Previous Relegation battles

[Balham]

If I am not mistaken I believe that when we played Walsall away we went 4-3 up in the 90th minute only to concede from the kick off

If I am not mistaken I believe when we played Walsall away after being 3-1 up Walsall recovered to get back to 3-3 we then scored a late goal to lead 4-3 only for Walsall to equalise in the dying seconds

No idea on that. You've triggered another dig: our record against the teams who finished within 4 points* of us was, frankly, shocking.



Three of the four wins came early in the season, the only one after October was the 2-0 vs Chester in April. In contrast, seven of the 8 defeats were on or after Boxing Day and we conspired to lose to Fulham and Walsall in consecutive home games to finish the season.

*reverse a defeat and we'd have been 4 points better off.

 

[Geordie Blade]

Blimey look at the difference in home and away records there. Only Wednesday won more than they lost away from home!

In those days, away trips could be quite an ordeal. Clubs would usually travel down by coach (before motorways existed) on the day of the game. So they'd turn up absolutely knackered, travel-sick and generally unprepared, whilst the home team had a bit of a lie-in and a good breakfast. Add to that the completely variety of different pitch sizes and styles (which tended to suit the home teams), shocking changing rooms, etc. and it's clear why teams struggled away.

 

[Revolution]

The 1980/81 season was before my time but I've had a bit of look at it. At no stage after the start of March did we have more than one game in hand on the teams around us but on April 15th we were looking quite comfortable in 15th. The issue was just how tight that division was: 6 points separating Brentford in 10th and Walsall in 22nd.

View attachment 223579

A week later, we'd dropped to 19th with two games to go; the 6 points between 10th (Exeter) and 22nd (Colchester) remained but while we'd only picked up one point from our two games, the six of the seven sides immediately below us (Swindon (2pts), Chester (2pts), Gillingham (2pts), Oxford (3pts), Newport (3pts)& Walsall (2pts) had all one at least one.

View attachment 223580

By the penultimate match, things were a bit tighter as Walsall and Newport had won their games whereas we'd only drawn at bottom team Humberside Jungle Cats.

View attachment 223581

Last up, the must-not-lose match against Walsall. We all know what happened next.
View attachment 223582
Swindon managed to pick up a draw against Brentford while we lost at home to Walsall to complete the slide into Division Four. As an aside, it feels really odd to me that some teams still had matches to play while others had finished.

We are also, as far as I know, one of only two sides to ever be relegated in English football with a positive goal difference, the other being Manchester City in 1937/38.

Final thought: is the answer to your quiz question Prince Philip?

You run that season 100 times, we stay up 99 of them. So much ill fortune.

Last season of 2 points for a win. We’d have stayed up with 3 points for a win.

 

[Silent Blade]

You run that season 100 times, we stay up 99 of them. So much ill fortune.

Yes, I skipped the Walsall game because I was certain we would be ok so I decided to play in a six a side tournament at Manchester. My Swansea mate was there. When he and I started to know each other at school in 1973, Blades were in 1st division and Swans were in 4th division but that day Swans had become a 1st division club!

 

[UddersBlade]

You run that season 100 times, we stay up 99 of them. So much ill fortune.

Last season of 2 points for a win. We’d have stayed up with 3 points for a win.

100% ….. sadly I saw probably 75% of games home & away that season and some results were ridiculous. We threw so many points away - yet on another day played really well(remember a great win over Charlton in particular). Martin Peters took over as manager mid season and was hopeless - strange team selections and substitutions).

But that was just ‘typical’ ‘Sheffield United’ - always finding a way to fail at the last hurdle…….nothing much has changed over the subsequent 44 years!!! But it’s in our blood ……..’ It’s the hope that kills you’

 

[Blade59]

My first relegation was 1968 with the 2 -1 defeat to Chelsea. In fact I think it was my first ever home game (first ever game was the 1-1 draw at Hillsborough a few weeks earlier). On most of the relegations we didn't expect to struggle at the start of the season. Some of then we started the season quite well but then sort of drifted down the table getting relegated almost by surprise. Others we got off to a bad start and never recovered and I fear this season could be one of those. The lack of goals is the most worrying thing for me as I just cannot see where they are going to come from. I can see a lot of games where we sort of play ok but end up drawing or loosing by the odd goal. People talk about the Basset escape but we went on an incredible winning run after Christmas which I do not see any signs of repeating this time. We are not usually a team that survives if we are down at the bottom going into the last few games so we need to start picking up points pretty quickly.

 

[Balham]

You run that season 100 times, we stay up 99 of them. So much ill fortune.

Last season of 2 points for a win. We’d have stayed up with 3 points for a win.

Only just.

1980/81 table, 3 points for a win.


It's also exceptional to be relegated having outscored all bar three teams (Barnsley, Chesterfield & Huddersfield).

 

[djbaldken]

The 1980/81 season was before my time but I've had a bit of look at it. At no stage after the start of March did we have more than one game in hand on the teams around us but on April 15th we were looking quite comfortable in 15th. The issue was just how tight that division was: 6 points separating Brentford in 10th and Walsall in 22nd.

View attachment 223579

A week later, we'd dropped to 19th with two games to go; the 6 points between 10th (Exeter) and 22nd (Colchester) remained but while we'd only picked up one point from our two games, the six of the seven sides immediately below us (Swindon (2pts), Chester (2pts), Gillingham (2pts), Oxford (3pts), Newport (3pts)& Walsall (2pts) had all one at least one.

View attachment 223580

By the penultimate match, things were a bit tighter as Walsall and Newport had won their games whereas we'd only drawn at bottom team Humberside Jungle Cats.

View attachment 223581

Last up, the must-not-lose match against Walsall. We all know what happened next.
View attachment 223582
Swindon managed to pick up a draw against Brentford while we lost at home to Walsall to complete the slide into Division Four. As an aside, it feels really odd to me that some teams still had matches to play while others had finished.

We are also, as far as I know, one of only two sides to ever be relegated in English football with a positive goal difference, the other being Manchester City in 1937/38.

Final thought: is the answer to your quiz question Prince Philip?

Thanks for all that. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you over the years. I could have sworn at one point we had games in hand. Obviously not.
The answer to the quiz question, which I should have put, was Alec Guinness.
Who, incidentally, never knew the true identity of his father.

 

[TJ blade]

There are teams that are doomed to relegation and then there are teams who just have appalling starts to the season.

I firmly see us as being the latter.

Say we take 4 or 6 points from our next two games, which is entirely doable, all talk of relegation will be quickly forgotten.

Hopefully your correct mate just one small problem who's going to make & even better score the goals in this toothless team?

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Hopefully your correct mate just one small problem who's going to make & even better score the goals in this toothless team?

Well, Campbell and Hamer were our two top scorers last season and they're still here.

Beyond that you're looking at people like O'Hare and Burrows to step up plus the new signings.

But it's a team game and solidity is built from the back, if we tighten up the defence hopefully we can go back to grinding out low scoring wins like we did last season.

The goals will come.

 

[Lens instep catch]

100% ….. sadly I saw probably 75% of games home & away that season and some results were ridiculous. We threw so many points away - yet on another day played really well(remember a great win over Charlton in particular). Martin Peters took over as manager mid season and was hopeless - strange team selections and substitutions).

But that was just ‘typical’ ‘Sheffield United’ - always finding a way to fail at the last hurdle…….nothing much has changed over the subsequent 44 years!!! But it’s in our blood ……..’ It’s the hope that kills you’

I have a vivid memory of that game against Charlton if you are referring to the home game
I seem to remember that it was pouring with rain and I was not sure that the game would go ahead but it did 3-2 victory

 

[ancientblade]

Hopefully your correct mate just one small problem who's going to make & even better score the goals in this toothless team?

i think we have the strikers to get us out of trouble tj its our slow ponderous pace through midfield and lack of early crosses in to the box thats our problem we make it so easy for the opposition to get set we havent had a defence on the back foot yet this season