JJ Sefton
Live, Laugh, Love
Although the title of this book is ‘Triumph and Disaster’ until this point there has been much more of one than the other. This chapter tells the story of how Sheffield United slipped from being one of the country’s top sides to become also rans, a position they have occupied ever since.
Such changes are rarely apparent at the time and, in the wake of the win over Cardiff, few would have believed that Sheffield United had just won their last major honour. The victorious players were lauded as heroes and, in an early foretaste of modern celebrity culture, Billy Gillespie and Fred Tunstall appeared in a film called ‘Football’ which received a limited release in Sheffield. This provided a welcome release in a city so riven with violence between the rival Mooney and Garvin gangs that it earned the nickname ‘Little Chicago’.
In 1925 - 1926 United finished fifth in a season which saw the offside law changed so that only two players were now needed between the man and the goal for him to be on side. The goals against column exploded and Champions Huddersfield Town conceded more goals than the team that had finished third from bottom the previous season. The change suited United’s swift attacking play and they notched up a phenomenal 102 league goals, more than any other team, with Johnson and Tunstall both getting over 20 goals and Boyle, Gillespie and Menlove all getting double figures. In particularly memorable games United hammered 8 past Manchester City, 11 past Cardiff and 6 past Burnley.
The rot began to set in at the back with United conceding 82 goals also more than any other team. The new off side law, which saw the strikers netting from all angles, caused dreadful problems for United’s defence. Tellingly, of the defence that kept out Cardiff in the Cup final, only George Green was still first choice at the end of the season. Cook, Pantling and Milton had all lost their places in the team. For the 1926 - 1927 season it was clear that the defence had to be tightened up and a number of players came in but the likes of Bernard Harris, Harry Cawthorne and Albert Chandler were just not good enough. With a spate of injuries to key defenders playing its part United again had one of the divisions’ poorest defensive records but finished eighth.
A notable achievement that season, as always, was the completion of another league double over newly promoted Wednesday. The first meeting took place at Hillsborough on the opening day of the season and got off to a shambolic start for the Owls. Fred Tunstall hit a typically powerful shot at Jack Brown in the Wednesday goal who fumbled and let in Harry Johnson to score. A crowd of over 43,000 had come to the first league derby of the 1920’s and Jimmy Trotter equalised for Wednesday just before half time. After fifteen minutes of the second half Trotter put Wednesday in front. As the minutes ticked by an unlikely win was on the cards but the celebrations of the jubilant Owls were cut short when, seven minutes from the end, Johnson and Gillespie set up Walter Hoyland to get United back level. Two minutes later the Owls were left gutted when Tunstall’s cross from the left was hit first time by Harry Johnson to earn United a win.
The return match at the Lane in late January saw a 60,000 crowd led in community singing by Sir Henry Coward and the Orpheus Choir. Johnson set up Tunstall this time with a determined run through midfield and a clever switch out to the left which Tunstall struck with the full force of his awesome power into to blast United into the lead. The second goal was a scrappy affair four minutes from the end but Blades fans were left celebrating a 2-0 win. Few will have realised that footballing power in the city was about to undergo a tectonic shift.
The following Saturday, January 22nd 1927, United’s away match against Arsenal was broadcast live on national radio, the first such football broadcast of its kind. The front page of that weeks Radio Times carried a diagram of a football pitch divided into eight numbered squares and an audience of millions tuned into hear the commentator read out ‘3, 7, 9’ etc as he tracked the ball around the pitch. It has been suggested that this was the origin of the phrase ‘back to square one’. The match finished 1-1 with Fred Tunstall scoring United’s first broadcast goal.
The 1927 – 1928 season was one of the most riveting in the history of the league with 12 teams facing relegation on the last weekend of the season, 10th placed Arsenal only avoiding relegation by 2 points. United’s strengths and weaknesses were on full display when Arsenal came to the Lane on January 7th 1928. The blistering attack fired the Blades into a 4-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour with Johnson, winger Albert Partridge, Gillespie and Johnson again getting the goals. But just five minutes later the old defensive frailties were on display when Arsenal hit twice in two minutes to pull it back to 4-2. After the break the United attack took up the slack and Harry Johnson rounded off his hat trick wit a neat solo finish. Another Arsenal goal followed but Johnson wrapped up the points 20 minutes from time when he skipped past Parker and Moody and slotted the ball into an empty net. A late Arsenal goal made it 6-4.
Harry Johnson enjoyed his most prolific season with the Blades scoring 33 goals in the league (including five against West Ham in December) and 10 in the Cup as United fought their way to the semi final. A week after beating Arsenal United beat Notts County 3-2 at Meadow Lane with Harry Johnson getting two. A home draw with Wolves followed in the fourth round and Harry Johnson struck at the double again as United won 3-1. The prize was a fifth round tie away at Hillsborough.
In front of over 57,000 United and Wednesday played out an exciting, end to end but goalless first half on a muddy pitch. A couple of minutes after the restart Strange, out on the left for the Owls, played the ball inside to Harper who found Jack Wilkinson in enough space to hit a stunning shot past Jack Alderson. United immediately pushed for the equaliser and within four minutes Billy Gillespie had held up play, picked his spot and played the ball to Bert Partridge who scored with a blistering first time shot to put the Blades back level.
Twelve minutes from the end Wednesday had a fantastic opportunity to put themselves through to the next round when, from a corner,
“(Mark) Hooper sent across a perfect pass to (Jimmy) Seed, no more than two yards from the goal. Seed put everything he knew into the shot, but Alderson was in its way. He did not see but felt the ball as it came into him. Seed in the meantime was sitting on the ground facing the field of play. Neither he nor Alderson realised that the ball had drooped dead almost on the goal line. The spectators advised both players as to the proper course of action, but before either had become aware of the actuality of the situation Birks rushed up to clear the ball to safety”
The Telegraph noted of the ‘lost ball incident’
“How Seed avoided treading on the ball, or accidentally touching it over the line was surprising, and his face as he sat on the ground in the goal, the golden opportunity which had eluded him like a will o’ the wisp just dawning on his mind, was a profound study”
The replay on the following Wednesday was a different matter. The goalless first half mirrored the previous game but in the second half United came out guns blazing with Bert Partridge scoring again before Harry Johnson hit a hat trick in fifteen minutes, the first player to score three in a major derby. “Sheffield United won their replay against the Wednesday at Bramall Lane yesterday almost as they pleased”, noted the Sunday Pictorial, “even the big score of 4-1 in no way showing the difference in the teams”.
In the semi United faced the daunting task of playing Huddersfield Town (who had won the league three times and been runners up once in the previous four seasons) at Old Trafford. Despite Huddersfield’s table topping title push contrasting with United’s relegation dog fight United were the better side in Manchester leading twice with Harry Johnson goals but having to make do with a 2-2 draw. The replay was at Goodison Park and was a hard fought 0-0 draw and both teams went back to Manchester, to Maine Road, for a third attempt to separate them. In the end, in front of nearly 70,000 fans, United were desperately unlucky to lose 1-0 to an Alex Jackson header just before the hour. Huddersfield’s Kelly said afterwards “In the whole of my career I have never taken part in such strenuous games. United are a magnificent Cup fighting side”.
Such changes are rarely apparent at the time and, in the wake of the win over Cardiff, few would have believed that Sheffield United had just won their last major honour. The victorious players were lauded as heroes and, in an early foretaste of modern celebrity culture, Billy Gillespie and Fred Tunstall appeared in a film called ‘Football’ which received a limited release in Sheffield. This provided a welcome release in a city so riven with violence between the rival Mooney and Garvin gangs that it earned the nickname ‘Little Chicago’.
In 1925 - 1926 United finished fifth in a season which saw the offside law changed so that only two players were now needed between the man and the goal for him to be on side. The goals against column exploded and Champions Huddersfield Town conceded more goals than the team that had finished third from bottom the previous season. The change suited United’s swift attacking play and they notched up a phenomenal 102 league goals, more than any other team, with Johnson and Tunstall both getting over 20 goals and Boyle, Gillespie and Menlove all getting double figures. In particularly memorable games United hammered 8 past Manchester City, 11 past Cardiff and 6 past Burnley.
The rot began to set in at the back with United conceding 82 goals also more than any other team. The new off side law, which saw the strikers netting from all angles, caused dreadful problems for United’s defence. Tellingly, of the defence that kept out Cardiff in the Cup final, only George Green was still first choice at the end of the season. Cook, Pantling and Milton had all lost their places in the team. For the 1926 - 1927 season it was clear that the defence had to be tightened up and a number of players came in but the likes of Bernard Harris, Harry Cawthorne and Albert Chandler were just not good enough. With a spate of injuries to key defenders playing its part United again had one of the divisions’ poorest defensive records but finished eighth.
A notable achievement that season, as always, was the completion of another league double over newly promoted Wednesday. The first meeting took place at Hillsborough on the opening day of the season and got off to a shambolic start for the Owls. Fred Tunstall hit a typically powerful shot at Jack Brown in the Wednesday goal who fumbled and let in Harry Johnson to score. A crowd of over 43,000 had come to the first league derby of the 1920’s and Jimmy Trotter equalised for Wednesday just before half time. After fifteen minutes of the second half Trotter put Wednesday in front. As the minutes ticked by an unlikely win was on the cards but the celebrations of the jubilant Owls were cut short when, seven minutes from the end, Johnson and Gillespie set up Walter Hoyland to get United back level. Two minutes later the Owls were left gutted when Tunstall’s cross from the left was hit first time by Harry Johnson to earn United a win.
The return match at the Lane in late January saw a 60,000 crowd led in community singing by Sir Henry Coward and the Orpheus Choir. Johnson set up Tunstall this time with a determined run through midfield and a clever switch out to the left which Tunstall struck with the full force of his awesome power into to blast United into the lead. The second goal was a scrappy affair four minutes from the end but Blades fans were left celebrating a 2-0 win. Few will have realised that footballing power in the city was about to undergo a tectonic shift.
The following Saturday, January 22nd 1927, United’s away match against Arsenal was broadcast live on national radio, the first such football broadcast of its kind. The front page of that weeks Radio Times carried a diagram of a football pitch divided into eight numbered squares and an audience of millions tuned into hear the commentator read out ‘3, 7, 9’ etc as he tracked the ball around the pitch. It has been suggested that this was the origin of the phrase ‘back to square one’. The match finished 1-1 with Fred Tunstall scoring United’s first broadcast goal.
The 1927 – 1928 season was one of the most riveting in the history of the league with 12 teams facing relegation on the last weekend of the season, 10th placed Arsenal only avoiding relegation by 2 points. United’s strengths and weaknesses were on full display when Arsenal came to the Lane on January 7th 1928. The blistering attack fired the Blades into a 4-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour with Johnson, winger Albert Partridge, Gillespie and Johnson again getting the goals. But just five minutes later the old defensive frailties were on display when Arsenal hit twice in two minutes to pull it back to 4-2. After the break the United attack took up the slack and Harry Johnson rounded off his hat trick wit a neat solo finish. Another Arsenal goal followed but Johnson wrapped up the points 20 minutes from time when he skipped past Parker and Moody and slotted the ball into an empty net. A late Arsenal goal made it 6-4.
Harry Johnson enjoyed his most prolific season with the Blades scoring 33 goals in the league (including five against West Ham in December) and 10 in the Cup as United fought their way to the semi final. A week after beating Arsenal United beat Notts County 3-2 at Meadow Lane with Harry Johnson getting two. A home draw with Wolves followed in the fourth round and Harry Johnson struck at the double again as United won 3-1. The prize was a fifth round tie away at Hillsborough.
In front of over 57,000 United and Wednesday played out an exciting, end to end but goalless first half on a muddy pitch. A couple of minutes after the restart Strange, out on the left for the Owls, played the ball inside to Harper who found Jack Wilkinson in enough space to hit a stunning shot past Jack Alderson. United immediately pushed for the equaliser and within four minutes Billy Gillespie had held up play, picked his spot and played the ball to Bert Partridge who scored with a blistering first time shot to put the Blades back level.
Twelve minutes from the end Wednesday had a fantastic opportunity to put themselves through to the next round when, from a corner,
“(Mark) Hooper sent across a perfect pass to (Jimmy) Seed, no more than two yards from the goal. Seed put everything he knew into the shot, but Alderson was in its way. He did not see but felt the ball as it came into him. Seed in the meantime was sitting on the ground facing the field of play. Neither he nor Alderson realised that the ball had drooped dead almost on the goal line. The spectators advised both players as to the proper course of action, but before either had become aware of the actuality of the situation Birks rushed up to clear the ball to safety”
The Telegraph noted of the ‘lost ball incident’
“How Seed avoided treading on the ball, or accidentally touching it over the line was surprising, and his face as he sat on the ground in the goal, the golden opportunity which had eluded him like a will o’ the wisp just dawning on his mind, was a profound study”
The replay on the following Wednesday was a different matter. The goalless first half mirrored the previous game but in the second half United came out guns blazing with Bert Partridge scoring again before Harry Johnson hit a hat trick in fifteen minutes, the first player to score three in a major derby. “Sheffield United won their replay against the Wednesday at Bramall Lane yesterday almost as they pleased”, noted the Sunday Pictorial, “even the big score of 4-1 in no way showing the difference in the teams”.
In the semi United faced the daunting task of playing Huddersfield Town (who had won the league three times and been runners up once in the previous four seasons) at Old Trafford. Despite Huddersfield’s table topping title push contrasting with United’s relegation dog fight United were the better side in Manchester leading twice with Harry Johnson goals but having to make do with a 2-2 draw. The replay was at Goodison Park and was a hard fought 0-0 draw and both teams went back to Manchester, to Maine Road, for a third attempt to separate them. In the end, in front of nearly 70,000 fans, United were desperately unlucky to lose 1-0 to an Alex Jackson header just before the hour. Huddersfield’s Kelly said afterwards “In the whole of my career I have never taken part in such strenuous games. United are a magnificent Cup fighting side”.
