5th May

[Tynemouth Blade]

That game at Leicester has to be one of the best days of my life while supporting the Blades (especially with the PIgs getting relegated!).
I'd been back living in Sheffield for a couple of years having been exciled to foriegn parts and the Bassett era at that time was magical.
5 years after that game I was exciled again, but this time to the North East!

 

[Cyprus Blade]

I maintain to this day that we were the best team to ever get relegated

Hmmm they wouldn't even feature in the top ten "too good to go down list" in my view - West Ham 2002-03, Leeds United 2003-2004, Middlesbrough 1996-97, Nottingham Forest 1992-93, Blackburn 1998-99, Manchester United 1973-74, Leicester City 2007-08, Brighton & Hove Albion 1982-83, Newcastle 2008/09 oh and us 1975-1976 all have better claims in my view. Being too good to go down didn't stop any of them going down though did it?

 

[Rufus Smalls]

Without doubt the finest moment of my 45 years of following the mighty Blades !

A great season with Bassett in charge and everyone pulling together for the cause. Someone mentioned the WBA match at the Hawthorns - went to that match too and we were stood behind the goal and noticed Reg Brearley was on the away terrace with all the Blades fans.

Deane and Agana with a goal each to set us off with a great away win first up and were on hand to smash the Leicester defence on the last day of the season. Happy days !!

UTB.

 

[bornablade]

Great photos Foxy. They should pin these up in the dressing room on Thursday night and all the players to be fully aware what promotion means to us all.

I was stood just to the right from where these photos were taken.

Supporting the blades in them days was an absolute pleasure , i was schooleaving age and they were the best days of my life

Just wonder if when the days are good then supporting the Blades when you are at that school leaving age are the best days ever.

 

[Harry's Game]

I always wonder watching that tunnel scene what Trace and Bryson had fallen out about? Tracey tried to shake his hand but Bryson didn't want to know.

Absoultely brilliant day for a 16 year old Blade to be there, remember,the guys who started doing cartwheels on the pitch when the stadium announcer told us the pigs had been relegated. I can remember it as if it was yesterday, probably because I was too young to go drinking otherwise I probbaly would not remember is at all.

 

[essex blade]

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

Without doubt the finest moment of my 45 years of following the mighty Blades !

UTB.

Interesting thoughts - I think my finest days were

1) the promotion game in 71 versus Watford.... great celebrations at the lane - as a 9 year old I was transfixed by what went off on the pitch that day and burned it into my very wiring to want to witness more and bigger and better.

2) Darlington 82 - the end of that season really felt like a re-birth of the club, and the day at Darlo was the christening party. Pity it was doomed to grow up a struggling bastard that you love in spite of it perennially letting you down.

Leicester was a great day of fun, but as I was wiser and wealthier and more cynical, so there was an element of "Yay, back in the top flight..... about f***ing time"

 

[Silent Blade]

Interesting thoughts - I think my finest days were

1) the promotion game in 71 versus Watford.... great celebrations at the lane - as a 9 year old I was transfixed by what went off on the pitch that day and burned it into my very wiring to want to witness more and bigger and better.

I was 9 too! Never forgot looking from the BLUT at the mass pitch invasion after the final whistle! Best day in my life football-wise

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

I was 9 too! Never forgot looking from the BLUT at the mass pitch invasion after the final whistle! Best day in my life football-wise

I was up there too... think you and I have followed each other around for years, so many shared memories - sometimes I don't need to post 'em on here cos you've already done it for me, and describe things almost exactly as I recall them!

Edit: ...and the comments you recall from your Dad about players, clubs, etc, could often have come from my own Dad's mouth!

One thing I remember from that day was the "bucket on the head game" the players messed around with in front of the crowd on the pitch.

 

[WhiteHawk]

I was only 6 so at the time, I had absolutely no idea about this. I'd give my left bollock to experience this now.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Awesome. Brings tears to my eyes.

me too cyprus

 

[Silent Blade]

I was up there too... think you and I have followed each other around for years, so many shared memories - sometimes I don't need to post 'em on here cos you've already done it for me, and describe things almost exactly as I recall them!

Edit: ...and the comments you recall from your Dad about players, clubs, etc, could often have come from my own Dad's mouth!

One thing I remember from that day was the "bucket on the head game" the players messed around with in front of the crowd on the pitch.

Dont remember the "bucket on the head game". I remember Ted Hemsley being "chaired" by the fans as he was trying to reach for the players tunnel, also the players and John Harris went up to the Directors Box in the John Street Stand to acknowledge the crowd. Row A seat 85 was my seat for most of the home games I went to between 1970 and 1977

 

[finlaytheblade]

I was only 6 so at the time, I had absolutely no idea about this. I'd give my left bollock to experience this now.

keep the faith Whitehawk you will experience days like that we may never win the premiership(not impossible with the right investment) but winning anything gives you and every other blade a great buzzzzzz-zzz

 

[finlaytheblade]

Dont remember the "bucket on the head game". I remember Ted Hemsley being "chaired" by the fans as he was trying to reach for the players tunnel, also the players and John Harris went up to the Directors Box in the John Street Stand to acknowledge the crowd. Row A seat 85 was my seat for most of the home games I went to between 1970 and 1977

remember eddie the captain taking a big puff on a fag up in the john street stand,incidently silent my seat no in south stand is AA85.

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

Dont remember the "bucket on the head game". I remember Ted Hemsley being "chaired" by the fans as he was trying to reach for the players tunnel, also the players and John Harris went up to the Directors Box in the John Street Stand to acknowledge the crowd. Row A seat 85 was my seat for most of the home games I went to between 1970 and 1977

On that day you'd have been about 3 rows in front of me!

(I was there with Mum and Dad that day, she'd take me when my Dad's shifts wouldn't allow him to take me - most memorably the 5-0 defeat of Arsenal when Woody sat down on the pitch and Currie sat on the ball to nark Alan Ball who'd done it to us the year before... "Currie for England" was the chant from the Kop, while my mother shouted "United for England" since the whole team was on fire, mullering the mighty Arsenal.... I digress..... the following morning after that game, I remember some of the national papers used the term "Total Football" for the first time about an English club side!.... I digress even more!)

We had our season tickets in BLUT for 4 years, fairly central - just slightly to left of goal, about row F I think... then moved to "John Street Front Central" as I think it was called, when Dad start earning a bit more and he could afford one for my sister too - he also considered it safer as segregation started to get more "formalised" and the Lane End became a bit of a battleground below us.

On the Watford game, post-pitch invasion, as the players came back out into the Director's Box, the 2 or three of them came out with a bucket over their head in a sort of "guess which player just got soaked" prank. And yes, Ted Hemsley laughing his head off as he was carried off by the fans is an abiding memory. I maybe have a false memory that the bucket ended up on Ted's head, but that might just be the passing years...... The seething mass of people on the pitch that day in fantastic humour was a sight to behold. Don't think we'll ever see that again. However much i can remember about the tension that day, the excitement, the crowd, the double man-marking of Woodward, the sunshine and warmth, I can't actually remember the goals!

 

[finlaytheblade]

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...l-rankles-with-atkinson-25-years-on-1-7243865

"Injustice of relegation still rankles with Atkinson 25 years on"

Injustice!?

“We went down with 43 points from 38 games,” recalls the former Hillsborough chief.
“I maintain to this day that we were the best team to ever get relegated.
“No one can change my mind on that.
“With six games to go, we were 2-1 up against Spurs and had we won that we’d have been not far off the European places.
“Unfortunately, Gazza (Paul Gascoigne) was brilliant that day, Gary Lineker got a couple of goals and we lost.
“Things just went downhill from there. But relegation still wasn’t in our minds.
"Then, Luton started winning games from nowhere and we were, suddenly, deep in trouble.”

So the injustice was that there were 17 teams better than you?
No Segers? No Tevez?

i thought the top division played 42 games until the premiership dropped it to 20 teams which meant 38 games so that season they would have played 42?

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

i thought the top division played 42 games until the premiership dropped it to 20 teams which meant 38 games so that season they would have played 42?

Didn't they mess about with it for about 4 or 5 years reducing it, increasing it, then reducing it permanently to the 20 teams...? Should go back to 22 teams - there's no space in there to build a team, you just have to buy success or buy victory in a relegation battle. 20 teams in combination with the money has ruined the top division.

 

[Blackheath Blade]

Awesome. Brings tears to my eyes.

Cyprus - reading everyone's comments on here, it brings tears to my eyes too - because I wasn't there !!

 

[Silent Blade]

On that day you'd have been about 3 rows in front of me!

(I was there with Mum and Dad that day, she'd take me when my Dad's shifts wouldn't allow him to take me - most memorably the 5-0 defeat of Arsenal when Woody sat down on the pitch and Currie sat on the ball to nark Alan Ball who'd done it to us the year before... "Currie for England" was the chant from the Kop, while my mother shouted "United for England" since the whole team was on fire, mullering the mighty Arsenal.... I digress..... the following morning after that game, I remember some of the national papers used the term "Total Football" for the first time about an English club side!.... I digress even more!)

We had our season tickets in BLUT for 4 years, fairly central - just slightly to left of goal, about row F I think... then moved to "John Street Front Central" as I think it was called, when Dad start earning a bit more and he could afford one for my sister too - he also considered it safer as segregation started to get more "formalised" and the Lane End became a bit of a battleground below us.

On the Watford game, post-pitch invasion, as the players came back out into the Director's Box, the 2 or three of them came out with a bucket over their head in a sort of "guess which player just got soaked" prank. And yes, Ted Hemsley laughing his head off as he was carried off by the fans is an abiding memory. I maybe have a false memory that the bucket ended up on Ted's head, but that might just be the passing years...... The seething mass of people on the pitch that day in fantastic humour was a sight to behold. Don't think we'll ever see that again. However much i can remember about the tension that day, the excitement, the crowd, the double man-marking of Woodward, the sunshine and warmth, I can't actually remember the goals!

Unfortunately I missed the 5-0 win against Arsenal because I had just started at boarding school which was about 160 miles away from home. I still remember the shock of discovering the score from the papers in the next morning! Then the next few hours was a mixture of delight and homesickness

 

[bartman]

Yep, couldn't agree more.
It started off brilliantly at West Brom - we looked powerful and quick and very dangerous that day and I remember the Baggies fans being very critical about their own very well fancied for promotion team - but we were ruthless with Deane and Agana in the line up.

Can you imagine the reaction on here after that 5-0 defeat at West Ham !

 

[Silent Blade]

Can you imagine the reaction on here after that 5-0 defeat at West Ham !

Remember it. Jimmy Quinn hat trick and Stuart Slater gave one of the finest displays I have ever seen against the Blades. Chris Wilder couldnt get the ball off Slater

 

[boo radley]

Drove up from London for that beautiful day. Still have two of those shirts. Must've been our best selling away shirt ever?

 

[bornablade]

On that day you'd have been about 3 rows in front of me!

(I was there with Mum and Dad that day, she'd take me when my Dad's shifts wouldn't allow him to take me - most memorably the 5-0 defeat of Arsenal when Woody sat down on the pitch and Currie sat on the ball to nark Alan Ball who'd done it to us the year before... "Currie for England" was the chant from the Kop, while my mother shouted "United for England" since the whole team was on fire, mullering the mighty Arsenal.... I digress..... the following morning after that game, I remember some of the national papers used the term "Total Football" for the first time about an English club side!.... I digress even more!)

We had our season tickets in BLUT for 4 years, fairly central - just slightly to left of goal, about row F I think... then moved to "John Street Front Central" as I think it was called, when Dad start earning a bit more and he could afford one for my sister too - he also considered it safer as segregation started to get more "formalised" and the Lane End became a bit of a battleground below us.

On the Watford game, post-pitch invasion, as the players came back out into the Director's Box, the 2 or three of them came out with a bucket over their head in a sort of "guess which player just got soaked" prank. And yes, Ted Hemsley laughing his head off as he was carried off by the fans is an abiding memory. I maybe have a false memory that the bucket ended up on Ted's head, but that might just be the passing years...... The seething mass of people on the pitch that day in fantastic humour was a sight to behold. Don't think we'll ever see that again. However much i can remember about the tension that day, the excitement, the crowd, the double man-marking of Woodward, the sunshine and warmth, I can't actually remember the goals!

Good point about remembering the goals. All I can recall about the game was Scullion hitting the bar.

Unfortunately I missed the 5-0 win against Arsenal because I had just started at boarding school which was about 160 miles away from home. I still remember the shock of discovering the score from the papers in the next morning! Then the next few hours was a mixture of delight and homesickness

I dropped a right bollock by booking a driving lesson that night. I cut it short, got dropped off on Shoreham Street and still missed the first two goals. As soon as I arrived I could tell things were going well. The kop was bouncing. Saw TC sit on the ball. When you consider just how good Arsenal were this is one of the best moments I have of being a Blade.

Could you imagine today a lower ranked Premieship team thrashing Chelsea and their star player who has totally dominated the game sitting in the ball and inviting the opposition to come and take it from him. Just wouldn't happen. They talk about showboating. They know nowt.

 

[Mustela Putorius Furo]

Good point about remembering the goals. All I can recall about the game was Scullion hitting the bar.



I dropped a right bollock by booking a driving lesson that night. I cut it short, got dropped off on Shoreham Street and still missed the first two goals. As soon as I arrived I could tell things were going well. The kop was bouncing. Saw TC sit on the ball. When you consider just how good Arsenal were this is one of the best moments I have of being a Blade.

Could you imagine today a lower ranked Premieship team thrashing Chelsea and their star player who has totally dominated the game sitting in the ball and inviting the opposition to come and take it from him. Just wouldn't happen. They talk about showboating. They know nowt.

What I recall was most staggering about Currie and Woodwards actions is that they took place around the corner of OUR penalty area. (down under the BL corner stand as it is now).
I'm remembering the location correctly, but I'm wondering if the rest is just false memory - were they really that daft/good that they could do it at our end of the pitch..?????

 

[SotonBlade]

I was only 6 so at the time, I had absolutely no idea about this. I'd give my left bollock to experience this now.

Likewise, I was only 7. The following season was the first time I attended a game incidentally.

 

[Silent Blade]

What I recall was most staggering about Currie and Woodwards actions is that they took place around the corner of OUR penalty area. (down under the BL corner stand as it is now).
I'm remembering the location correctly, but I'm wondering if the rest is just false memory - were they really that daft/good that they could do it at our end of the pitch..?????

John Harris said after the match that TC nearly lost the ball after he sat on the ball. He did that in our penalty area? That takes guts!

 

[Sothall_Blade]

Good point about remembering the goals. All I can recall about the game was Scullion hitting the bar.

I dropped a right bollock by booking a driving lesson that night. I cut it short, got dropped off on Shoreham Street and still missed the first two goals. As soon as I arrived I could tell things were going well. The kop was bouncing. Saw TC sit on the ball. When you consider just how good Arsenal were this is one of the best moments I have of being a Blade.

Could you imagine today a lower ranked Premieship team thrashing Chelsea and their star player who has totally dominated the game sitting in the ball and inviting the opposition to come and take it from him. Just wouldn't happen. They talk about showboating. They know nowt.

I hate to mention it really but Arsenal weren't actually that good in the 1973-1974 season.
They finished 10th in the League. 4th round of the FA Cup. 2nd round of the League Cup.
We finished 12th that season, so we were pretty much their equal at the time.
The following season they finished 16th and we were 6th.
Still great memories for all that saw it though I'm sure.

 

[bornablade]

I hate to mention it really but Arsenal weren't actually that good in the 1973-1974 season.
They finished 10th in the League. 4th round of the FA Cup. 2nd round of the League Cup.
We finished 12th that season, so we were pretty much their equal at the time.
The following season they finished 16th and we were 6th.
Still great memories for all that saw it though I'm sure.

Can't recall their final league position. In 1971 they did the double and in 1972 they won the FA Cup. Their team that night still contained members of those teams - Wilson, McNab, Storey, Armstrong, Ball, Kelly, Kennedy and George. I think they'd made a poor purchase in Jeff Blockley but overall we were up against some good players there.

(This was on the Tuesday. On the previous Saturday we beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 2-1. TC scored an absolute peach. Chelsea and Arsenal victories in a matter of days. Can't wait for those days to come back)

John Harris said after the match that TC nearly lost the ball after he sat on the ball. He did that in our penalty area? That takes guts!

As I recall he received the ball from Tom MCalister and sat on it at the Lane end on the cricket pitch side but memories do fade. I am sure Charlie George went steaming in but TC sidestepped him and gave it back to McCalister

 

[JJ Sefton]

Can you imagine the reaction on here after that 5-0 defeat at West Ham !

I remember my reaction at the time. First time my dad heard me swear. I apologised and he said "Nah, that's alreight"

 

[Darren]

I hate to mention it really but Arsenal weren't actually that good in the 1973-1974 season.
They finished 10th in the League. 4th round of the FA Cup. 2nd round of the League Cup.
We finished 12th that season, so we were pretty much their equal at the time.
The following season they finished 16th and we were 6th.
Still great memories for all that saw it though I'm sure.

We were 13th in 73-4