SUN-BRONZED Sheffield United star Brian Howard sat by the pool of Malta’s luxurious five-star Fortina Spa Resort, slid his sunglasses up on to his head, fixed me with a steely glare and said: “Footballers care just as much as the fans.”
Not for the Blades the high life of the Premier League this season. Defeat by Burnley in the play-off final in May put paid to that. But the wages are still getting paid, the pre-season tour just as plush, and the lifestyle just as far away from that of the long-suffering fans planning trips to Glanford Park, Scunthorpe, instead of Old Trafford.
Howard, 26, has already made his name as part of the Barnsley side who put both Liverpool and Chelsea out of the FA Cup two seasons ago. Indeed, one of the goalscorers at Anfield, he has already been guaranteed a slice of footballing immortality and as many pints as he can drink.
Nevertheless, after the 1-0 Wembley defeat in May, it was Howard dipping his hands in his pocket and getting a round in, for the very fans he felt he and his team-mates had let down by not reclaiming a place in the Premier League.
“I was pretty miserable after the final and my mood was not helped by being chosen to do a drugs test,” he said. “I had sweated so much I was struggling to give one and was having a go at the testers even when I knew they were just doing their job.
“When I finally got finished I could not face the long journey back to Sheffield so decided to visit family in Southampton. The problem was that I had no transport and other than my kit, the only clothes I had was the club suit we had worn to the game.
“The first thing I saw when I boarded a train at Waterloo was a bunch of Sheffield United fans who had been to the game and of course they recognised me. I bought them all a drink to say sorry for not getting them into the Premier League.
“We talked all the way through the journey and at the end of it one of them said, ‘We never realised it matters just as much to you guys as it does to us’. I finally got in late that evening, sat down on the sofa and, I admit it, burst into tears.”
Despite the loss of parachute payments this season and the need to sell the club’s brightest young stars – most notably the two Kyles, Naughton and Walker, to Tottenham – hopes are high of what can be achieved. For all the opulence of their pre-season tour – shirt sponsors visitMalta.com were keen on a meet and greet session on the island to cement their relationship – the players were worked hard. Up at 7am for training and back at 7pm, to avoid the sunshine but still feel the heat.
All eyes are focused on tomorrow’s curtain-raiser against fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough. The key expectation, though, is that of the fans. If the faithful at Bramall Lane perceive they are not getting the sort of return they are hoping for from their team, the fortress could easily become a bear pit, with the club’s own heroes being baited.
Howard is used to that. Having enjoyed FA Cup glory at Barnsley, he hoped to prove he could do the business against the game’s elite on a more regular basis. Failing to secure a direct passage to the top flight, he went for the next best thing – a team on the cusp of that status, he felt. Unfortunately, one of the prime candidates were Barnsley’s South Yorkshire rivals and while on the face of it he completed his £500,000 move with the best wishes of the Tykes, the truth was different.
“When I’m driving around near home – I still live just south of Barnsley – fans will wind their windows down at traffic lights. I do the same, thinking they are well-wishers, but I’ve lost count of the number of V-signs,” said Howard. At least he has taught himself not to care about that.
