Wigan 0 Sheffield United 1 September 1981

[Ned the Donkey]

I got this picture of another site it’s from our trip to Bradford in the 4th Division season , 2-0 win and one of many great away day trips that season .

Was this a midweek away game, with the Bradford fans chucking stones at us all match?

 

[John Street West Terrace]

You were lucky to miss Colchester away , the low point of the season! We've never played Hereford since, hopefully I'll get to go to their ground in the FA Cup one year.

We were on MOTD to that night aswell in the ‘mini match ‘ feature , 5-2 defeat & we had to play in there away kit . Yeh would like to cross Hereford off the list , don’t think they play at Edgar St now though .
Two other memorable awaydays for me were the league & league cup matches at York .
3-2 and 4-3 . Trusson scoring a brace on latter to win it from 3-2 down

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Was this a midweek away game, with the Bradford fans chucking stones at us all match?

No Ned it was a Saturday match , the away end was that open terrace split in two & yeh everything got exchanged across the segregation

 

[Weasel]

Think there is footage on you tube of the 2 goals away at Bradford in the win in 81. I was there too, I seem to remember Edwards scoring but can't remember who the other goalscorer was (Morris?)

 

[bladestrivia]

My memories of that day was with sportsmen coaches also going to rugby ground and after the game going in a corner shop and people were just nicking stuff with out paying .Years later was at Wigan when shred walked up to Portefield and told him exactly what he was doing wrong

 

[bladestrivia]

Steve Neville scored other goal against Bradford I think

 

[Ned the Donkey]

No Ned it was a Saturday match , the away end was that open terrace split in two & yeh everything got exchanged across the segregation

Yes. Same game. Just got the time mixed up. I spent half the time lookin got for incoming rocks, stones and pebbles, and half the time watching the match. Strange way to spend an afternoon. Cheers.

 

[dn5 shaun]

Yes. Same game. Just got the time mixed up. I spent half the time lookin got for incoming rocks, stones and pebbles, and half the time watching the match. Strange way to spend an afternoon. Cheers.

I also missed half the game watching for the bricks coming over mainly from outside the ground if I remember correctly.

 

[DifferentClass]

18 of the other 23 teams had their highest crowds when we were the visitors.

Our average gate was also bigger than every third division side’s average gates that season.

ThEeIr BiG dAy AaAaAaHt!

 

[Piffle and Tosh]

Remember when we played Wigan at home...boring match heading for 0-0 then Edwards pops up with a late winner ....Larry Lloyd was their player manager in defence.
He was a bit of a character and a hefty lump of a man.

He was getting stick from the Kop the whole game.....them remember him pulling his shorts down and doing a quick moony to the Kop.
or did I just imagine it ha ha

It's hard to imagine any current managers doing moony's to opposition fans these days.

you fat basaard or something like that

 

[Yewsman]

Remember when we played Wigan at home...boring match heading for 0-0 then Edwards pops up with a late winner ....Larry Lloyd was their player manager in defence.
He was a bit of a character and a hefty lump of a man.

He was getting stick from the Kop the whole game.....them remember him pulling his shorts down and doing a quick moony to the Kop.
or did I just imagine it ha ha

It's hard to imagine any current managers doing moony's to opposition fans these days.

Yes that’s one of the games that always sticks in my memory (although I never noticed a mooney). Wigan and we were top of fourth divison, can’t remember who was ahead of who but it was top of the table clash. It was big crowd at the Lane around 25,000. Wigan looked like they has come for a draw with big Larry Lloyd at CH for them. It was 0-0 until very near the end and John Matthews (who we had bought for £100,000 from Arsenal, (a hell of a lot in those days) .got the ball in midfield and hit this great pass inside the Wigan left back into the path of Colin Morris on the right wing. Morris played it into the centre and Keith Edwards was there on the 6 yard line to hook it hit it into the goal. Crowd erupts and all the Wigan players just sat there head in hands and on haunches including Larry Lloyd. We were top and of course went on to win the Division and promotion.
Anyway that’s my recollection. Others may tell me I have got it wrong, The memory can play tricks! Little did we know then that 25 years on we would be the ones holding our heads in hand when they relegated us from the Premier League in 2007.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

I saw this on another site, the football results from September 1981. I remember being on holiday for this game and hearing the score on the radio. It was the highest crowd not only for Division Four but also Division Three, over 8000. Wigan weren't well supported then so there must have been a fair few United fans there.

Aye
We went in the ‘main’ stand- a ploy we utilised to great effect (except Tranmere where we got the opportunity for some ‘exercise’) .
Allowed us to avoid the crush & being herded to / from railway stations / coaches with additional bonus of ale.
Disgruntled old fella from Wigan sat near us opined:-
“If this is first division football I’m glad we’re in the fourth”
giving some indication how we were perceived & how far (&swiftly) we had ‘ fallen from grace’

 

[Sandygate Blade]

I was at that Wigan game. The one and only time I've been to Wigan.

You haven't missed much. I worked there for 2 years. The local culinary speciality is a pie barm. Other claim to fame is highest density of tanning shops in UK.

 

[Captain2]

The amazing statistic I always like to highlight from that 1981-82 season is

On a very cold night in Feb 82 Sheffield United played a local derby (top of the table clash) at home to Bradford City.
The crowd that night was 24,593 (our highest of the season)

On the same night reigning European Champions and title winners that season Liverpool played Birmingham City.
The crowd at Anfield on the same night was 24,224 (their lowest of the season).

Seems hard to believe that a bottom tier fixture (div 4 which would now be league 2)
could draw a bigger crowd than a Liverpool team who were current European Champions and about to win the league.

I remember Reg Brealey mentioning in The Star that the record attendance in the 4th division (bottom tier) was 37K for the Crystal Palace v Millwall local derby.
Brearly suggested that Sheff Utd might have a chance of breaking that record figure. Think we got 24K again in our last home match so a long way behind 37K.

Memorable night that game against Bradford City, 40 years ago but still stands out, sure it was King Keith who scored the winner