BLADES V WEDNESDAY

[UFF55]

 

[Gin&Juice]

We’re both the same. We both have spells of good and bad. We both have roughly the same amount of supporters.

They have had the most recent success, as in winning a trophy and finishing 3rd. But that was 30 years ago. Since then they’ve done fuck all, and we’ve somewhat overtaken them.

The only difference is, we know we’re a middle tier club. They think they’re on the same page as Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea etc. Clubs who have won a shit load more than them.

 

[shorehamview]

Two bald men fighting over a comb.

 

[Silent Blade]

The current SWFC was reformed in 1990 to avoid the Hillsborough disaster charges

 

[Sheffsteel]

Wednesday clearly have the better history but many of the stats show it's remarkably similar.

Seasons in the top flight SU 63 SW 66
Seasons in the 2nd tier SU 46 SW 44
Season in the 3rd tier SU 11 SW 11 (if they're relegated then they'll have spent longer at that level than us
Season in the 4th tier SU 1 SW 0

FA cup wins SU 4 SW 3
Losing FA cup finalists SU 2 SW 3
Losing FA cup semi finalists SU 9 SW 10

Attendances are also surprisingly similar.....so what makes Wednesday fans think they are a massive club?
There are probably 2 factors that make Sheff Wed fans think they are comfortably the bigger club.

1: Period when either Sheffield team could claim to be one of the best in the league and genuine title contenders.

The SUFC heyday when we were a powerhouse club was 1897 to 1900 when for 3 years we were easily one of the best teams in the game.
SU have spent loads of seasons in the top flight but we've consistently been a mid table club, rarely looking like challenging for honours.

The SWFC heyday when they were a powerhouse club was 1929 to 1933, 1960 to 1964 and 1992 to 1994. These were all very short spells but there are still people living today who remember SWFC on a similar level (ability wise) to Man Utd and Liverpool.

2: Statistics (facts) regularly show that the Sheff Wed attendances are good but nothing special, very similar to SUFC.
However SWFC did have a spell from 1950 to 1953 when for 4 consecutive seasons their average attendance was around 41,000.
Also in 1985 they averaged 27K and in 1992 averaged 29K, neither seem anything special but during that time attendances were really low.
Anything over 20K was considered impressive. So again there are people still alive who will remember SWFC being one of the better supported teams in England during those years when experiencing success.

Our claim to fame regards on field performance is that we have a remarkably good record in the Championship.
We've spent 46 season in the 2nd tier and 66% of the time we've been involved in the promotion battle.
So no wonder Blades automatically expect us to be challenging for the play-offs at least....historically it's the norm.

Our claim to fame regards attendances that very few Blades are aware of happened on the evening of 30th March 1982.
Attendances were very low in 1982 and anything over 20K was considered a really big crowd.

That night top of league and reigning Europeans Champions Liverpool played a div 1 match against Birmingham City.
They had the lowest crowd of the season at Anfield of 24,224.

On the same night Sheffield United played a division 4 promotion clash at home to Bradford City, crowd at Bramall Lane was 24,593.
Hard to believe that any league 2 (div 4) match could attract a bigger crowd that at Anfield with Liverpool in their pomp winning everything.

Also in recent times we've consistently been better supported than SWFC. Last season we averaged 28,746 in the 2nd tier.
The last time Sheff Wed bettered that figure whilst outside the top flight was in 1952.
Even in the top flight over the last 50+ years they have only bettered last seasons 28,746 on 1 occasion (in 1992).
and then of course there's the stat that Sheff Wed haven't averaged more than 30,000 over the last 55 years.

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

Wednesday clearly have the better history but many of the stats show it's remarkably similar.

Seasons in the top flight SU 63 SW 66
Seasons in the 2nd tier SU 46 SW 44
Season in the 3rd tier SU 11 SW 11 (if they're relegated then they'll have spent longer at that level than us
Season in the 4th tier SU 1 SW 0

FA cup wins SU 4 SW 3
Losing FA cup finalists SU 2 SW 3
Losing FA cup semi finalists SU 9 SW 10

Attendances are also surprisingly similar.....so what makes Wednesday fans think they are a massive club?
There are probably 2 factors that make Sheff Wed fans think they are comfortably the bigger club.

1: Period when either Sheffield team could claim to be one of the best in the league and genuine title contenders.

The SUFC heyday when we were a powerhouse club was 1897 to 1900 when for 3 years we were easily one of the best teams in the game.
SU have spent loads of seasons in the top flight but we've consistently been a mid table club, rarely looking like challenging for honours.

The SWFC heyday when they were a powerhouse club was 1929 to 1933, 1960 to 1964 and 1992 to 1994.
So there are still people living today who remember SWFC on a similar level (ability wise) to Man Utd and Liverpool.

2: Statistics (facts) regularly show that the Sheff Wed attendances are nothing special, very similar to SUFC.
However SWFC did have a spell from 1950 to 1953 when for 4 consecutive seasons their average attendance was around 41,000.
Also in 1985 they averaged 27K and in 1992 averaged 29K, neither seem anything special but during that time attendances were really low.
Anything over 20K was considered impressive. So again there are people still alive who will remember SWFC being one of the better supported teams in England during those years when experiencing success.

Our claim to fame regards attendances that very few Blades are aware of happened on the evening of 30th March 1982.
Attendances were very low in 1982 and anything over 20K was considered a really big crowd.

That night top of league and reigning Europeans Champions Liverpool played a div 1 match against Birmingham City.
They had the lowest crowd of the season at Anfield of 24,224.

On the same night Sheffield United played a division 4 promotion clash at home to Bradford City, crowd at Bramall Lane was 24,593.

Hard to believe that any league 2 (div 4) match could attract a bigger crowd that at Anfield with Liverpool in their pomp winning everything.

Great information,methinks we are very similar in everything football related statistics. I do think that the pigs have a slightly better one off match support but both are very loyal. Still despise the bastards though because of their arrogance and delusion,always want other clubs to love em poor pathetic souls.

 

[ancientblade]

The current SWFC was reformed in 1990 to avoid the Hillsborough disaster charges

to this day i can never understand why the leppings lane end wasnt demolished after 89

 

[Edinblade]

I don’t understand where the support for the pigs comes from when they reach playoff finals. They have no trouble selling thousands more tickets than we ever manage.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Great information,methinks we are very similar in everything football related statistics. I do think that the pigs have a slightly better one off match support but both are very loyal. Still despise the bastards though because of their arrogance and delusion,always want other clubs to love em poor pathetic souls.

Think the hardcore fanbase of the 2 Sheffield clubs is remarkably similar numbers wise.

I do think Wednesday have a lot more half hearted followers, mainly in the South Yorkshire (Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster) region. It's too much hassle to go to normal matches (unlike around Bramall Lane, Hillsboro is terrible for traffic on a match day) but when it's an end of season promotion match or an FA cup tie, then you can add up to 10K to the normal gate.

Also there's a more of cult ish behaviour going on amongst many Wednesday fans.
For big matches you'll find several of their more wealthy fans buy loads of tickets and take the wife (who doesnt really like football) and take the next door neighbour who likes SWFC a bit but never normally goes.

 

[SRA76]

I don’t understand where the support for the pigs comes from when they reach playoff finals. They have no trouble selling thousands more tickets than we ever manage.

They have a bigger support. It’s simple really. But it’s from all over South Yorkshire. Ours is 80% from Sheffield areas They’ve probably got 60% Sheffield areas rest from all or shop. We have gapped the bridge between us over years partly becuse there shit and we are miles in front but you only really have to look at their away followings to see they do have a very loyal fanbase or brain dead fanbase whatever way you look at it

 

[Sheffsteel]

I don’t understand where the support for the pigs comes from when they reach playoff finals. They have no trouble selling thousands more tickets than we ever manage.

Their play-off final match was up to 6 tickets per season ticket holder.
So many were bought making it a family day out, 1000's went that rarely go any matches.

Where as our Man City semi final was 1 ticket per season ticket holder....think even Man City allowed 3 tickets per ST holder.
So haven't a clue why our tickets were made difficult to buy.

I wanted to buy 5 tickets but was refused. I heard that about 2 days before kick-off they did relax the restriction and made them available for general sale, but it was too late to arrange anything.

So for the 1st time in 50 years I didn't attend one of our semi-finals.

 

[Rodley]

TBF to Wednesday, I don’t think there’s a club in Western Europe who can pull in as many pairs of Lonsdale slip-ons for a big game.

 

[Sheffsteel]

They have a bigger support. It’s simple really. But it’s from all over South Yorkshire. Ours is 80% from Sheffield areas They’ve probably got 60% Sheffield areas rest from all or shop. We have gapped the bridge between us over years partly becuse there shit and we are miles in front but you only really have to look at their away followings to see they do have a very loyal fanbase or brain dead fanbase whatever way you look at it

Makes me laugh that you mention away support... Thought fanbase was always based on home support.
Also their away support isn't anything special, check the data, it's similar to (very slightly better) than ours.

Agree about their have plenty of support all over South Yorkshire but it's more followers and not supporters.
These followers have no interest in normal matches but will only turn up for the big games.

What I find weird is that if we take 2,200 for an away match.
Our fans would say "we took 2000 to...where ever". Where as a Wednesday fan always says "we took 3000 to....where ever"

It's the same with home support. We might have a 28,721 crowd and Blades will say "we had a crowd of 28,000"....and none of our fans are bothered because having 30,000 gates every week is normal and natural. Where as Owls will alway say "we have a crowd of 30,000" and then rave about how incredible that level of support is.

They have a very insecure fanbase and are so desperate to be seen as a big club.
Tend to find Sheffielders are OK...it's the ones in Barnsley and Rotherham that come across as so desperate to support a big club.

This century since 2000, Sheff Wed have only broke an average of 25,000 on THREE occasions (2017,18 and 23).
Where as 25K would be one of our lowest attendances in years, after this season we'll have had 7 consecutive season averaging over 25K.
Will be interesting to see if we can keep this momentum swing regards support in the city.
History suggests we'll have a downer and they'll come good again because neither Sheffield team can seem to dominate the city for too long.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

Wednesday clearly have the better history but many of the stats show it's remarkably similar.

Seasons in the top flight SU 63 SW 66
Seasons in the 2nd tier SU 46 SW 44
Season in the 3rd tier SU 11 SW 11 (if they're relegated then they'll have spent longer at that level than us
Season in the 4th tier SU 1 SW 0

FA cup wins SU 4 SW 3
Losing FA cup finalists SU 2 SW 3
Losing FA cup semi finalists SU 9 SW 10

Attendances are also surprisingly similar.....so what makes Wednesday fans think they are a massive club?
There are probably 2 factors that make Sheff Wed fans think they are comfortably the bigger club.

1: Period when either Sheffield team could claim to be one of the best in the league and genuine title contenders.

The SUFC heyday when we were a powerhouse club was 1897 to 1900 when for 3 years we were easily one of the best teams in the game.
SU have spent loads of seasons in the top flight but we've consistently been a mid table club, rarely looking like challenging for honours.

The SWFC heyday when they were a powerhouse club was 1929 to 1933, 1960 to 1964 and 1992 to 1994. These were all very short spells but there are still people living today who remember SWFC on a similar level (ability wise) to Man Utd and Liverpool.

2: Statistics (facts) regularly show that the Sheff Wed attendances are good but nothing special, very similar to SUFC.
However SWFC did have a spell from 1950 to 1953 when for 4 consecutive seasons their average attendance was around 41,000.
Also in 1985 they averaged 27K and in 1992 averaged 29K, neither seem anything special but during that time attendances were really low.
Anything over 20K was considered impressive. So again there are people still alive who will remember SWFC being one of the better supported teams in England during those years when experiencing success.

Our claim to fame regards on field performance is that we have a remarkably good record in the Championship.
We've spent 46 season in the 2nd tier and 66% of the time we've been involved in the promotion battle.
So no wonder Blades automatically expect us to be challenging for the play-offs at least....historically it's the norm.

Our claim to fame regards attendances that very few Blades are aware of happened on the evening of 30th March 1982.
Attendances were very low in 1982 and anything over 20K was considered a really big crowd.

That night top of league and reigning Europeans Champions Liverpool played a div 1 match against Birmingham City.
They had the lowest crowd of the season at Anfield of 24,224.

On the same night Sheffield United played a division 4 promotion clash at home to Bradford City, crowd at Bramall Lane was 24,593.
Hard to believe that any league 2 (div 4) match could attract a bigger crowd that at Anfield with Liverpool in their pomp winning everything.

Also in recent times we've consistently been better supported than SWFC. Last season we averaged 28,746 in the 2nd tier.
The last time Sheff Wed bettered that figure whilst outside the top flight was in 1952.
Even in the top flight over the last 50+ years they have only bettered last seasons 28,746 on 1 occasion (in 1992).
and then of course there's the stat that Sheff Wed haven't averaged more than 30,000 over the last 55 years.

Considering Wednesday love to remind us we’ve nowt for 99 years you’d think they would be embarrassed attendances are so similar over the years. You would have thought they’d be miles in front given the ’history’ they seem to go on about.

These days I think it fair to suggest United have the bigger support overall, not just because we’re in the Prem.

 

[JJBlade]

to this day i can never understand why the leppings lane end wasnt demolished after 89

They couldn't con the FA into paying for it, and they couldn't get their mates at the City Council to con the FA into paying for it either, that's why it wasn't demolished and rebuilt.

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

They couldn't con the FA into paying for it, and they couldn't get their mates at the City Council to con the FA into paying for it either, that's why it wasn't demolished and rebuilt.

Tbf it didn’t help that the compensation they asked for for damaged fences and crush barriers wasn’t forthcoming.

 

[SRA76]

Makes me laugh that you mention away support... Thought fanbase was always based on home support.
Also their away support isn't anything special, check the data, it's similar to (very slightly better) than ours.

Agree about their have plenty of support all over South Yorkshire but it's more followers and not supporters.
These followers have no interest in normal matches but will only turn up for the big games.

What I find weird is that if we take 2,200 for an away match.
Our fans would say "we took 2000 to...where ever". Where as a Wednesday fan always says "we took 3000 to....where ever"

It's the same with home support. We might have a 28,721 crowd and Blades will say "we had a crowd of 28,000"....and none of our fans are bothered because having 30,000 gates every week is normal and natural. Where as Owls will alway say "we have a crowd of 30,000" and then rave about how incredible that level of support is.

They have a very insecure fanbase and are so desperate to be seen as a big club.
Tend to find Sheffielders are OK...it's the ones in Barnsley and Rotherham that come across as so desperate to support a big club.

This century since 2000, Sheff Wed have only broke an average of 25,000 on THREE occasions (2017,18 and 23).
Where as 25K would be one of our lowest attendances in years, after this season we'll have had 7 consecutive season averaging over 25K.
Will be interesting to see if we can keep this momentum swing regards support in the city.
History suggests we'll have a downer and they'll come good again because neither Sheffield team can seem to dominate the city for too long.

The away support for what they watch is unreal. Like it or lump it. I know I wouldn’t go to watch us all over country if we was that shit and when we have been down where they are more blades than me think fuck that. Like I say either loyal or thick you decide. Home support we are above em obviously. We don’t get ripped off and we are miles in front on pitch in ‘best league in world ‘.

 

[JJBlade]

The away support for what they watch is unreal. Like it or lump it. I know I wouldn’t go to watch us all over country if we was that shit and when we have been down where they are more blades than me think fuck that. Like I say either loyal or thick you decide. Home support we are above em obviously. We don’t get ripped off and we are miles in front on pitch in ‘best league in world ‘.

Yes it is, but United have had the same amazing away support before they made it a closed shop.
The Wembley trip was the biggest eyeopener, I have never had a single thing to do with Sheffield Wednesday in my life, but I could have wandered into their ticket office and bought half a dozen if I wanted to.
The struggle as a more casual fan of United these days meant it wasn't worth the fucking hassle getting one for United and going on my own.

That's what people don't understand, the words "CASUAL SUPPORTER". It is fucking casual supporter.
If you make it damn near impossible and then tell them they are on their own, THEY WON'T FUCKING GO.

But 20,000 CASUAL WENDY SUPPORTERS can go and take, uncle Fred, aunty Vera and Uncle Tob Cobley an all with them.

 

[Shakespeare blade]

To be fair they are way bigger than us, I’d go as far as to say massive…….deluded twats

 

[SRA76]

Yes it is, but United have had the same amazing away support before they made it a closed shop.
The Wembley trip was the biggest eyeopener, I have never had a single thing to do with Sheffield Wednesday in my life, but I could have wandered into their ticket office and bought half a dozen if I wanted to.
The struggle as a more casual fan of United these days meant it wasn't worth the fucking hassle getting one for United and going on my own.

That's what people don't understand, the words "CASUAL SUPPORTER". It is fucking casual supporter.
If you make it damn near impossible and then tell them they are on their own, THEY WON'T FUCKING GO.

But 20,000 CASUAL WENDY SUPPORTERS can go and take, uncle Fred, aunty Vera and Uncle Tob Cobley an all with them.

It’s what drives their delusion of massiveness That and the media

 

[FATTYFOULKE]

Yes it is, but United have had the same amazing away support before they made it a closed shop.
The Wembley trip was the biggest eyeopener, I have never had a single thing to do with Sheffield Wednesday in my life, but I could have wandered into their ticket office and bought half a dozen if I wanted to.
The struggle as a more casual fan of United these days meant it wasn't worth the fucking hassle getting one for United and going on my own.

That's what people don't understand, the words "CASUAL SUPPORTER". It is fucking casual supporter.
If you make it damn near impossible and then tell them they are on their own, THEY WON'T FUCKING GO.

But 20,000 CASUAL WENDY SUPPORTERS can go and take, uncle Fred, aunty Vera and Uncle Tob Cobley an all with them.

That’s the problem. When we played City I personally knew 5 blades who didn’t go because of the restrictions.

 

[JJBlade]

That’s the problem. When we played City I personally knew 5 blades who didn’t go because of the restrictions.

I have a list as long as Santa's beard of mates who don't go anymore, in fact I'm the only one that still has even a slight interest, the rest of my mates dropped United after getting married, buying a house, having kids etc. The problem is they never came back, and more importantly didn't bring their kids back with them. And now it's too difficult for them to come back even if they wanted to.

But at Wembley with 20,000 more tickets than our average attendance available it should not be made difficult for them to go and have a day out, every other club that unexpectedly gets to Wembley manages to take twice or three times their average attendance, and they do this by selling the fucking things, not restricting them.

 

[Rufus Smalls]

Can I just say, I’ve not read any of the above posts. Because I fucking hate Wednesday. My first derby was 1979 at the Sty, sat on their North Stand and it still grates on me today after all these years.

Irrespective of number of fans and the average number of home fans, they are a set of cunts in my humble opinion.

Thank you.

 

[Frank the tank]

I have a list as long as Santa's beard of mates who don't go anymore, in fact I'm the only one that still has even a slight interest, the rest of my mates dropped United after getting married, buying a house, having kids etc. The problem is they never came back, and more importantly didn't bring their kids back with them. And now it's too difficult for them to come back even if they wanted to.

But at Wembley with 20,000 more tickets than our average attendance available it should not be made difficult for them to go and have a day out, every other club that unexpectedly gets to Wembley manages to take twice or three times their average attendance, and they do this by selling the fucking things, not restricting them.

And despite this the crowds have almost doubled in the last two decades dwarfing our massive rivals

 

[Mario1889]

To be fair to the Wendys, they do get very good support considering they haven’t done anything of any note for the best part of 25 years.

That said, let’s keep Chansiri in charge a while longer and (fingers crossed) another 25 years of being rubbish and then we’ll see how their numbers hold up.

 

[Mario1889]

Can I just say, I’ve not read any of the above posts. Because I fucking hate Wednesday. My first derby was 1979 at the Sty, sat on their North Stand and it still grates on me today after all these years.

Irrespective of number of fans and the average number of home fans, they are a set of cunts in my humble opinion.

Thank you.

Why don’t you come off the fence and tell us what you REALLY think.

 

[Sheffsteel]

We don’t get ripped off and we are miles in front on pitch in ‘best league in world ‘.

Another myth that Wednesday fans like to perpetuate....let me explain.
The "Wednesday fans are being ripped off" message is based on truth but is quite misleading.

Their match day prices have been well below ours (about £3 per match) for the last 2 seasons. Chansiri heavily reduced prices when they went down to league 1. Last season when their prices were announced they were 10 points clear at the top of the league. When our season tickets went on sale we were 2nd in the league but Middlesboro were quickly catching us up and looking unbeatable.

So SWFC set prices based on Championship football and United set prices knowing Championship football was a strong possibility.

Their early bird season ticket renewal on the Kop was about £10 more than our Kop ST renewal prices.
Our South stand prices are about £20 more expensive than their very similar North stand.
Their South stand was about £100 dearer than our South stand but only rich people would choose their South stand.
Surely if money was an issue you'd choose the Kop and North stand options which are similar priced to what we pay.
I can find a screen print of the ST prices if you want, the proof is there on the internet.

So for about 20,000 fans from both sides of Sheffield seasons ticket prices were very similar priced.

Impossible you might say....how come the press quote over £800 for as season ticket at S6?
That's down to Chantiri's blackmail policy of forcing SW season tickets to renew in January of each year.
If they don't instantly renew then in Feb priced go up by £50, then in March they all go up again by another £50.
Then in April they all go up again another £50 and then finally in June they all go top again another £50.

So if you wait until the Summer to renew then...yes the pricing is horrendous...shockingly high...much higher than us
but of course 95% of their most loyal fans will have already renews in January, so they've paid very similar prices to us.

Also it's true that the most expensive season ticket at SWFC was over £800
but of course less than a hand full (less than 5 wealthy people) will have happily paid those extortionate prices.

The weird thing is that Chansiri likes the negative publicity because it's been a massive financial success.

Sheff Wed currently have a steady near record season ticket holders of around 20,000 and enjoy much higher attendances (around 25K) compared to pre Chansiri when they were around 21K. Doesn't matter how they perform Chansiri is very confident his blackmail tactics will ensure all 20K season ticket holders will keep renewing every Jan because if you don't renew then the renewal prices keeps going up and up and up, then pay on the day prices become expensive. Also those who did renew on early bird can feel smug because they've paid a reasonable price and not been ripped off, like the fans who can't afford season tickets.

 

[Big.Dane.w]

Think the hardcore fanbase of the 2 Sheffield clubs is remarkably similar numbers wise.

I do think Wednesday have a lot more half hearted followers, mainly in the South Yorkshire (Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster) region. It's too much hassle to go to normal matches (unlike around Bramall Lane, Hillsboro is terrible for traffic on a match day) but when it's an end of season promotion match or an FA cup tie, then you can add up to 10K to the normal gate.

Also there's a more of cult ish behaviour going on amongst many Wednesday fans.
For big matches you'll find several of their more wealthy fans buy loads of tickets and take the wife (who doesnt really like football) and take the next door neighbour who likes SWFC a bit but never normally goes.

This is true, a couple of suppliers I use put free coaches and tickets on for their customers, literally anyone was jumping on just for the free day out.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Yes, the ultimate race to the bottom…

 

[ancientblade]

the only occasions they get massive support is either a wembley appearance or a last match decider at the sty thats a fact