'Memries' That 1980s Sports Blog - Walsall (h) 1981

[Geordie Blade]

I really like this blog, though it doesn't usually have much Blades-related stuff in there, what with the 1980s being our wilderness years. The good news is that this week's feature is all about the mighty Blades. The bad news is that it probably wouldn't be top of my list of chosen topics. Still, the final link in the story makes up for it...

Link: That 1980s Sports Blog - Sheffield United vs Walsall 1981

 

[tincan]

Good read, I was at that infamous game. Sad though it is, it does strengthen you to know nothing before or since then can be worse.

 

[PaulHalfway]

One of the worst days ever watching United, total desolation, utter disbelief and the start of so many bad luck stories over the next 40 years where consistently everything seemed to go wrong for us on so many big moment occasions

 

[Paisley Blade]

Good read, I was at that infamous game. Sad though it is, it does strengthen you to know nothing before or since then can be worse.

I seem to remember that the crowd was 16,001.

I've often wished it had only been 16,000. Bloody awful day, absolutely awful.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Good read, I was at that infamous game. Sad though it is, it does strengthen you to know nothing before or since then can be worse.

Tempting fate to say nothing can be worse? But I am with you 100% - having gone through afternoons such as the Walsall game makes the last 3 years seem like something special. We went through hell, but we have earned the right to enjoy our success. And those in S6 who celebrated Thanks Givens Day have earned the right to suffer a little light banter from us now...

 

[Russ]

Grown men crying. Being 9, it was horrible to witness it.

 

[Addison]

Remember it well unfortunately. Blades attacking Walsall fans and players and fighting with each other. Police told the Club to announce Swindon had lost when in fact they had drawn. It had an effect as the ground began to empty. Some were trying to listen for the score on the radio. One of the lads I was with grabbed hold of a Blade celebrating demanding to know how he knew Swindon had lost. We had to calm him down as it was getting very heated. We left to find out later we were down.

I don't blame Givens or Matthews who bottled it not even Peters who was completely out of his depth. It was just the Blades way and fate at that time. If we could fck it up we would. We were top of the league for a time and were never in the relegation places until the last minute. We finished with a points tally that would have kept us up if 3 points were awarded for a win. We were one of the few teams to ever get relegated with a positive goal difference.

If we'd stayed up we wouldn't have attracted Reg Brearley to the Club. We took off next season with Porterfield and provided one of the most enjoyable seasons as a Blade for years. Pigs will say they were never in the bottom Division but we won it in style never to return.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

The one an only time I’ve taken a girlfriend to a game
Have never brought a lass since bad luck I tell thee

 

[Bearlie]

Remember it well unfortunately. Blades attacking Walsall fans and players and fighting with each other. Police told the Club to announce Swindon had lost when in fact they had drawn. It had an effect as the ground began to empty. Some were trying to listen for the score on the radio. One of the lads I was with grabbed hold of a Blade celebrating demanding to know how he knew Swindon had lost. We had to calm him down as it was getting very heated. We left to find out later we were down.

I don't blame Givens or Matthews who bottled it not even Peters who was completely out of his depth. It was just the Blades way and fate at that time. If we could fck it up we would. We were top of the league for a time and were never in the relegation places until the last minute. We finished with a points tally that would have kept us up if 3 points were awarded for a win. We were one of the few teams to ever get relegated with a positive goal difference.

If we'd stayed up we wouldn't have attracted Reg Brearley to the Club. We took off next season with Porterfield and provided one of the most enjoyable seasons as a Blade for years. Pigs will say they were never in the bottom Division but we won it in style never to return.

Every cloud....

 

[Sheffsteel]

I was a paperboy at Firth Park during that season so hardly went to any Saturday matches, went to the night match against Huddersfield when Curran scored for us.

Remember we were mid table almost the whole season.
Then there was this weird scenario on the final Saturday that if we lost to relegation threatened Walsall and 2 other teams won and 1 team drew we‘d be relegated.
Basically there was virtually no chance we’d be relegated.

Remember coming home on the bus from delivering the papers and going straight to Dixon’s in town.
I pretended to show interest in buying a tv but really I was just waiting for the scores to show up on teletext.
That was the fashion in the early 80’s, everyone used to crowd in front on the electric stores to see the scores or queue up for a Green’un.
The paper guy on Fargate was always the 1st in Sheffield to get the Green’uns.

Was surprised we’d lost but then I looked for the other strugglers below us.
Amazingly all the other strugglers won or drew, sending us down with a positive goal difference.

 

[Blade1959]

I was a paperboy at Firth Park during that season so hardly went to any Saturday matches, went to the night match against Huddersfield when Curran scored for us.

Remember we were mid table almost the whole season.
Then there was this weird scenario on the final Saturday that if we lost to relegation threatened Walsall and 2 other teams won and 1 team drew we‘d be relegated.
Basically there was virtually no chance we’d be relegated.

Remember coming home on the bus from delivering the papers and going straight to Dixon’s in town.
I pretended to show interest in buying a tv but really I was just waiting for the scores to show up on teletext.
That was the fashion in the early 80’s, everyone used to crowd in front on the electric stores to see the scores or queue up for a Green’un.
The paper guy on Fargate was always the 1st in Sheffield to get the Green’uns.

Was surprised we’d lost but then I looked for the other strugglers below us.
Amazingly all the other strugglers won or drew, sending us down with a positive goal difference.

Curran’s season was 1982/83 the season after the 4th division one

 

[Yewsman]

Funny how memory plays tricks. I remember Givens hitting the ball over the bar rather than it being saved. Givens had had a really poor game and it seemed inevitable he would not score. My other memory is that I was in the John Street terrace as it was then directly behind the United dig out and I remember Peters was just in front of me. He could not bear to watch the penalty so actually turned his back and faced the crowd. As others have said a dreadful moment but having lows like that makes the current highs so much better !

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Funny how memory plays tricks. I remember Givens hitting the ball over the bar rather than it being saved. Givens had had a really poor game and it seemed inevitable he would not score. My other memory is that I was in the John Street terrace as it was then directly behind the United dig out and I remember Peters was just in front of me. He could not bear to watch the penalty so actually turned his back and faced the crowd. As others have said a dreadful moment but having lows like that makes the current highs so much better !

My (no doubt exaggerated) memory is that the ball was hit so weakly that it wouldn't have reached the back of the net, let alone gone over the bar. We had a few years to wait before Simmo achieved that particular method of torturing us.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Remember it well unfortunately. Blades attacking Walsall fans and players and fighting with each other. Police told the Club to announce Swindon had lost when in fact they had drawn. It had an effect as the ground began to empty. Some were trying to listen for the score on the radio. One of the lads I was with grabbed hold of a Blade celebrating demanding to know how he knew Swindon had lost. We had to calm him down as it was getting very heated. We left to find out later we were down.

I don't blame Givens or Matthews who bottled it not even Peters who was completely out of his depth. It was just the Blades way and fate at that time. If we could fck it up we would. We were top of the league for a time and were never in the relegation places until the last minute. We finished with a points tally that would have kept us up if 3 points were awarded for a win. We were one of the few teams to ever get relegated with a positive goal difference.

If we'd stayed up we wouldn't have attracted Reg Brearley to the Club. We took off next season with Porterfield and provided one of the most enjoyable seasons as a Blade for years. Pigs will say they were never in the bottom Division but we won it in style never to return.

You mention the detail that must be unique (that's a challenge for the stattos) - we were not in a relegation position for the entire season (46 games) until about 5 minutes from the end of the 46th game. And we still had the chance from a penalty to get back out of the relegation spot. I was just getting positive about this season, but then reminders like this bring the doubts flooding back. It almost feels like betraying Wilder & co, but the doubts won't entirely go away.
The final twist for me was going off on our summer hols somewhere in the south-west, and realising that my chosen route took us right through Walsall. 'Welcome to Walsall' my arse... Never been back.

 

[mikeheath]

I too was there. What the article doesn't bring out is that the referee realised he'd made a mistake in awarding Port Vale a penalty and was looking to level things up in the last 5 minutes - hence the reason why he awarded us a soft penalty.
Everyone chickened out and only Givens was brave enough to step forward. What a terrible birthday present, only surpassed by that lying, cheating, Hans Segers on my actual birthday.
Does he still go around preaching for Christians in Sport?