Tray
Hopeless optimist
Since I've been following the Blades we've had a few painful losses. I am not sure which one hurt the most - though with the cup defeats, at least we got further than most other teams. The relegations probably hurt the most - Wigan and Chelsea especially. Apologies if I have missed any major chokes
1979 - RELEGATION – Cambridge away
One of my first games, and the first time we had been relegated to the Third Division, or L1, in our history. The Abbey Stadium was jam-backed full of Blades hoping for a miracle, but we went down. My introduction to watching the Blades away was seeing grown men shedding tears
1979 - DEFEAT TO PIGS – Boxing Day
Down in the Third Division, we were pressing for promotion along with Wednesday but come Christmas our challenge had already begun to falter. I was stood on the Leppings Lane end along with 10,000 other Blades watching the pigs put four past us without reply – the infamous Boxing Day Massacre that they still gloat about today
1981 – RELEGATION – Walsall home
Just two years after being relegated to the Third Division we were relegated to the Fourth Division on the final day of the season. In hindsight this was a taste of relegations to come. We had looked pretty safe in the final weeks of the season, though not quite mathematically safe, and going into the final day there was a slight chance that we would go down if we lost at home to Walsall and other results went against us. Of course they did, and to add insult to injury Don Givens missed a penalty in the last minute that would have kept us safe. Cue more grown men crying, and a violent pitch invasion.
1983 – PLAY OFF LOSS – Bristol City
Another bleak day to be a Blade. Having clawed our way back up to the First Division (Championship) most Blades fans were hopeful of a return to the top flight. We’d had a couple of top ten finishes, and the 1987-88 season was the one in which we were supposed to push on for promotion. However, a disappointing campaign saw us finish third from bottom. We were handed a lifeline due to the format of the newly-established Play Offs, which saw the third from bottom side in the higher division joining the three top clubs in the lower division in a promotion play-off. Of course, for us it wasn’t a promotion play-off, it was a play-off to retain our second-tier status. We were drawn against Bristol City in the Semi Final, and after a narrow 1-0 loss at Ashton gate many Blades fans were hopeful that we could overcome the deficit at home. However, city got an early goal, we equalized just after half time but it finished 1-1 and we were back in the third tier.
1993 – FA CUP SEMI FINAL LOSS - Pigs at Wembley
Both Sheffield clubs had reached the FA Cup semi final and the game was held at Wembley on April 3. I took the bus all the way from Prague to London for this one. We were outplayed and lost 2-1, and London was full of gloating pigs. Not the best day out for any Blade.
1994 – RELEGATION – Chelsea (a)
This must rank among the worst. Relegation from the Premier League under Bassett came on the final day of the season, again via a last minute goal. This time we were away at Chelsea and again only a rogue combination of results would have seen us get relegated, including Wimbledon winning at Anfield (I think). A miscommunication with the players led them to think that we were safe even if we lost. We were drawing 2-2 but conceded in the last minute and lost 3–2 – and we were down. I didn’t attend this one, thank the Lord.
1998 – FA CUP SEMI LOSS - Newcastle United at Old Trafford
The Blades again had a chance to get into the FA Cup Final and possibly Europe for the first time in their history but a biased display by referee Graham Poll was the outstanding memory of this game. Shearer scored as the Geordies won 1-0
1997 PLAY OFF FINAL LOSS – Palace
The Blades had beaten Ipswich in the Semi and a return to the Premier League beckoned. We dominated play at Wembley and were unlucky not to score before Palace’s Davis Hopkin hit a long-range wonder-strike in the final minute, consigning us to second-tier football for another season
1998 PLAY OFF LOSS – Sunderland
The Blades had a great chance of returning to the top flight in 1998 following qualification for the Championship / L1 Play Offs. We had been drawn against Sunderland in the semi final, with Charlton and Ipswich contesting the other semi. After Sunderland took an early lead in the first leg, the Blades struck twice and won 2-1 – meaning we needed to avoid defeat in Sunderland to qualify for our first Wembley Play Off Final. However, in the second leg they scored twice in the first half to lead 2-1 on aggregate. A single goal for the Blades would have taken the tie to extra time, but we couldn’t score. Sunderland eventually lost to Charlton in the final on penalties. Another one I didn’t attend.
2002 – BATTLE OF BRAMALL LANE
The Blades made international headlines after finishing their home league match against Gary Megson’s West Brom with just 6 players. Manager Warnock was accused of urging the players to get sent off so the match could be abandoned, a charge that he denies to this day. The Blades lost 3-0 and were fined 10,000 pounds. Individual players were also fined.
2003 – LEAGUE CUP SEMI LOSS - Liverpool
An identical tie to the previous Play Off loss v Sunderland. We beat Liverpool 2-1 in the home leg but subsequently lost 2-0 away after extra time. The entire country, it seemed, wanted a Man U v Liverpool final and Alan Wiley didn’t do us any favours at Anfield.
2003 FA CUP SEMI LOSS - Arsenal
The second big defeat in the famous triple assault season saw us lose to Arsenal at Old Trafford. Again a number of highly controversial refereeing decisions contributed to this loss, as well as a gravity-defying wonder-save by David Seaman
2003 – PLAY OFF FINAL LOSS - Wolves
The worst of the three losses in 2003. We had thrillingly beaten Forest in the semi and 40,000 fans made the long journey to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium to witness what we hoped would be a return to the top flight. However, Wolves got a goal after just 5 minutes and were 3-0 up by half time. We never recovered.
2007 – RELEGATION – Wigan (h)
Once again, it would take an eccentric combination of results to send us down from the Premier League, including an out-of-form West Ham winning at Old Trafford and us losing at home to Wigan. Of course we all know what happened. A strong contender for worst-day-ever as a Blade
2009 – PLAY OFF FINAL LOSS (Burnley)
Back on the cusp of the top flight following Bryan Robson’s disastrous appointment, the Blades had defeated Preston over two legs in the semi. However they struggled to penetrate against Burnley and end up losing 1-0. Having Jamie Ward sent off didn’t help, and Lee Hendrie was also sent off after the game.
2011 – RELEGATION – Barnsley (h)
Kevin McCabe’s decision to sack Kevin Blackwell just weeks into the start of the 2010-2011 season was, in hindsight, not the most astute. Following his sacking we appointed Gary Speed, but results did not pick up and Speed left the club after a matter of months to take up the Wales job. John Carver, his assistant, then took charge for a few games before we appointed Mickey Adams. However, Adams could not halt the slide and we were mathematically relegated without playing before the final game of the season v Barnsley
2012 – PLAY OFF FINAL LOSS – Huddersfield
The Blades under Danny Wilson were on course for a quick return to the second tier, but a storming run by the Pigs and the banging up of our leading scorer saw results slump in the final weeks of the season. We ended up in the Play Off Final v Huddersfield, having beaten Stevenage in the semis. The game was 0-0 after both normal time and extra time, and then both teams the treated us to a master class in how not to take penalties Steve Simonsen’s skybound effort, which consigned us to defeat, is now part of Blades folklore.
2013 – PLAY OFF LOSS – Yeovil
United had sacked Danny Wilson and put Chris Morgan in charge with automatic promotion still mathematically possible. However, the switch didn’t have the desired effect. The Blades finished in the play offs and lost a drab two-legged affair to one of the smallest clubs in the football league.
2014 – FA CUP SEMI FINAL LOSS – Hull City
The Blades were back at Wembley for another loss in 2014, this time in the FA Cup Semi Final. A victory against Hull City would have seen us qualify for the final against Arsenal and, even if we lost the final, a place in the Europa League. However, despite going 2-0 up in the first half we lost the game 5-3.
2015 – LEAGUE CUP SEMI FINAL LOSS – Spurs
Having lost the first leg just 1-0 at White Hart Lane, we needed a win to get to Wembley for our first cup final since 1936. However, despite a spirited performance we could only draw 2-2, missing out on a Wembley final against Jose Morinhio’s Chelsea
Don't forget the Swindon play-off debacle last season.
