After six long years, Sheffield United are finally out of the third division of English football. In those six years, we've been exposed to some highs, mostly lows and some pretty bizarre things. In this article I'll be giving out my awards for the very best and very worst of our time in League One.
Best Player: The nominees... Harry Maguire (2010-11- 2013-14) John Fleck (2016-17) Jamie Murphy (2012-13 - 2015/16) Billy Sharp (2015/16 - 2016/17) The Winner... Billy Sharp (2015-16 - 2016/17) It pays dividends to Billy Sharp that when he first signed, I originally thought it was a backwards move by the club. This was a player coming to the club for his third spell with the first two leaving a lot to be desired. He was also a player approaching 30 years of age so it appeared he was coming back to his boyhood club for one last hurrah in the lower leagues of the English football league. How wrong was I. After a spluttering start to life as a Blade again, Sharp showed his years of experience in the higher leagues of English football by finishing his first season with 21 goals, a figure not achieved by a player since a certain Welshman left the club under suspicious circumstances. Then came the 2016/17 season and what a year Sharp had! Scoring 30 goals in a league campaign the first player to score that amount since Keith Edwards. So after initial scepticism, I am pleased to say that Billy Sharp is the best player that we have had during our spell in League One. Not bad for a fat lad from Sheffield... Worst Player: Dean Hammond (2015/16) This one didn't need any other nominees for me, yes there may have been bad players playing for United in the six long years we've been in this division but none were as bad, in m opinion, than Dean Hammond. Hammond was brought in initially on a short term loan from soon to be Premier League champions Leicester City and, believe it or not, this signing was originally cited as a major coup by many blades fans due to Hammond having a reputation as a no nonsense hard tackling player who had previous experience in League One as well as with then manager Nigel Adkins. Even though Hammond was in his mid 30's it was thought he would be the gritty midfielder that the midfield had been screaming out for and that he would be an excellent tutor for young midfielders like Louis Reed and Ben Whiteman. Then he played... and oh my was he bad. He made his debut in a winning effort against Fleetwood Town however his performance left a lot to be desired at one point trying to shield a ball out of play not seemingly knowing that it was going out for a Fleetwood throw in and he was a Sheffield United player. Anyway, it couldn't get any worse, could it? Yes, it got worse... clueless performance after clueless performance followed however Hammond was never dropped. Adkins cooed about his 'unseen' work not seemingly caring that this aging veteran was hampering the team not helping it. Oh well, he'll be gone in January blades fans thought, turns out his loan was extended till the end of the season in what turned out to be our only business in the January window. The bad performances continued and eventually the season ended. Surely that's the end of him? No. No it wasn't. Turns out Nigel Adkins had inserted a clause into the loan that allowed Hammond to activate a one year contract extension at the end of the loan which Hammond took up. The signing of Dean Hammond I think perfectly summarises Adkins season in charge of United. Lots of hype and hope at the start then a slow build of angst then that slow build gains speed and turns into true hatred and apathy. Cheers Dean, thanks for the memories. Best game, League: The nominees... Sheffield United VS Stevenage (2011/12) Sheffield United VS Bournemouth (2012/13) Sheffield United VS Coventry City (2013/14) Sheffield United VS Gillingham (2014/15) Sheffield United VS Chesterfield (2015/16) Northampton Town VS Sheffield United (2016/17) The Winner... Northampton Town VS Sheffield United (2016/17) It had to be this one didn't it? April 8th 2017 will be a day that will live long in the memory of blades fans. The day we got back into the Championship. After six years in League One it all boiled down to an away trip at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium. Win or match Fleetwood's result at Walsall and we were up. In previous years this would have been the point where many thought we were due a slip up. We're Sheffield United after all it had to happen. As I walked into John Street on that faithful day I was a little anxious. Could we do it? The atmosphere at the Lane beam back was boisterous but a little bit surreal. United lined up strangely without talisman Billy Sharp instead the attack was headed by a returning Leon Clarke and Jay O'Shea. United started the brighter of the two teams with Samir Carruthers hitting the crossbar with a volley. However on the cusp of half time Northampton broke away from a United corner and Marc Richards scored a goal from an extremely tight angle to have Northampton up by one at the break. Here we go again. The second half started with Billy Sharp being subbed on for Carruthers. United again started well and almost had an equaliser had it not been for a fine save from Northampton number 1 Adam Smith. However on the 61st minute John Fleck threaded a ball through to Leon Clarke, Northampton looked for the offside but Clarke continued on and calmly slotted the ball past Smith. Pandemonium ensued at Sixfields and at Bramall Lane. Clarke, the ex Wednesday player and a bit of a forgotten man during this season, scored his second goal in two games to bring us level. News came through that Fleetwood were drawing with Walsall and the atmosphere at the Lane crackled. This is it. This is our year. United continued to dominate and eventually we broke Northampton again. In the 88th minute The Cobblers didn't properly clear a Billy Sharp cross and John Fleck pounced to slot home a winner. Oh. My. People invaded the pitch at home and away. Beers went flying. Grown men were crying. Strangers embraced like they were the best of friends. We had done it. The Blades were Championship bound. After six years of ups, downs and almosts, we were back. It was fitting that it was a team led by boyhood Blades in Chris Wilder and Billy Sharp that got us back into English footballs second tier. A lasting image of that incredible day has to be of Sharp being held aloft by fans with a red and white scarf draped around his neck, tears in his eyes. That is an image that I certainly will never forget. It took six years but if I'm completely honest, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Best match, Cup: The nominees... Sheffield United VS Nottingham Forest (2013/14) Sheffield United VS Charlton (2013/14) Hull City VS Sheffield United (2013/14) Sheffield United VS Southampton (2014/15) Sheffield United VS Tottenham Hotspur (2014/15) The Winner... Sheffield United VS Tottenham Hotspur (2014/15) The 2014/15 season was a bit of a weird one. It was Nigel Clough's first and only full season as blades boss as we seemingly went into autopilot in the league stumbling to a mediocre 5th but in the cup? It was a different story. In the FA Cup, we reached the 4th round beating Premier League QPR before being unceremoniously knocked out in a 4th round replay at home to Preston. In the League Cup we managed to get all the way to the semi finals beating West Ham and Southampton on the way to this two legged clash against Tottenham. The first leg was played at White Hart Lane and by all accounts, United were dreadfully unlucky to come away from that tie with a 1-0 deficit to contend with after Jay McEverly seemingly losing his mind and giving away a last minute penalty which Andros Townsend put away to give Tottenham a slender advantage to bring with them to Bramall Lane. The night itself was a strange one. Britain was in the midst of a pretty wild winter and the game would be played in blustery snow which, to my dismay, caused my match day programme to be destroyed. As the teams came out, there was a quiet confidence in the ground that maybe if we shore up and get them on the counter we could nick a goal and take this to extra time. The game started and United started quickly and almost nicked a goal when Stefan Scougall caused Michael Vorm problems in the Spurs penalty area and almost put the ball into the back of the net had it not been for a timely intervention from ex blade Kyle Walker who cleared off of his line. However, United soon slipped up conceding a free kick on the right hand side of the penalty box. Christian Eriksen stepped up and curled a peach of a free kick beyond Mark Howard and into the top left hand corner of the goal. Well, that's that then, was the thought of many a blade and at half time we were on nil down on the night and two nil down on aggregate. It would take a miracle to get us back in this tie. Enter Che Adams... The youngster was put on in the second half in an attempt to liven things up and he did just that. Not long after coming on, Adams received the ball just outside the six yard box and the youngster slotted it home one one, two one on aggregate. In amongst the mad celebrations we started to believe again 'could we?' Not long after that, Adams was at it again. Receiving the ball inside the Tottenham box and after a slight deflection off of Eric Dier the blades had scored. Mad celebrations ensued around the ground Sheffield United, League One promotion hopefuls, were two one up against the mighty Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs seemed genuinely shaken at what was happening and we had them on the back foot, seemingly not settling for extra time, we were going for the win and we almost got a third when Louis Reed found space on the edge of the penalty area and sent a shot that only missed the top of Vorm's net by a whisker. After that, we seemingly became more inclined to settle for extra time so sat back a bit. However, Tottenham soon showed their attacking prowess and from a united attack they broke away with Harry Kane leading the charge, Eriksen was up with him and Kane slid him the ball and Eriksen calmly slotted home to save face for Tottenham. three two. The crowd deflated for a moment but then roared back to life. However it wasn't to be and after a battling performance, we were eliminated from the League Cup.
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AuthorHi my name is John and i will be giving my thoughts on the blades matches and all blades related news in this section Archives
November 2022
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