RIP Shred

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It's a bit empty written on here but as a teen into my early twenties Shred's buses were the stuff of legend. In my mid twenties I finally managed to get on a couple when our normal buses let us down and he helped us out. That is the extent of my personal contact with him but he was the bloke who always had a knowing smile, wink and greeting for anyone who recognised him and greeted him the same way. By all accounts a top bloke. RIP Shred
 



We will never see his like again
I wasnt going tomorrow due to work comittments but fuck that Im driving down with my daughter to pay respect to Mr Spencer
Do I care if Ive got tickets will have to jump the turnstile like in the good old days
Only joking my hernia would probably prevent that
 
I feel almost ashamed to say I never knew him but the pic looks familiar. Haven't been to enough away games recently though and I rarely get coaches in the last 10 years.

Some of the posts on here have been pretty moving and shows how important he has been to the lifeblood of this club. Like he's rarely missed a game in decades but that's not even the half of it.

So I put RS around 6pm to see if there was a good heartfelt mention for him and it evolves into a spontaneous tribute to Shred. When I was driving through Greenhill someone called under the name of Linz (our linz?) or Liz, and I welled up - by the end of the bypass I was in tears over someone I'd never met or was even aware of. Even when Lee Johnson was talking because I was just thinking about how much some people put into this club and clearly no one more than Shred.

So sorry for his family and closest. R.I.P. Shred.
 
sitwell said:
To get the Shred nod at any match always made you feel a bit more important and a proper Blade.
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Agreed.

I almost never cry but tears came to my eyes listening to Radio Sheffield tonight

No one will ever replace Shred but I hope our younger fans will be inspired by him. Shred showed us all that you can have a brilliant laugh and numerous pints and still stay strong and ever-hopeful regardless of how we play. No need to ever argue with fellow Blades or take it out on away fans, just keep the faith.
 
There are so many moving accounts on here, on Bladesmad and on Radio Sheffield.

On Bladesmad Kencoblade (post 116) refers to Shred's favorite moment as a Blade being the spontaneous applause all Blades gave to our team when Hull City scored their final goal at Wembley.

John Garrett excellent piece mentions Shred's utopia. 'All Blades together. United truly as one.'

I believe a lasting tribute would be to name the walk from the two entrances on the Kop - from the Cherry Street turnstiles up the ramp and steps, along the back of the Kop and down the steps to the John Street turnstiles 'The David Spencer (Shred') Way'

For all those that knew him well should be invited to pen a few words of what made him Mr Sheffield United. What made him the really true Blade. Those words should be written high on the Kop so that when we all turn up we can read, remember and be inspired to be true Blades even if it is only for those 90 minutes. I am sure that would be a true lasting legacy of what Shred truly wanted in his life.

For many of us when results don't go our way we start to lose our faith. But here was a guy that never lost his faith. A true socialist. A man with a conscience. A guy that always gave and never took.

When we return to the Premier League and the kop is redeveloped the 'David Spencer (Shred) Way' should be incorporated and the words should remain. When our kids, and grandkids ask who was Shred then we just have to point to those words and it all becomes self explanatory. This Way will tell us what he was truly about and he will never be forgotten.
 
sitwell said:
To get the Shred nod at any match always made you feel a bit more important and a proper Blade.
Click to expand...

And that's the mark of the man. So many posts on here saying 'I didn't know Shred, but...' This guy must have talked to/stood with/arranged travel for/got drunk with tens of thousands of people. Yet he never 'blanked' you as you passed him, always had that smile of acknowledgement, never seemed truly down (some achievement, supporting United! :))

Some guy.
 
DI36O said:
So I put RS around 6pm to see if there was a good heartfelt mention for him and it evolves into a spontaneous tribute to Shred. When I was driving through Greenhill someone called under the name of Linz (our linz?) or Liz, and I welled up.
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It was Liz, not our Linz. She sits on the same row as me in the Kop. (Liz does, not Linz).
 
Where do you start? This has without doubt been the most emotional 24hrs since I lost my Dad 10 years ago! I cannot say I was close to Shred but always felt there was real friendship in the odd handshake or wink/nod and our brief chats always left me feeling I had spoken to a "Special person" and I would walk away feeling proud to know him.

Saint is a word associated with religion but the more I think about it, is this not what being a Blade is all about? This man has always been a beacon or guiding light for travelling Blades, and through the 80's and 90's when we traveled up and down the country we would always hope to find where Shreds Tours were stopping as you knew this would be a good shout for a good drink and banter before the match. Word would filter down through the grapevine Shred is stopping in so and so and that is where you would aim our coach for.

I have only got the bug back and started traveling away again since Cloughie took over and my daughter is now of the age/faith. We bumped into Geoff (Shreds brother in law) at Crewe and he said Shred had been ill so didn't run buses anymore, so I was worried but then saw him in the ground and it was still the old Shred. I asked him how he was at Notts County and he just winked and said "I'm oreyt". That was the man.

Whatever the club decide to do for Shred will probably never be enough to reflect how revered he was among fellow Blades but "Saint Shred - patron saint of Blades fans" would not be an overstatement! RIP Skipper.
Matt H UTB
 
Never been a more committed Blade. Travelled and drunk with him loads of times. Will miss you man. RIP
 
The one thing that strikes me, and is a measure of the man is how many people have, and are paying tribute to a superb bloke. I never even realised how many people he knew, and how warm and heartfelt all the tributes are.

One thing that i have learned today, I was about 5 or 6 when i really took an interest in Sheffield United, a lifelong passion that still consumes me today. I spent my entire life growing up watching the Blades, home and away, and still regularly watch them home and away. One thing i have began to notice, probably more so over the years as they have passed by, is that nowadays it is less about the football and more about being part of a strong, vibrant and solid community of like minded individuals. I have had some great laughs, some excellent times, and got some brilliant memories over the years that i wouldn't change for the world. I've spent a lifetime as a part of that community, it is probably the only place in the world where i genuinely feel like i belong, it is the thing i do where i have met most of my good friends, and even though today is a desperately sad day to be a Blade with the passing of Shred, it has made me glad that i decided to become a Blade all those years ago. I can even say hand on heart that over the years i can count on one hand how many fellow Blades i have met and who i haven't liked. I think this is type of support and the kind of social cohesion that Shred liked and encouraged over the years.

I could sit on here all day and spend hours writing down about my various encounters with Shred over the last few years, the places i had bumped in to him, but then there are thousands like myself who could do the same. I could sit here and spend all day looking at the forums, and at social media and reading the stories and tributes, but for me the greatest tribute came last night with the Football Heaven phone in. It ended being a marvelous tribute. Fitting really.

The biggest tribute i can personally pay to Shred, is that I'm truly thankful to have been able to support the same club as he did.
 



Fantastic post Brownie, the only thing I disagree with is that these days I think for too many people it's more about the football, or the result at least.

For me it's never been that way.

It's all about the Blades community. Always has been and always will be.

Shred was the personification of the Blaeds community and if I can be half as good a member as him I will be proud of myself.

I
 
Maidenhead said:
Fantastic post Brownie, the only thing I disagree with is that these days I think for too many people it's more about the football, or the result at least.

For me it's never been that way.

It's all about the Blades community. Always has been and always will be.

Shred was the personification of the Blaeds community and if I can be half as good a member as him I will be proud of myself.

I
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'On Tour for life' mate. Up and down, we'll be there and we'll carry on regardless.
 
cooperblade said:
Was stood behind him at an away match last season when the Blades fans started taking the piss out of the team -"We're not very good" or something like that. Shred was absolutely fuming and had a proper go at those singing "Have some fucking respect, they're our team, you're meant to be Blades". Top man.

RIP Shred
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cooperblade said:
Was stood behind him at an away match last season when the Blades fans started taking the piss out of the team -"We're not very good" or something like that. Shred was absolutely fuming and had a proper go at those singing "Have some fucking respect, they're our team, you're meant to be Blades". Top man.

RIP Shred
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Think I remember this, was it Coventry away at Sixfields? I remember at the time thinking "good on him".

In fairness the Blades fans were decent that day all things considered, I was one of a 1000 or so I think. There with my old man. We kept singing even at 3 down.
 
Seen a few comments on Twitter about Borussia Dortmund doing something for Shred? What's all that about?

 
A quote from the late Sir Bobby Robson. Somehow this seems appropriate.

“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.”

RIP Shred.
 
WhiteHawk said:
Seen a few comments on Twitter about Borussia Dortmund doing something for Shred? What's all that about?

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Some Blades are over there for the football... there was a picture posted to Jim Phipps' Facebook this morning.
 
To me, I think you've hit on the perfect tribute there Essex.
Sheffield is Shred and White

To me it say everything about being a Blade.
It is re-mindful, passionate, evocative, hint of irony, without being boastful.

I really hope the club ask the family for their views on changing the banners.
For me is it a much nicer tribute than re-naming a lump of concrete!
 
Thanks for the memories Shred, of great trips on your coach to away games and pre season tours, you and your lovely mum's welcome when I stayed at your home and for being you. You really were a special person and the finest, most loyal Blade ever. You will be sadly missed. Rest in peace mate.
 
RIP Shred. If anyone's looking for a role model in football, that's your man.
 



I'm another who didn't know Shred personally other than to nod and say 'alreight?' Hearing the news Friday was so emotional, emotional all weekend really, I'm glad I wasn't in work, living in Bristol my colleagues wouldn't have understood just what this man meant to all us Blades and hence why this stupid 50 year man was in tears over someone I didn't even know.

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned the Shred stories that are in Matt Bell's 'Blades Tales' books and to be honest I had forgotten that so I dug my copies out today and had a good read. If you haven't got it get 'Blades Tales 2'; from tears of sadness over the weekend I've cried tears of joy reading Bill Brealey's hilarious stories of his time with Shred over the years, there must be over 20 stories in there. If you want to remember Shred with a smile on your face I suggest you get hold of a copy of this fantastic book.

P.S. No I'm not Matt Bell, Kev Titterton or Andy Nicolson ;-)
 
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