All supporters think their clubs serially unlucky, hard done by. It is probably integral to the obsession, an essential response to the disappointment and frustration that are part of the experience. And, as Nick Hornby’sFever Pitch shows, it’s barely relevant to the actual circumstances of the club. Nevertheless, I cannot think of a club that has so consistently bottled it, when they have not become embroiled in unfortunate controversy. United were eliminated from the FA Cup, not when Kanu scored inadvertently but after the ‘replay’ magnanimously offered by Wenger – at Highbury. Who can forget the infamous Carlos Tevez goal that kept West Ham up and relegated United? In 2010, United were 8 points clear of Wednesday with a few games to go towards the end of the season, when Ched Evans was convicted, a case that of course ramified damagingly in and around his teammates.
United have endured more play-off final defeats than any other club: 1997, 2003, 2009, 2012. In some cases, they simply came up against better opposition, but they contrived to lose the last one after leading Huddersfield 2-0 in the penalty shootout. ....... Sheffield United could not manage to be relegated from the Premiership the first time round in 1994 until Mark Stein scored a cruelly late injury-time winner, after Blades had led at Chelsea. And the coup de grace was not even dealt by the older, better brother Brian Stein.
