Following our goalless draw v QPR last week, I started thinking about the longest period of time I had spent attending matches without seeing either side score and my memory took me back to our promotion season of 1970/71.
On 27 March that season we were away to Bristol City. I didn't travel to Ashton Gate that day where we won 1-0 courtesy of a first half Tony Currie goal. The win left us 2nd in the table equal on points to leaders Leicester City and a point ahead of Cardiff City, both Leicester and Cardiff having a game in hand.
Only 4 points separated us from our next opponents Norwich City who were in 9th place. We were leading goalscorers in the league
I went to the Lane on 3 April to watch the Norwich game expecting a win and was disappointed when the match ended goalless. Nothing particularly stands out in my memory about the game and I can't remember any clear chances being created by either side.
The following week was Easter and on the Saturday we were away to league leaders Leicester City.
I, along with thousands of other Blades made the trip down the M1 to Filbert Street. The match was a tense affair with both teams aware of the importance of the game. We were very disciplined and our back 4 led by centre backs Eddie Colquhoun and John Flynn were superb. When the final whistle blew the players were delighted with the 0-0 scoreline and the Blades skipper turned towards us behind the goal and fist pumped the air.
Easter Monday saw us make the trip to Hillsborough. Wednesday were in the bottom half of the table and pulling no trees up, however a couple of their players made the headlines in the Star in the build up to the game as they had been charged with vandalism after kicking up flowers in the Peace Gardens (they were classy even then).
A crowd of 47406 (including 65000 Wednesday fans) witnessed our 3rd consecutive 0-0. I was on the kop wearing my red and white scarf and had actually gone to the match with a couple of Wednesdayite mates. The match itself was a typical derby game with few chances, Wednesday actually having the best one but were prevented from scoring by a world class save by John Hope at the Leppings Lane end. I was disappointed with the result as after 3 draws we were slipping a bit in the promotion race.
The following evening saw us entertaining Millwall at the Lane. We really needed a win to keep up with our rivals.
We kicked towards the kop in the first half and although we were on top the players seemed a bit tense. In the second half we upped the tempo and there seemed to be wave after wave of attacks but couldn't break down the stubborn Millwall defence. As we approached the 80 minute mark it looked like yet another goalless draw was coming when suddenly from a ruck of players in the penalty area Trevor Hockey emerged with the ball, he seemed to fall down but recovered and scrambled the ball in the net from a few yards. The stadium erupted, I could feel tears of emotion running down my face and our promotion bid was back on the rails.
I had watched nearly 6 hours of football without seeing a goal, but a few minutes later it was 2-0 when after more pressure a Millwall defender put through his own net. It finished 2-0 and we were in 3rd place level on points with 2nd placed Cardiff who still had a game in hand but had to visit the Lane on 27 April.
The optimism was back and our next match saw us defeat Birmingham 3-0 where Gil Reece scored one of the best individual goals I've ever seen, Cardiff were thrashed 5-1 and we were promoted following an 11 match unbeaten run which we extended by a further 10 games in division 1 defeating the 3 previous league champions in consecutive matches (2 away from home) for good measure. Happy days.
On 27 March that season we were away to Bristol City. I didn't travel to Ashton Gate that day where we won 1-0 courtesy of a first half Tony Currie goal. The win left us 2nd in the table equal on points to leaders Leicester City and a point ahead of Cardiff City, both Leicester and Cardiff having a game in hand.
Only 4 points separated us from our next opponents Norwich City who were in 9th place. We were leading goalscorers in the league
I went to the Lane on 3 April to watch the Norwich game expecting a win and was disappointed when the match ended goalless. Nothing particularly stands out in my memory about the game and I can't remember any clear chances being created by either side.
The following week was Easter and on the Saturday we were away to league leaders Leicester City.
I, along with thousands of other Blades made the trip down the M1 to Filbert Street. The match was a tense affair with both teams aware of the importance of the game. We were very disciplined and our back 4 led by centre backs Eddie Colquhoun and John Flynn were superb. When the final whistle blew the players were delighted with the 0-0 scoreline and the Blades skipper turned towards us behind the goal and fist pumped the air.
Easter Monday saw us make the trip to Hillsborough. Wednesday were in the bottom half of the table and pulling no trees up, however a couple of their players made the headlines in the Star in the build up to the game as they had been charged with vandalism after kicking up flowers in the Peace Gardens (they were classy even then).
A crowd of 47406 (including 65000 Wednesday fans) witnessed our 3rd consecutive 0-0. I was on the kop wearing my red and white scarf and had actually gone to the match with a couple of Wednesdayite mates. The match itself was a typical derby game with few chances, Wednesday actually having the best one but were prevented from scoring by a world class save by John Hope at the Leppings Lane end. I was disappointed with the result as after 3 draws we were slipping a bit in the promotion race.
The following evening saw us entertaining Millwall at the Lane. We really needed a win to keep up with our rivals.
We kicked towards the kop in the first half and although we were on top the players seemed a bit tense. In the second half we upped the tempo and there seemed to be wave after wave of attacks but couldn't break down the stubborn Millwall defence. As we approached the 80 minute mark it looked like yet another goalless draw was coming when suddenly from a ruck of players in the penalty area Trevor Hockey emerged with the ball, he seemed to fall down but recovered and scrambled the ball in the net from a few yards. The stadium erupted, I could feel tears of emotion running down my face and our promotion bid was back on the rails.
I had watched nearly 6 hours of football without seeing a goal, but a few minutes later it was 2-0 when after more pressure a Millwall defender put through his own net. It finished 2-0 and we were in 3rd place level on points with 2nd placed Cardiff who still had a game in hand but had to visit the Lane on 27 April.
The optimism was back and our next match saw us defeat Birmingham 3-0 where Gil Reece scored one of the best individual goals I've ever seen, Cardiff were thrashed 5-1 and we were promoted following an 11 match unbeaten run which we extended by a further 10 games in division 1 defeating the 3 previous league champions in consecutive matches (2 away from home) for good measure. Happy days.
