Sheff Utd v Sheff Wed FA Cup Semi-Final

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i dont why some people are giving them a hard time. its 30yrs since the semi final it only makes sense to do a piece on this & yes we lost because thats what we do at neutral venues. correct me if im wrong but isnt 1936 the last time we won at a neutral venue

if we are being unbiased to have 1 Sheffield side in the semi finals of the FA Cup is huge local news to have both in & playing each other is massive. a feat that hasnt happened for 30 yrs & i dont see happening for another 30yrs. the closest we got was when the 🐖 balls up the 5th rd replay v Charlton
 
I actually think you’re genuinely looking for help. However, you’ve naively thought we have memories of that day. It’s a day we specifically attempt to cancel out of the memory.

Maybe have a think about the request before posting next time 🤣
 
sheffjournos said:
Hi all,

We're trainee journalists at the University of Sheffield currently working on a story on the 30th anniversary of the Sheffield United vs Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup semi-final.

We're looking to talk to any fans who went to Wembley who would like to share their memories of that day, and also if anyone has any memorabilia (photos, etc.) they would be happy to share (credit will be provided).

If anyone's happy to help, please let us know (the story is due on Friday).

Thanks,
Olly
Click to expand...
I have some pictures that I took that day inside Wembley. I will have look for them and post on here.
 
I’ve no memories of that day (luckily), as I was just shy of my third birthday.
 
🎈 balloons were still being popped at 1/2 time. I was virtually behind the cork goal. Walked into the bookies to watch the grand national that never was. Big flags before the match.
 
Went with an uncle our two sons and three grandsons on double decker bus.
Seats were split four and three. two sons and teenage grandsons behind Blades supporters side goal and we were on halfway line on row 'X' if 'Z' was the last row bang up to the 'fowls'.
All OK until around 15 mins after Ko when 4 snoughted up youths arrived and sat behind us.
Totally spoiled a not one of my better days. Expletives.
 
Erased from my memory … well either that or the gallons of home brew we had on the minibus made me forget lol
 
KeyffSmyff said:
🎈 balloons were still being popped at 1/2 time. I was virtually behind the cork goal. Walked into the bookies to watch the grand national that never was. Big flags before the match.
Click to expand...
Still got red, white & black balloons, keepsake for a Blades family day out.:rolleyes:
 
We somehow lost only 2-1..mullered us. Shit day out especially for blade who died RIP
 
I really struggled to get a ticket so had to go on the ‘t’other’ end with my father in law being the silly sausage I am I jumped up when Alan Cork scored had to watch my P’s and Q’s after that.
 
The match was scheduled to be played at the 34K capacity Elland Road.

The other semi final was Arsenal v Spurs to be played at the 42K capacity Villa Park, however very quickly the FA announced that the North London derby was so big that a 42K stadium was too small and they had no choice to move it to the 76K capacity Wembley Stadium.

When Sheffielder's got wind of this we thought it unfair with the London media being out of touch, they just assumed 34K would be enough for a Sheffield derby.
We feared there could be a potential disaster around ticketing with 10's of 1000's unable to acquire tickets, so 1000's might travel without tickets.
At the time many Sheffielders started a campaign to have the game moved for the same reasons the FA agreed to move the London derby.
I personally created a petition with 300 signatures which I posted to Graham Kelly, Head of the FA.

The FA buckled under the pressure and eventually agreed to play the match at Wembley.
I knew that the 76K tickets would be sold very quickly, so I booked the day off work, planning to join the queue about 7am.
However the queues started building up 2 days before the tickets went on sale, with Blades sleeping overnight in sleeping bags.

The police were concerned that the queues would be too big in the Bramall Lane car park.
So they ordered the ticket office to start selling tickets 24 hours before they had planned. I was still at work and was't allowed to change my annual leave. I was worried I wouldn't get a ticket but my grandma went down to Bramall Lane at about 11am to queue up and she bought me 2 tickets. There were regular ticket updates on the radio and at about 4pm it was reported that they'd all been sold, this was the day before they were due to go on sale.

Regards the journey down, it seemed to be predominantly Blades everywhere.
However I later realised that there were probably designated service stops for Blades and different ones for Owls.
Remember seeing a car going down the M1 to the match and it had been painted using a cheap paint brush with red and white stripes.

Regards the match, what an incredible let down. We never turned up.
Can only assume that our players used up too much adrenaline pre-match because most of them seemed knackered from the start.
The match was so one sided, constant Wednesday attack, with Alan Kelly making 4 or 5 stunning saves.
Could have easily lost 5 nil, so strangely enough didn't feel as disappointed as I'd thought because we were very lucky to only lose 2-1 in extra time.

Another point is that there were the odd fan wearing blue and white scarfs in the United end
and also red and white scarves in the Wednesday, just shows that in those days it wasn't taboo for rival fans to show their colours and mix without any bother..
 
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Pulled up for a piss o the m1 near Northampton and there was an actual pig 🐖 in a field painted blue and white stripes
We were on a Coach loads got off for a piss must have been set up as to this day I can see that pig painted blue and white and I was only 12
 

Plymouthblade said:
Pulled up for a piss o the m1 near Northampton and there was an actual pig 🐖 in a field painted blue and white stripes
We were on a Coach loads got off for a piss must have been set up as to this day I can see that pig painted blue and white and I was only 12
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That 🐷was Tango pal.
 
great day terrible result but would have been a lot worse if not for alan kelly we would have given em a much better game at elland road main thing i remember about the day was when we pulled in to a service station on the m1 and must have been 20 united coaches there and one wednesday coach lol
 
Was in my formative years, and literally my only positive recollection of the entire day was the discovery that girls in London could be mind bogglingly pretty.

As for the rest…. Wembley was literally a shit hole thanks to overflowing bogs. Whitehouse at left back was a failed plan. Waddle is still a twat to this day. And the journey home was a grim foretaste of every semifinal and playoff final since.

Bleugh.
 
I was banned. Didn't make the result any less gutting but on the upside I didn't have that shitty slog back from London to cope with. Ying and yang. 😂
 
Okay. Use this.

As a distant supporter, our progress through the FA Cup had been of massive interest. I lived on the south coast and had been away from the city of my birth for fifteen years serving in the Royal Navy, but still staunchly retained my red and white allegiances. Everyone around me knew me as a Blade and as Wednesday progressed through the Cup the chance of both teams converging in the later stages built with gathering possibility and excitement, but as with every time we meet our city rivals, there's always the chance they'll beat us and it licks the underside of every Unitedites heart, ever more so since December 1979 when Wednesday took us to bits in a humiliating 4-1 defeat in 'The Boxing Day Massacre' as they used to term it. Through the quarters now beating Blackburn on penalties in a scintillating night of glory, having previously beaten Burnley, Mighty Hartlepool and a lacklustre Manchester United, whereas Wednesday had seen off giants like Cambridge, Sunderland, Southend United and Derby County. It was clear which team had the easier ride to Wembley and which team had the greater weight of footballing betterment. United had large portions of David Bassett's somewhat industrial footballing past embedded in it's DNA and Wednesday were blessed with Woods, Harkes, Waddle, later Sheffieled United manager Danny Wilson and Mark Bright which on paper was a tough call.

This being some years before the internet Sheffield United community stood up, my only contacts were a couple of Blades supporting schoolmates I had remained in touch with. They first of all told me the venue for the Semi Final was up for grabs - Old Trafford and Villa Park were touted - and then it was decided to empty Sheffield into London and hold the game in the crumbling national monument of Wembley Stadium, this prior to it's comprehensive revamp. My mates wished me good luck with getting a ticket, meaning 'Tha's no chance mate.'

I was serving on the Type 42 Destroyer HMS Newcastle at the time and conveniently we were on Easter Leave when the Semi Final was held. I'd established myself as a bit of a personality on board, being in the ships band and co producer of the ships own TV production facility, itself a hotch-potch of hilariously amateurish offerings using primitive means and methods. One of the co-presenters was the ships Physical Training Instructor Lee Strange, himself a very decent footballer and with whom I'd played in the ships team. He and I discussed the possibility of a Sheffield Final. When the draw came out he approached me to see if I was going. I told him disconsolately that the chances of getting a ticket were slim. He said, with typical PTI endeavour and enthusiasm, 'Leave it with me, shipmate'.

Two days later I am off the ship up in the naval barracks which is HMS Nelson in Portsmouth, sauntering round going to a dental appointment. From fifty yards away I can hear a hammering on a window. At first I tried to ignore it but something told me it was for me. I turned and saw, distantly, Lee stood up in a cafe pressing something to the window. I set off on a trot and as I approached, I could see the clear motifs of both club badges, and then the writing of the Semi Final on the tickets. It was my belief they were for him and he was just pissing me off. But no. They were mine! He still hasn't told me how he got them.

So, the day approaches and I cancel all appointments. That Saturday my wife and I drove up to the capital and parked up in the hallowed car park and ambled round amongst the red and blue and white. Another naval colleague watching in Plymouth since told me I appeared on Sky TVs footballing cameras before the game. The atmosphere within both sets of fans was pensive and fraught. Neither team could afford to lose this. My wife and I took our seats, which to our horror were about ten rows into the Wednesday half of the stadium which as we looked from what was a pretty good seat halfway along, was clearly 50% red and 50% blue. We were sat in with Wednesday fans. Shit!

We kicked off and I expected Wednesday to storm us. Sure enough, their edge showed and early on they won a free kick about 25 yards out. Waddle and few others crowded round discussing the tactic as our wall set itself. Big Alan Kelly was in goal so anything Waddle had, had to be good. As the England midfielder stepped back purposefully I said to my wife, "It's going in, this ..." He unleashed a simply unstoppable free kick which rocketed into the top corner and half of the stadium went ballistic.

United back then were classified as cloggers and battlers. They earned it via their players' histories and the way our manager Dave Bassett had instilled a spirit of 'never say die' even though we all knew we were already bleeding out after Waddle's thumping free kick. United worked their way back into the game and took Wednesday on to largely nullify any chance to go further ahead and put the game out of reach. Up the other end our talismanic statue of a striker Brian Deane was snuffed out and save for half chances, we crawled toward half time looking like having a lot to do in the second half. But just before the break a hopeful ball played into space on our right flank was latched onto by the ageing Alan Cork, who looked like he'd been at Harry Bassett's christening. He ran on and even though it was just three quarters of an hour in, he looked like he was running out of steam. One on one now with the approaching England international Chris Woods and with me and my missus on our feet the only people in our block screaming "GO ON CORKY! GO ON LAD!" he rolled the ball past the keeper and time slowed down ... down ... down ... a Wednesday defender chased the ball and it crept over the line into the net. I went mental. 1-1. We can beat these. Say it! We can beat these.

Second half each team played like boxers not wanting to land a punch for fear of being counterpunched and laid out. The game was played passing and keeping possession until it meandered into extra time. Our stamina was clearly sapping and players were almost walking, with the pitch looking like it was getting wider and longer. In extra time Wednesday got a corner down their end and I could see Brian Deane lining up to shepherd Mark Bright out of it. Just before Harkes took the corner I saw Deane move away from him and that was all it needed. Bright latched onto a perfect centre and bulleted it past Kelly and two players on the line. There was simply no way back, and we lost.

I trudged out past jubilant Wednesday fans, silent, stern-faced and hand in hand with my wife and on the way out passing shattered, humbled and disbelieving United supporters. It was to become somewhat familiar territory as I did exactly the same from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in 2003 after being trounced by an unfancied Wolves, and away from the new Wembley nine years later having gone out on penalties to Huddersfield, both in playoff finals. We'd also failed in other playoff finals, semi finals, relegation controversies and unexpected, undeserved reverses in the intervening years also. It's what we call 'The Sheff United Way' and some have even captured that in podcasts and online services ... a kind of a support group for disappointed Blades. Success has been so easy for others but not for us it seems. Maybe this is our year. Maybe.

Footnote: Sheffield Wednesday went on to appear in the FA Cup final and lose to Arsenal. They also lost to Arsenal in the League Cup final the same year. This was amusing stuff for us Blades, as was a wholesome revenge for the Boxing Day Massacre in September 2017 when Chris Wilder's uprising but inexpensive Sheffield United visited Hillsborough and walloped Sheffield Wednesday 4-2. When Wednesday equalised in the second half to United's lead and with the stadium bouncing to the sound of deluded blue and whites singing 'If you're not fucking bouncing, you're a Blade' in jubilation, United midfielder Mark Duffy jinked his way into the opposition box and slammed the ball past the Wednesday keeper and completely silenced the Wednesday rabble. Furthermore, ex-Owl Leon Clarke muscled his way past defenders to put in the fourth and slice off the wart that was The Boxing Day Massacre. That joyous day is now known as 'The Bouncing Day Massacre' and is a blind spot for our city rivals in conversation as they deny it ever happened.

pommpey
 
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My memories. Going through town at 5am or something stupid and it was busy of fans from both teams going to the train station. Seein mel rees walk onto the pitch with the lads Then getting in and just as I sat down wanker waddle popped a free kick into the top corner. Also a wendy fan in our end got outed and had to be escorted out before he got slapped silly. The hope after Cork scored to be wiped out a bit later. On way out seeing a few blades lasses crying...then on tube back to london all blades making the noise and wendy fans saying fck all.

All in all despite the result was a great atmosphere. Fast forwsrd to 2014 at wembley where some 'blades' were too busy shovelling in the beak, looking at their phones and trying to kick off with other blades who were there to watch the match. Different era sadly
 
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pommpey said:
Okay. Use this.

As a distant supporter, our progress through the FA Cup had been of massive interest. I lived on the south coast and had been away from the city of my birth for fifteen years serving in the Royal Navy, but still staunchly retained my red and white allegiances. Everyone around me knew me as a Blade and as Wednesday progressed through the Cup the chance of both teams converging in the later stages built with gathering possibility and excitement, but as with every time we meet our city rivals, there's always the chance they'll beat us and it licks the underside of every Unitedites heart, ever more so since December 1979 when Wednesday took us to bits in a humiliating 4-1 defeat in 'The Boxing Day Massacre' as they used to term it. Through the quarters now beating Blackburn on penalties in a scintillating night of glory, having previously beaten Burnley, Mighty Hartlepool and a lacklustre Manchester United, whereas Wednesday had seen off giants like Cambridge, Sunderland, Southend United and Derby County. It was clear which team had the easier ride to Wembley and which team had the greater weight of footballing betterment. United had large portions of David Bassett's somewhat industrial footballing past embedded in it's DNA and Wednesday were blessed with Woods, Harkes, Waddle, later Sheffieled United manager Danny Wilson and Mark Bright which on paper was a tough call.

This being some years before the internet Sheffield United community stood up, my only contacts were a couple of Blades supporting schoolmates I had remained in touch with. They first of all told me the venue for the Semi Final was up for grabs - Old Trafford and Villa Park were touted - and then it was decided to empty Sheffield into London and hold the game in the crumbling national monument of Wembley Stadium, this prior to it's comprehensive revamp. My mates wished me good luck with getting a ticket, meaning 'Tha's no chance mate.'

I was serving on the Type 42 Destroyer HMS Newcastle at the time and conveniently we were on Easter Leave when the Semi Final was held. I'd established myself as a bit of a personality on board, being in the ships band and co producer of the ships own TV production facility, itself a hotch-potch of hilariously amateurish offerings using primitive means and methods. One of the co-presenters was the ships Physical Training Instructor Lee Strange, himself a very decent footballer and with whom I'd played in the ships team. He and I discussed the possibility of a Sheffield Final. When the draw came out he approached me to see if I was going. I told him disconsolately that the chances of getting a ticket were slim. He said, with typical PTI endeavour and enthusiasm, 'Leave it with me, shipmate'.

Two days later I am off the ship up in the naval barracks which is HMS Nelson in Portsmouth, sauntering round going to a dental appointment. From fifty yards away I can hear a hammering on a window. At first I tried to ignore it but something told me it was for me. I turned and saw, distantly, Lee stood up in a cafe pressing something to the window. I set off on a trot and as I approached, I could see the clear motifs of both club badges, and then the writing of the Semi Final on the tickets. It was my belief they were for him and he was just pissing me off. But no. They were mine! He still hasn't told me how he got them.

So, the day approaches and I cancel all appointments. That Saturday my wife and I drove up to the capital and parked up in the hallowed car park and ambled round amongst the red and blue and white. Another naval colleague watching in Plymouth since told me I appeared on Sky TVs footballing cameras before the game. The atmosphere within both sets of fans was pensive and fraught. Neither team could afford to lose this. My wife and I took our seats, which to our horror were about ten rows into the Wednesday half of the stadium which as we looked from what was a pretty good seat halfway along, was clearly 50% red and 50% blue. We were sat in with Wednesday fans. Shit!

We kicked off and I expected Wednesday to storm us. Sure enough, their edge showed and early on they won a free kick about 25 yards out. Waddle and few others crowded round discussing the tactic as our wall set itself. Big Alan Kelly was in goal so anything Waddle had, had to be good. As the England midfielder stepped back purposefully I said to my wife, "It's going in, this ..." He unleashed a simply unstoppable free kick which rocketed into the top corner and half of the stadium went ballistic.

United back then were classified as cloggers and battlers. They earned it via their players' histories and the way our manager Dave Bassett had instilled a spirit of 'never say die' even though we all knew we were already bleeding out after Waddle's thumping free kick. United worked their way back into the game and took Wednesday on to largely nullify any chance to go further ahead and put the game out of reach. Up the other end our talismanic statue of a striker Brian Deane was snuffed out and save for half chances, we crawled toward half time looking like having a lot to do in the second half. But just before the break a hopeful ball played into space on our right flank was latched onto by the ageing Alan Cork, who looked like he'd been at Harry Bassett's christening. He ran on and even though it was just three quarters of an hour in, he looked like he was running out of steam. One on one now with the approaching England international Chris Woods and with me and my missus on our feet the only people in our block screaming "GO ON CORKY! GO ON LAD!" he rolled the ball past the keeper and time slowed down ... down ... down ... a Wednesday defender chased the ball and it crept over the line into the net. I went mental. 1-1. We can beat these. Say it! We can beat these.

Second half each team played like boxers not wanting to land a punch for fear of being counterpunched and laid out. The game was played passing and keeping possession until it meandered into extra time. Our stamina was clearly sapping and players were almost walking, with the pitch looking like it was getting wider and longer. In extra time Wednesday got a corner down their end and I could see Brian Deane lining up to shepherd Mark Bright out of it. Just before Harkes took the corner I saw Deane move away from him and that was all it needed. Bright latched onto a perfect centre and bulleted it past Kelly and two players on the line. There was simply no way back, and we lost.

I trudged out past jubilant Wednesday fans, silent, stern-faced and hand in hand with my wife and on the way out passing shattered, humbled and disbelieving United supporters. It was to become somewhat familiar territory as I did exactly the same from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in 2003 after being trounced by an unfancied Wolves, and away from the new Wembley nine years later having gone out on penalties to Huddersfield, both in playoff finals. We'd also failed in other playoff finals, semi finals, relegation controversies and unexpected, undeserved reverses in the intervening years also. It's what we call 'The Sheff United Way' and some have even captured that in podcasts and online services ... a kind of a support group for disappointed Blades. Success has been so easy for others but not for us it seems. Maybe this is our year. Maybe.

Footnote: Sheffield Wednesday went on to appear in the FA Cup final and lose to Arsenal. They also lost to Arsenal in the League Cup final the same year. This was amusing stuff for us Blades, as was a wholesome revenge for the Boxing Day Massacre in September 2017 when Chris Wilder's uprising but inexpensive Sheffield United visited Hillsborough and walloped Sheffield Wednesday 4-2. When Wednesday equalised in the second half to United's lead and with the stadium bouncing to the sound of deluded blue and whites singing 'If you're not fucking bouncing, you're a Blade' in jubilation, United midfielder Mark Duffy jinked his way into the opposition box and slammed the ball past the Wednesday keeper and completely silenced the Wednesday rabble. Furthermore, ex-Owl Leon Clarke muscled his way past defenders to put in the fourth and slice off the wart that was The Boxing Day Massacre. That joyous day is now known as 'The Bouncing Day Massacre' and is a blind spot for our city rivals in conversation as they deny it ever happened.

pommpey
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Boxing day was 4-0
 
I remember Wembley being drowned in balloons.
I remember being deflated at being 1-0 down so early after all that pre-match excitement.
I remember being shocked about Cork's goal, given it was against the run of play (and he looked like a really old man).
I remember being amazed that we made it to extra time due to Alan Kelly's performance.
I remember the Wembley car park being an absolute nightmare and it taking ages to get out.
I remember the Grand National farce on the radio due to false starts and protests.
 
pommpey said:
We kicked off and I expected Wednesday to storm us. Sure enough, their edge showed and early on they won a free kick about 25 yards out. Waddle and few others crowded round discussing the tactic as our wall set itself. Big Alan Kelly was in goal so anything Waddle had, had to be
Click to expand...
Hmm, as our what did what?

I’ve never watched it since I saw it live, and it was 30 years ago, but in my memory there is no wall. Nothing. And by my recollection that free kick actually goes in the middle of the goal.
 
We out-sung the scummy bastards in the Green Man …………. I’ve deleted the rest of that day.
 
sheffjournos said:
Hi all,

We're trainee journalists at the University of Sheffield currently working on a story on the 30th anniversary of the Sheffield United vs Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup semi-final.

We're looking to talk to any fans who went to Wembley who would like to share their memories of that day, and also if anyone has any memorabilia (photos, etc.) they would be happy to share (credit will be provided).

If anyone's happy to help, please let us know (the story is due on Friday).

Thanks,
Olly
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It was 1-1 after 90 minutes, Olly. We're still waiting on a date for the replay. In those days, semi finals went to a replay after 90 minutes if the scores were level.
 

sheff_blade90 said:
i dont why some people are giving them a hard time. its 30yrs since the semi final it only makes sense to do a piece on this & yes we lost because thats what we do at neutral venues. correct me if im wrong but isnt 1936 the last time we won at a neutral venue

if we are being unbiased to have 1 Sheffield side in the semi finals of the FA Cup is huge local news to have both in & playing each other is massive. a feat that hasnt happened for 30 yrs & i dont see happening for another 30yrs. the closest we got was when the 🐖 balls up the 5th rd replay v Charlton
Click to expand...
Apart from London,Mancs and Scouseland, I can't think of any other city that has had 2 teams in a fa cup semi.
 
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