Battle of Bramall Lane - Pat Suffo

[Greenwich Blade]

Musical Blade was hunt-sabbing in Oxfordshire that day so, as pre-arranged, I texted him significant updates throughout the game. The problem was, he was so out in the sticks that he couldn't get a signal until they convened in a pub having saved the lives of 2.3 foxes. Then all my texts came through in one go and the poor confused lad read them in reverse order, starting with, "Match abandoned! Fuck you, Megson!" and ending with, "Tracey sent off for handling outside the area, the daft twat."

 

[Greenwich Blade]

I still have every national newspaper cutting from the Sunday and Monday press in a brown envelope marked "The most evil game of football in history". I must dig it out.

 

[Bayingblade]

Musical Blade was hunt-sabbing in Oxfordshire that day so, as pre-arranged, I texted him significant updates throughout the game. The problem was, he was so out in the sticks that he couldn't get a signal until they convened in a pub having saved the lives of 2.3 foxes. Then all my texts came through in one go and the poor confused lad read them in reverse order, starting with, "Match abandoned! Fuck you, Megson!" and ending with, "Tracey sent off for handling outside the area, the daft twat."

Saved 2.3 foxes???

 

[Greenwich Blade]

Saved 2.3 foxes???

Just the head, tail, and legs.

 

[BushBlade]

Just the head, tail, and legs.

Make a nice hat and gloves

 

[Greenwich Blade]

With me that day were ZoneManWilf and Wapping Blade amongst others. My dad was with us, who is a good Mormon Bishop with fair play burned into his very being. Apart from when it comes to football. My mum tells me that when they were courting and she first went to watch him play for Hathersage FC around 1950, all his teammates referred to him as "Dirty Belly". His advice to us all when playing the game was, "If their man is through on goal, bring him down."

Anyway, he was so busy chatting to a former work colleague from Firth Brown - he met one at every football and cricket match I ever attended with him - he missed Suffo's intervention. "Did Suffo nut him good?" he asked as the miscreant was given a police escort down the tunnel.

 

[Greenwich Blade]

After Santos had kicked Johnson into orbit, ZoneManWilf was heard to protest, "He got the ball!" whilst the conversation between all of us was as to how many players needed to be left on the pitch for the game to be abandoned, and I'm delighted to say we were all willing it to happen.

 

[Bobby b]

I have Patrick Suffo’s match worn shirt from that game.

So there.

It certainly didn't need washing

 

[Greenwich Blade]

It certainly didn't need washing

Not even the bloodstains?

 

[Danny_Blade]

When Chris Morgan arrived he must've thought "shit I've arrived a year too late here, would've loved to have played in a match like that and probably would've been my best ever game in a Blades shirt!!"

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

You could sell it on eBay as "hardly been used" condition.

I’d get maybe £20 for it. There’s no actual proof it’s his. But it obviously has name and number on the back. The bloke who gave it me got it off him at the time so he knows it’s legit

 

[Gavlar]

Some of you may know us as an EFL podcast that covers all three leagues, appearing on EFL Matters on Sky every few weeks.

We've done a documentary style podcast ahead of the game on Friday night, looking back at that game in 2002, and how it was just a perfect storm of things... Also speaking with a very honest Patrick Suffo about the match and his red card and Alan Biggs, who helped to clear Warnock's name in the aftermath with all the accusations flying around).

Some of you may want to forget this day but for others, we hope it'll be a decent recap of a wild day, with both guests having some great things to say - .

There's also Sheff Utd kit from that season up for grabs in a competition if anyone fancies winning that:

Outstanding stuff!

 

[Greenwich Blade]

Some of you may know us as an EFL podcast that covers all three leagues, appearing on EFL Matters on Sky every few weeks.

We've done a documentary style podcast ahead of the game on Friday night, looking back at that game in 2002, and how it was just a perfect storm of things... Also speaking with a very honest Patrick Suffo about the match and his red card and Alan Biggs, who helped to clear Warnock's name in the aftermath with all the accusations flying around).

Some of you may want to forget this day but for others, we hope it'll be a decent recap of a wild day, with both guests having some great things to say - .

There's also Sheff Utd kit from that season up for grabs in a competition if anyone fancies winning that:

Excellent stuff.

Two things I'd like to add. Alan Biggs said that the press weren't really talking about the potential for Santos and Johnson to meet up for the first time since the eye socket fracture. Well, it was certainly being talked about on the old SUISA Viewpoints Forum; in fact, in the build up we talked of little else. If I remember rightly Warnock was playing his cards close to his chest as to whether Santos would start or not, but I'm sure I remember something about him coming out with a somewhat mischievous comment along the lines of "I might just start him to liven things up a bit."

The other thing is, after we'd gone 1-0 down we were actually playing some good stuff despite being down to ten men. I was hopeful we could rescue something as so often happens when the numerical disadvantage is only one player, and as West Brom took that clever corner to McInnes, Santos and Suffo were already waiting to come on. Then of course before they could, McInnes belted that one in, they were 2-0 up, and the stuffing was well and truly knocked out of the team and also me as a fan. From thinking at 1-0 that these were the substitutions to get us that point, at 2-0 I was now thinking that the only interest would be in seeing how long it would take Santos to clatter Johnson. Not long, as it happened.

 

[Silent Blade]

Two things I'd like to add. Alan Biggs said that the press weren't really talking about the potential for Santos and Johnson to meet up for the first time since the eye socket fracture. Well, it was certainly being talked about on the old SUISA Viewpoints Forum; in fact, in the build up we talked of little else. If I remember rightly Warnock was playing his cards close to his chest as to whether Santos would start or not, but I'm sure I remember something about him coming out with a somewhat mischievous comment along the lines of "I might just start him to liven things up a bit."

.

Yes, I was concerned about Warnock's comments in the Star the previous evening about playing Santos for the first time since his injury and talked about Johnson in the same sentence. I posted my concerns in the SUISA Viewpoints or BU that evening and I felt Warnock was trying to hype things up. Straight after the three sending offs I got up from my seat and told my son that we are going home. I was disgusted with Johnson for not showing his remorse in breaking Santos' cheekbone but getting revenge that way and especially in a match we were trying to win or draw wasnt the right thing to do

 

[LoughboroBlade]

but getting revenge that way and especially in a match we were trying to win or draw wasnt the right thing to do

Fun though. And in an era where I feel football is becoming increasingly bland, I actually look back on this with some fondness now. Another first for United in the history books, and it may never happen again.

 

[Aston max]

That was the day Warnock ended up a bigger twat than he already was for not knocking out that ginger haired pig

 

[Bannerman]

That was the day Warnock ended up a bigger twat than he already was for not knocking out that ginger haired pig

Good point, well made. I miss Megson, sounds daft but I really like to have a serious dislike for that lots manager. Couldn't really dislike Carlos, current bloke apart from looking like a 1970s porn star ( or so I've been told } is doing an excellent job. Brian Laws was a twat but some of the others were difficult to really work up a healthy loathing of.

I'm hoping that in a final desperate throw of the dice they bring back Megson and he takes them down on the same day we go up!
If Carlsberg.....

 

[essexblade73]

Some of you may know us as an EFL podcast that covers all three leagues, appearing on EFL Matters on Sky every few weeks.

We've done a documentary style podcast ahead of the game on Friday night, looking back at that game in 2002, and how it was just a perfect storm of things... Also speaking with a very honest Patrick Suffo about the match and his red card and Alan Biggs, who helped to clear Warnock's name in the aftermath with all the accusations flying around).

Some of you may want to forget this day but for others, we hope it'll be a decent recap of a wild day, with both guests having some great things to say - .

There's also Sheff Utd kit from that season up for grabs in a competition if anyone fancies winning that:

Been listenin to these guys for a while now, top class poddy