L.F.C.
Sheffield United also have a
Ladies ' team. They play in
The Midland Combination League
- Seasons spent at Level 1 of the Football League System : 60
- Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 38
- Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 5
- Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 1
