Love never dies for me

[VictoryBlade]

I just love us Blades and that's it! Horrible, horrible season...………..but like some on hear seen worse! UTB

 

[VictoryBlade]

In fact ……………...up the fucking Blades, coz I really really love us everything about us I love, our fans , ground, atmosphere at said ground, getting written off, told by the pigs they are bigger (lol) and generally we always piss Leeds off ...ha ha! The only time I want us to turn up now is Leeds away...……………………….p.lease?

 

[Houston_Blade]

You can love something and criticise it at the same time. That’s what my wife keeps telling me anyway

 

[VictoryBlade]

Hopefully never have, never will. UTB

 

[Webding]

I stop breathing about 20,000 times a day. Luckily (for me), I’ve so far started again immediately.

Funnily enough, 20,000 is about the amount of times I’ve fallen out with United this season.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

In fact ……………...up the fucking Blades, coz I really really love us everything about us I love, our fans , ground, atmosphere at said ground, getting written off, told by the pigs they are bigger (lol) and generally we always piss Leeds off ...ha ha! The only time I want us to turn up now is Leeds away...……………………….p.lease?

Some say Sheffield is just a big village, so I suppose you could call United a village team, There's never been a Prawn sandwich brigade here just us villages, and like many more on here I'll always be a Blades no matter what division we.re in , even if that makes me the village idiot.....

 

[Houston_Blade]

I stop breathing about 20,000 times a day. Luckily (for me), I’ve so far started again immediately.

Funnily enough, 20,000 is about the amount of times I’ve fallen out with United this season.

It’s when I have to walk in a straight line and breathe that I struggle. Quite hard doing 2 things at once I find.

 

[Sheff de party]

Exactly, it's supposed to hurt
But when Fulham scored, I laughed.

When I looked at our stats up to Fulham scoring, 0 shots, 0 on target, 22% possession, I laughed again.

It won't be so funny is if it's the same turgid shyte next season.

But that's Sheffield United for you, it's either half decent but turgid or it's absolutely turgid shyte. Either way turgid is always involved.

Absolutely. That 100 point season, being top of the championship at Christmas and then finishing second the year after was so turgid.

Overlapping centre halves, crosses into the box, Coutts dominating the ball, Fleck being the complete midfielder, Duffy’s skill, Billy’s goals, Didzy being Didzy, Bouncing Day Massacre, Basham’s arriving, making up 6 points in a Bank Holiday weekend and the city being taken over after the 2-0 vs Ipswich.

Makes me shudder just thinking about it.

 

[ancientblade]

Absolutely. That 100 point season, being top of the championship at Christmas and then finishing second the year after was so turgid.

Overlapping centre halves, crosses into the box, Coutts dominating the ball, Fleck being the complete midfielder, Duffy’s skill, Billy’s goals, Didzy being Didzy, Bouncing Day Massacre, Basham’s arriving, making up 6 points in a Bank Holiday weekend and the city being taken over after the 2-0 vs Ipswich.

Makes me shudder just thinking about it.

maybe chris just wants another piss up on a double decker bus

 

[The Crab]

Hi Silent Blade
I've always been intellectually intrigued by that sort of view. With changes of ownership, management, location, colours, strips, badges, corporate structure, direction, strategy, administration, resurrection, etc there are so many things that can change within the outer shell of "Sheffield United" (for example).
I feel many fans see a line in the sand that they would not cross. For a strong eg, moving out of Bramall Lane is often cited as that line. But, as & when they get closer to that line - it just shifts & they will remain fans. There doesn't even have to be something/anything you actually like about the club, it's the can't put your finger on it "shell" that you're attracted to. For me, it's certainly not any manager or player or owner - they just come & go. I often muse about shit like this & your OP triggered yet more introspection - you bastard (smiley face thing)

I love the club, I have countless happy memories. But speaking for myself, the line in the sand is and always will be the same. Bramall Lane is our home

 

[The Crab]

Perspective makes us respect mediocrity.

'Oh we were in League 1 a few years ago therefore we shouldn't be too down about things now'

NO. That is small club mentality which I for one am sick of.

But that is some peoples perspective. Doesn't make us any more right or wrong, it makes us, well, us.

Does this season hurt? Yes, like a fucker. It's embarassing, abject performances from players who (some at least) don't seem to give a shit. I can forgive a lack of ability if someone is giving their best. What I can't forgive is a lack of effort.

I genuinely don't think it's as simple as saying we have a small club mentality. You stick around due to a love of being a fan, and what being a fan has given you. Thick and thin, up and down, yet still we come back for more. Thats why it hurts when you see a player who will never ever get it, and why we love a player who does get it

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

I love the club, I have countless happy memories. But speaking for myself, the line in the sand is and always will be the same. Bramall Lane is our home

Understood. But, not an issue for me at all. (And of course, not saying you're wrong, or my view is better, or owt "bigger"). ALL the stands are completely different to when I first went (& for you as well I suspect) - although the Bramall Lane end "shell" remains similar. It is not the Bramall Lane I first visited. Nor the one I had my formative Blades years in. It is not my Bramall Lane in that sense.
Our home as you describe it is just a footprint, a postcode, a burial ground. A home continually rebuilt on the same site. Although, it does seem clear that most people share your HOME view than my place we play view.
I love pondering this fandom stuff.

 

[The Crab]

Understood. But, not an issue for me at all. (And of course, not saying you're wrong, or my view is better, or owt "bigger"). ALL the stands are completely different to when I first went (& for you as well I suspect) - although the Bramall Lane end "shell" remains similar. It is not the Bramall Lane I first visited. Nor the one I had my formative Blades years in. It is not my Bramall Lane in that sense.
Our home as you describe it is just a footprint, a postcode, a burial ground. A home continually rebuilt on the same site. Although, it does seem clear that most people share your HOME view than my place we play view.
I love pondering this fandom stuff.

Totally understand you and what you are saying. As you say, it's not right or wrong, purely a personal feeling.

There have been many changes. As much as I like the big screen, there have been many times when I have missed watching the fella changing the scores at the Bramall Lane end, hoping the letter corresponding to the pig game brings some good news for us.

I'm a sentimentalist. I was born one, and I'll die one. I'll leave you with these two examples that are most profound to me.

When Ms Crab was at her end, that wasn't what I saw. I saw the lass who I fancied when I started working with her, I saw the fantastic times, days out, holidays all of it. As she changed, as she faded, what was in me stayed strong, still does.

Bramall Lane, our home. Things have changed over the years, some good, some bad. The fella changing the scores has long gone. But even with all the changes, and no matter what is happening on the pitch, it's home, the love stays strong. Even when the "what is" is hurting, the "what was" keeps you coming back, hoping for better times.

 

[Snake]

Understood. But, not an issue for me at all. (And of course, not saying you're wrong, or my view is better, or owt "bigger"). ALL the stands are completely different to when I first went (& for you as well I suspect) - although the Bramall Lane end "shell" remains similar. It is not the Bramall Lane I first visited. Nor the one I had my formative Blades years in. It is not my Bramall Lane in that sense.
Our home as you describe it is just a footprint, a postcode, a burial ground. A home continually rebuilt on the same site. Although, it does seem clear that most people share your HOME view than my place we play view.
I love pondering this fandom stuff.

I'm with Crab on this. And if ever I needed a short sharp reality check on my feelings it was last year at West Ham. I honestly could have cried for the old time West Ham fans drinking in that shit hole of a plastic pub in the shopping mall next to the ground. We only popped in for a quick un after getting off tube at Stratford.

Then the actual stadium itself ..... I felt genuine remorse for them. Nope thats not for me. I'm not saying ill stop going if we move from BDTBL but it definitely wouldn't be the same.

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

I'm with Crab on this. And if ever I needed a short sharp reality check on my feelings it was last year at West Ham. I honestly could have cried for the old time West Ham fans drinking in that shit hole of a plastic pub in the shopping mall next to the ground. We only popped in for a quick un after getting off tube at Stratford.

Then the actual stadium itself ..... I felt genuine remorse for them. Nope thats not for me. I'm not saying ill stop going if we move from BDTBL but it definitely wouldn't be the same.

And yet ..... you've got the Howling Hops Brewery Tap, one of the best modern British breweries imho within sight of the turnstiles. And Crate as well (which admittedly isn't as good as it was). We drank in the Leyton House Working Men's Club & Institute. Itself, a nice simple walk across the park to the turnstile. We had some meet n greet with some West Ham fans I know. The "geezers" in the Club could not have been more welcoming. Insisting we come back after the match irrespective of the result. Pushed the buzzer, he's let me in & bought all of us a beer. All is not always as it seems from one angle.

 

[Snake]

And yet ..... you've got the Howling Hops Brewery Tap, one of the best modern British breweries imho within sight of the turnstiles. And Crate as well (which admittedly isn't as good as it was). We drank in the Leyton House Working Men's Club & Institute. Itself, a nice simple walk across the park to the turnstile. We had some meet n greet with some West Ham fans I know. The "geezers" in the Club could not have been more welcoming. Insisting we come back after the match irrespective of the result. Pushed the buzzer, he's let me in & bought all of us a beer. All is not always as it seems from one angle.

I bow to your exceptional knowledge of drinking establishments. I would guess 95% of football fans are like me ......... get ratted on shite then look for a curry house. We boozed around Whitechapel and Mile End. Tbh that has changed very much over the years too, but still a decent day/night out.

 

[Nine Inch Nalis]

I have strong (small c) conservative sensibilities when it comes to matters of football, and especially Sheffield United.
The club and the ground on which it stands are intertwined. Tear them asunder and the identity goes. I'm even mildly irked by the fact that the crest has been ever so slightly altered in recent years. Change the colours or the name and I'm gone, and it will hurt.

And yet, if we got relegated 6/7 divisions overnight, I'd say "for fucks sake" and start Googling for the best pubs around Frickley or North Ferriby. My love for the club is not conditional on fortune, but on identity and tradition as I see it. I understand that ultimately, the only thing we support is Sheffield United as an abstraction, given that all else is in flux. But the abstraction is what matters, it is the heart of all things.

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

I bow to your exceptional knowledge of drinking establishments. I would guess 95% of football fans are like me ......... get ratted on shite then look for a curry house. We boozed around Whitechapel and Mile End. Tbh that has changed very much over the years too, but still a decent day/night out.

There you go ..... the enjoyment is out there ..... and we both found it

 

[bladesince64]

Silent that would make a brilliant tattoo mate

 

[pommpey]

Silent that would make a brilliant tattoo mate

On his forehead

pommpey

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

Understood. But, not an issue for me at all. (And of course, not saying you're wrong, or my view is better, or owt "bigger"). ALL the stands are completely different to when I first went (& for you as well I suspect) - although the Bramall Lane end "shell" remains similar. It is not the Bramall Lane I first visited. Nor the one I had my formative Blades years in. It is not my Bramall Lane in that sense.
Our home as you describe it is just a footprint, a postcode, a burial ground. A home continually rebuilt on the same site. Although, it does seem clear that most people share your HOME view than my place we play view.
I love pondering this fandom stuff.

I agree to a point but the whole experience beyond the Lane, the "Sheffield United" I support, isn't just about the stadium

Moving our stadium to another site is more than just moving the stadium, it's breaking the link between (in my case anyway) walking from the station to, usually, the Beer Engine, and then the walk to the stadium and then the walk back to the station and maybe a pint in the Sentinel as used to be, after the match.

Move the stadium to, say, Meadowhall, and would I still go to, say, the Beer Engine with my Blades mates before the match?

Unlikely.

Would I go to Meadowhall?

Mmmmmmm, possibly.

Would the match day experience be the same?

No

Would it be better?

Definitely not

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

I agree to a point but the whole experience beyond the Lane, the "Sheffield United" I support, isn't just about the stadium

Moving our stadium to another site is more than just moving the stadium, it's breaking the link between (in my case anyway) walking from the station to, usually, the Beer Engine, and then the walk to the stadium and then the walk back to the station and maybe a pint in the Sentinel as used to be, after the match.

Move the stadium to, say, Meadowhall, and would I still go to, say, the Beer Engine with my Blades mates before the match?

Unlikely.

Would I go to Meadowhall?

Mmmmmmm, possibly.

Would the match day experience be the same?

No

Would it be better?

Definitely not

I assume you mean The Royal Oak? (he annoyingly said to demonstrate that nothing stays the same forever and that we are just looking through today's window)

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

I assume you mean The Royal Oak? (he annoyingly said to demonstrate that nothing stays the same forever and that we are just looking through today's window)

No it's the one on Shoreham Street on the left with the sizeable seating area outside. It was the Sentinel up to about 3 years ago I think.

Ah! The Triple Point Brewery and Bar now I believe - unless that's gone as well

 

[Fulwood Blade]

View attachment 106112

I blame that blond haired kid we signed from Watford !

From a family of Wednesdayites and living on Margaret Street, just round the corner from BDTBL - it was a done deal once i'd seen his magic

UTB

 

[The Crab]

I have strong (small c) conservative sensibilities when it comes to matters of football, and especially Sheffield United.
The club and the ground on which it stands are intertwined. Tear them asunder and the identity goes. I'm even mildly irked by the fact that the crest has been ever so slightly altered in recent years. Change the colours or the name and I'm gone, and it will hurt.

And yet, if we got relegated 6/7 divisions overnight, I'd say "for fucks sake" and start Googling for the best pubs around Frickley or North Ferriby. My love for the club is not conditional on fortune, but on identity and tradition as I see it. I understand that ultimately, the only thing we support is Sheffield United as an abstraction, given that all else is in flux. But the abstraction is what matters, it is the heart of all things.

That pretty much nails it for me.

Fortune ebbs and flows, identity is far more profound.

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

No it's the one on Shoreham Street on the left with the sizeable seating area outside. It was the Sentinel up to about 3 years ago I think.

Ah! The Triple Point Brewery and Bar now I believe - unless that's gone as well

Hi mate. I drank in The Royal Oak for a long time. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was OK. You don't seem to recall the Royal Oak. They changed it's name. Because things change. Changed it to The Beer Engine I recall.

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

Hi mate. I drank in The Royal Oak for a long time. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was OK. You don't seem to recall the Royal Oak. They changed it's name. Because things change. Changed it to The Beer Engine I recall.

Really? Well I never knew that Cheers

I thought you were referring to the other one of course

I've not lived in Sheffield for decades so I wouldn't have known it as I previously used to go into town for my pre-match beer

 

[Ball_Sup (Phil)]

Really? Well I never knew that Cheers

I thought you were referring to the other one of course

I hadn't set a trap for you. But, you still fell in it..... What's going on?
Look. It's just a nice, gentle thread about on the one hand identity & belonging and on the other hand that things change and what one person recognises is different to someone else. And you've gloriously contributed to that.

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

I hadn't set a trap for you. But, you still fell in it..... What's going on?
Look. It's just a nice, gentle thread about on the one hand identity & belonging and on the other hand that things change and what one person recognises is different to someone else. And you've gloriously contributed to that.

Good thread - makes a change from some of the doom and gloom on here.

Oh, and, oop 'ere in Leeds, the sun's just come out

 

[Sheff de party]

I bow to your exceptional knowledge of drinking establishments. I would guess 95% of football fans are like me ......... get ratted on shite then look for a curry house. We boozed around Whitechapel and Mile End. Tbh that has changed very much over the years too, but still a decent day/night out.

It’s changed even during the 6-7 years I’ve lived in London but still seems to retain its character at least. Some decent pubs too. Not a bad shout boozing there and then either bus or tube to the ground.

I really do feel for the Hammers fans though. We may have had our differences, but none of them signed or picked Tevez. They may have a better team but they’re condemned to years in a stadium they can’t fill that costs a lot to be near enough to the pitch to see. Soulless.