Final Thoughts

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Cyprus Blade

Cyprus Blade

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My father passed away very recently aged 91. In one of my final chats with him discussion inevitably came round to the Blades.

So what was the biggest game you went to, I asked him. Easy, says he. The 1936 FA Cup final. I was 11 and it was my first visit to London.
facupfinal1936.jpg


What's yours he asked ? The 1993 semi I said ( he went as well). Aye, says he, we lost that too.

What was the best match you went to, says I. Final match of the 1938-39 season says he. We were third and Wednesday second with one match to play. We'd been second until April Fool's Day then fell behind. We had to beat Tottenham at home to go up - we thrashed them 6-1.

http://www.footipedia.com/Sheffield-United/1938-1939-season-stats/season-summary#.ViAoUfkrLIU

Wednesday were stuck in Division 2 until 1950 after that. What was yours, says he. The Cardiff game in 1971 to go up said I.That were Dearden's game says he.

What was the best United team you ever saw said I. The 1938-39 Promotion team says he.I answered with the 1961 promotion team. Aye, says he, that were a good side, best defence I ever saw and they had Doc.

So who was the best United Player you saw I asked. Wonderful, wonderful Jimmy Hagan (to the tune of wonderful wonderful Copenhagen) without a doubt came the answer.

Jimmy-Hagan-008.jpg
My turn. I was torn, Currie or Doc Pace and opted for Doc. Doc Pace was great, Currie good, Hagan was better says my dad.

derek-pace-sheffield-united-fc-footballer-in-e6ft9k.jpg

One thing, my dad said, Woodward was right. We'll never get any better while we sell our best players. I have to agree.
 



Lovely OP Cyprus. Reading posts like that tend to pull at the heartstrings with both the family & club connection. I always get the sense & feeling that something magic is about to happen to our great club in the not too distant future helped along in some way by the Blades who have passed on.
 
Sincere condolences Cyprus. It's the memories that give us strength after a bereavement. I remember my first game with my Dad, special memories that make us what we are. Thank you for sharing with us all.
 
Dkc said:
Can't be many Blades left alive who remember that 1936 FA Cup Final.

Bet he didn't imagine age 11 that that game would be the biggest Blades achievement in his lifetime - and we lost
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I took my son for his 60th birthday, great day.
 
Lovely stuff Cyprus Blade

It's a great regret of mine that I at no point had a conversation like this with my uncle, who past away unexpectedly a few years ago. All our United chat was on what was happening at the time. I have absolutely no idea what his first game was, or his favourite game, or his favourite player, favourite manager etc. I also sadly have no way to find any of that out from others either – we were the only two Unitedites in the family.

I can hazard a guess at some of the answers, but they would just be guesses – he was probably at the Leicester game, so I assume that would be top of the list. Unfortunately our joint experience of big games is, unsurprisingly, littered with failure – all of the playoff finals and FA Cup semis were attended together, neither of us were present at the 2006 key promotion-decider, though we were both together at the awful Wigan game. I think the last piece of action we both saw together was Simmo blasting our promotion chances over the bar. The one big-game success I recall us witnessing was the Liverpool first leg in 2003. He'd suggested we needed to sub Tonge to get back into the game. Ten mins later Tonge had scored twice to turn the match on its head.
 



Blade56 said:
What a wonderful memory for you and peaceful end for your dad knowing he had shared those days and got the chance to recall them with you. Lovely post C
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That is a great post i can relate to it.
 
Last edited:
Great post CB forever keep the cherished memories of your father and the chats you had together about the blades
Best game Darlington away
 
Lovely post. My dad was born in 1920 and was there in 1936. He was a reasonable level headed professionsal man but seemed to have an irrational hatred of "Lucky Arsenal" from that era. Funnily enough thinking back I don't think he ever uttered the word "Wednesday" on the basis that they were an irrelevance. Also maintained Hagan was the best he ever saw in a Blades shirt.

Sad really that before he died in 2002 he would ask me how they were going on because he couldn't go to games but he had that resigned air about him of "sorry lad, they'll never change". He was probably right.

:(
 
Tezza1889 said:
Brilliant to read this, is always Leicester for me...

One of them days we will never see again, cause the clowns put the cherry on the cake that day...
Click to expand...
Oh the joy of watching Stancliffe on itv on the day after, in dressing room post match, saying "@ lot of people doubted us, to them I say up yours, we've done it,we are up"...was fucking tremendous.
Can anyone imagine a,single one of Adkins' lot ,a. Caring enough to say anything like that? @nd b.Having the guts and the ability to get promotion? ,I can't. Great post Cyprus.
 
My uncle Phil , from Holmesfield, eased me into watching united back in the early 70s.
I used to be given his programmes to read, then he bought me a programme
of my own from 1973 onwards.
Didn't often go alongside Phil to a game, aside from the second match of 1975 76, a defeat to Arsenal, by 3 goals to 1.
I first saw,a grown man cry that night, not my uncle but another bloke.
My mother worked for Stadia catering at the lane, and she managed to get me in to games free of charge. When mother died I never got the opportunity to reminisce with her about our lane days.
When Phil died I never got chance to reminisce either. Ironically, a woman I had never met gave me a framed photograph of uncle Phil when I worked in a place in Dronfield last year. She was a childhood friend of his.
 
hello said:
My uncle Phil , from Holmesfield, eased me into watching united back in the early 70s.
I used to be given his programmes to read, then he bought me a programme
of my own from 1973 onwards.
Didn't often go alongside Phil to a game, aside from the second match of 1975 76, a defeat to Arsenal, by 3 goals to 1.
I first saw,a grown man cry that night, not my uncle but another bloke.
My mother worked for Stadia catering at the lane, and she managed to get me in to games free of charge. When mother died I never got the opportunity to reminisce with her about our lane days.
When Phil died I never got chance to reminisce either. Ironically, a woman I had never met gave me a framed photograph of uncle Phil when I worked in a place in Dronfield last year. She was a childhood friend of his.
Click to expand...
The 'touching' thing about the OP h is that they had the time and opportunity to reminisce. The 'important' thing about both posts is you and Cyprus Blade had the expirence of being there together and sharing the Blades experience.
I for one always sit back for a few seconds at every game and watch both my sons watching United, moaning, groaning, cheering or whatever and appreciate the fact I am there with them and they want to be there with me (probabley cause I pay :)). It's the simple things in life that we should all take a few seconds to appreciate because one day I won't be sat with them!
 
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