Balham
S24SU Seer
Where are they now?
Sheffield United 3 (Berge, Mousset, McBurnie)
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane)
Bramall Lane: Premier League, 2nd July 2020; Att 0
United hadn’t had the best of times after the restart of the Covid-affected 2019/20 season, only gaining a single point from three league games – although that was a figure reduced by occlusion – and exiting the FA Cup so the arrival of Spurs probably wasn’t expected to amount to much. However, United turned up and played their monied opponents off the park even if they did benefit from the harsh handball rules in effect at the time. Sander Berge scored the opening goal, driving in after an incisive move down the right. Harry Kane then had an immediate equaliser ruled out when Lucas Moura inadvertently handled the ball after being brought down by a combination of Berge and Robinson. United scored two more in the second half, Mousset tapping in unopposed from three yards after more superb link up play before McBurnie bundled in at the near post to make the game safe. Kane pulled one back to make things a little more interesting but the Blades held on for the points.
United (3-5-2)
GK 1 Dean Henderson: two years as United’s number 1 on loan from Manchester United. A decision to fight for the first team spot at Newton Heath put paid to any hope of us signing him permanently in the summer of 2020 but that dream fell apart as he ended up on loan at Forest, losing his place to Keylor Navas. Signed for Palace last summer for a £20m and although it took him a while to establish himself in the Eagles team, he is now undisputably their #1. Has one England cap but may well make the squad for the Euros.
RCB 6 Chris Basham: Mr Sheffield United (adopted). His career here may have ended with that horrible injury at Fulham but when he leaves it will be as a bona-fide modern Blades legend. By far our longest serving player with 388 appearances in all competitions for us during his 10-year stay.
CB 12 John Egan: one-time club record signing but another whose Blades career may be winding down as he is currently out of contract in the summer. Suffered a bad Achilles injury in September, two weeks after Basham’s broken leg and like his defensive counterpart hasn’t played since.
LCB 19 Jack Robinson: derided as C3-PO by members past, Robinson’s whole-heartedness and dedication to the cause has meant that he has stood out during a season where very few others have. The only player on this list with a certain contract at United next season.
RWB 2 George Baldock: another one whose contract expires in June, another one with a season completely disrupted by injury. One of the most fiercely competitive players to play for us in the modern era he will depart on a free transfer in the summer and rumours would suggest he’ll join Panathanaikos in Greece.
RCM 32 Sander Berge: still our record signing at €25m (Brewster was £18.5m with add-ons), Berge was a model professional as we attempted to sell him in every transfer window after relegation from the Premier League in 2021. Ironically, we finally sold him as we got back into the top flight and in true shoot-yourself-in-the-foot we chose to sell our best remaining player to a direct rival, a decision which probably condemned us to one of the worst seasons in our history. Doubly ironically, Berge will be back in the Championship with Burnley next season unless he can engineer a departure.
CM 16 Oli Norwood: has it really been six years? Joined on loan in the summer of 2018 from Brighton initially before making a permanent move for a bargain £1.2m in January 2019. Fulcrum and key to our rise into the top half of the Premier League, our inability to evolve our play meant that he was also, sadly, key to our demise. That is not a slight to a man who has always given his all and remained a model professional throughout his stay at Bramall Lane, which will end when his contract expires in June.
LCM 23 Ben Osborn: signed as a back up utility man from FOReST in 2019, still a back up utility man now. Wilder loves his effort and reliability (when he’s not injured) and although it’s not officially confirmed he will see a contract clause activated to tie him down at United until the summer of 2025
LWB 3 Enda Stevens: the understanding between peak Stevens and Fleck was exceptional and made watching the decline of both even more difficult. Stevens’ form never really recovered after lockdown in 2020 and he became a bit-part player towards the end of his time, picking up frequent niggly injuries to further disrupt him. Joined Stoke last summer after his United contract expired and has recently extended his deal there until the summer of 2025.
FW 9 Oli McBurnie: another of the seven players to captain us this season, McBurnie is United’s joint top scorer with 6 goals for the second time in three Premier League seasons. Has evolved into a leader but unfortunately has a complete inability to stay fit. Contract up at the end of the season and like Egan it seems in the balance as to whether he will stay.
FW 17 David McGoldrick: a figure of pity in his first Premier League season with us as he seemed incapable of scoring, McGoldrick ended our second, awful season scoring a record 40% of our league goals (8 of 20). Stayed after relegation but became more of a backup before leaving for Derby in the summer of 2022 and then on to boyhood club Notts County in 2023, scoring 13 as the Magpies finished midtable in League Two after promotion from the National League. Under contract at Meadow Lane next season.
Substitutes
10 Billy Sharp: another modern day Blades hero. Released at the end of last season which was probably the correct decision from the football perspective but there is no denying that it could have been handled better by the club. Spent half a season at LA Galaxy before joining Hull in January for what would end up being his first ever goalless English football season.
15 Phil Jagielka: Blades stalwart who rejoined the club in 2019 after a 12 year spell at Everton. Left on relegation and joined Derby for a season before a two-year spell at Stoke brought the curtains down on a great career. Interestingly, his X/Twitter account is still covered in United imagery
18 Luke Freeman: signed after promotion as QPR’s best player but too individualistic to fit in under Wilder. Joined Forest on loan for the 20/21 season but underwhelmed there; was at United for the first half of the following season but barely featured before joining Millwall on loan in January 2022. Was at Luton for their unexpected promotion season before being released in August 2023; he joined National League Barnet in January 2023.
22 Lys Mousset: had the world at his feet when we went into lockdown but spent those months eating kebabs and generally being unprofessional. We tried to get a tune out of him for a year before letting him join Serie A side Salernitana for an unsuccessful spell in January 2022. Joined Bundesliga side VfL Bochum on a free after his United contract expired but was a total flop at die Unabsteigbaren, spending a short spell back in France with Nimes before being released into the wild in January.
25 Simon Moore: go-to model for the United goalkeeper kits, Moore was first choice in League One but a rotation player in our first season back in the Championship before reverting to a back up role when Henderson joined. Released in 2021 to join Coventry where he was first choice in his first season but a back up thereafter. Will be released by the Sky Blues in June.
26 Jack Rodwell: the invisible man. 73 minutes on the pitch for United over a two year spell before joining Sydney FC where, true to form, he’s spent more time injured than available
30 Richairo Živković: left-field loan signing from the Chinese second division in January 2020 but never really looked comfortable at Premier League level. Loaned to Guangzhou for a short spell later in 2020. Spent 2021/22 at Red Star Belgrade as a nomadic career continued; 2022/23 was at FC Emmen in the Netherlands and he’s now at Singaporean side Lion City Sailors.
Spurs (4-2-3-1)
1 Hugo Lloris: former France captain, now at LAFC
24 Serge Aurier: left Spurs in 2021 for Villareal; after a season there he joined Forest. 18 months later, in January this year, he joined Galatasaray on a short-term deal
6 Davison Sánchez: one-time Spurs record signing but another one now at Galatasaray
15 Eric Dier: joined Bayern from Spurs to ensure that the Bavarians ended a season without a trophy for the first time since 2011/12
33 Ben Davies: still at Spurs
17 Moussa Sissoko: left Spurs in 2021 for Watford before joining Nantes in 2022
18 Gio Lo Celso: another who flattered to deceive after joining Spurs for big money. Spent 18 months on loan at Villareal before becoming a rotation player back at Tottenham this season
27 Lucas Moura: scorer of a hat-trick in a Champions League semi final, left Spurs for São Paulo last summer
23 Steven Bergwijn: back in the Netherlands after a Dutch-record €31m transfer to Ajax last summer
7 Son Heung-min: the second of the only two starters for the Lilywhites that night in 2020 still at the club. Now captain and still undeniably one of the best players in the world
10 Harry Kane: left for Bayern last summer to win things. That went well.
Substitutes
4 Toby Alderweireld: in the vanguard moving to Saudi Arabia in 2021 but left after a year for Belgian side Royal Antwerp
5 Jan Vertonghen: left Spurs for Benfica in 2020 and another back in Belgium now, this time with Anderlecht
8 Harry Winks: spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Sampdoria before joining Leicester last summer for £10m
11 Erik Lamela: left Spurs for Sevilla on a free in the summer of 2021
20 Dele Alli: one-time wonderkid now at Everton who are doing all they can to avoid triggering the clauses in a structured £40m deal. Spent last season underwhelming at Besiktas
22 Paolo Gazzaniga: left Spurs for Fulham in 2021, spent 2021/22 on loan at Girona before joining the Spanish side permanently last summer
28 Tanguy Ndombélé: another Spurs record signing who failed to impress. Has spent the last three seasons on loan: back at Lyon, then Napoli and this season at Galatasaray
29 Oliver Skipp: still at Spurs but very much a substitute with 4 starts in 20 appearances this season. Spent 20/21 on loan at Norwich but hasn’t really kicked on
30 Gedson Fernandes: on loan at Spurs from Benfica from Jan 20 to Jan 21 but they opted to not make it permanent. Has mainly played in Turkey since, loan deals at Galatasaray and Caykur Rizespor before joining Besiktas permanently in 2022.
Sheffield United 3 (Berge, Mousset, McBurnie)
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane)
Bramall Lane: Premier League, 2nd July 2020; Att 0
United hadn’t had the best of times after the restart of the Covid-affected 2019/20 season, only gaining a single point from three league games – although that was a figure reduced by occlusion – and exiting the FA Cup so the arrival of Spurs probably wasn’t expected to amount to much. However, United turned up and played their monied opponents off the park even if they did benefit from the harsh handball rules in effect at the time. Sander Berge scored the opening goal, driving in after an incisive move down the right. Harry Kane then had an immediate equaliser ruled out when Lucas Moura inadvertently handled the ball after being brought down by a combination of Berge and Robinson. United scored two more in the second half, Mousset tapping in unopposed from three yards after more superb link up play before McBurnie bundled in at the near post to make the game safe. Kane pulled one back to make things a little more interesting but the Blades held on for the points.
United (3-5-2)
GK 1 Dean Henderson: two years as United’s number 1 on loan from Manchester United. A decision to fight for the first team spot at Newton Heath put paid to any hope of us signing him permanently in the summer of 2020 but that dream fell apart as he ended up on loan at Forest, losing his place to Keylor Navas. Signed for Palace last summer for a £20m and although it took him a while to establish himself in the Eagles team, he is now undisputably their #1. Has one England cap but may well make the squad for the Euros.
RCB 6 Chris Basham: Mr Sheffield United (adopted). His career here may have ended with that horrible injury at Fulham but when he leaves it will be as a bona-fide modern Blades legend. By far our longest serving player with 388 appearances in all competitions for us during his 10-year stay.
CB 12 John Egan: one-time club record signing but another whose Blades career may be winding down as he is currently out of contract in the summer. Suffered a bad Achilles injury in September, two weeks after Basham’s broken leg and like his defensive counterpart hasn’t played since.
LCB 19 Jack Robinson: derided as C3-PO by members past, Robinson’s whole-heartedness and dedication to the cause has meant that he has stood out during a season where very few others have. The only player on this list with a certain contract at United next season.
RWB 2 George Baldock: another one whose contract expires in June, another one with a season completely disrupted by injury. One of the most fiercely competitive players to play for us in the modern era he will depart on a free transfer in the summer and rumours would suggest he’ll join Panathanaikos in Greece.
RCM 32 Sander Berge: still our record signing at €25m (Brewster was £18.5m with add-ons), Berge was a model professional as we attempted to sell him in every transfer window after relegation from the Premier League in 2021. Ironically, we finally sold him as we got back into the top flight and in true shoot-yourself-in-the-foot we chose to sell our best remaining player to a direct rival, a decision which probably condemned us to one of the worst seasons in our history. Doubly ironically, Berge will be back in the Championship with Burnley next season unless he can engineer a departure.
CM 16 Oli Norwood: has it really been six years? Joined on loan in the summer of 2018 from Brighton initially before making a permanent move for a bargain £1.2m in January 2019. Fulcrum and key to our rise into the top half of the Premier League, our inability to evolve our play meant that he was also, sadly, key to our demise. That is not a slight to a man who has always given his all and remained a model professional throughout his stay at Bramall Lane, which will end when his contract expires in June.
LCM 23 Ben Osborn: signed as a back up utility man from FOReST in 2019, still a back up utility man now. Wilder loves his effort and reliability (when he’s not injured) and although it’s not officially confirmed he will see a contract clause activated to tie him down at United until the summer of 2025
LWB 3 Enda Stevens: the understanding between peak Stevens and Fleck was exceptional and made watching the decline of both even more difficult. Stevens’ form never really recovered after lockdown in 2020 and he became a bit-part player towards the end of his time, picking up frequent niggly injuries to further disrupt him. Joined Stoke last summer after his United contract expired and has recently extended his deal there until the summer of 2025.
FW 9 Oli McBurnie: another of the seven players to captain us this season, McBurnie is United’s joint top scorer with 6 goals for the second time in three Premier League seasons. Has evolved into a leader but unfortunately has a complete inability to stay fit. Contract up at the end of the season and like Egan it seems in the balance as to whether he will stay.
FW 17 David McGoldrick: a figure of pity in his first Premier League season with us as he seemed incapable of scoring, McGoldrick ended our second, awful season scoring a record 40% of our league goals (8 of 20). Stayed after relegation but became more of a backup before leaving for Derby in the summer of 2022 and then on to boyhood club Notts County in 2023, scoring 13 as the Magpies finished midtable in League Two after promotion from the National League. Under contract at Meadow Lane next season.
Substitutes
10 Billy Sharp: another modern day Blades hero. Released at the end of last season which was probably the correct decision from the football perspective but there is no denying that it could have been handled better by the club. Spent half a season at LA Galaxy before joining Hull in January for what would end up being his first ever goalless English football season.
15 Phil Jagielka: Blades stalwart who rejoined the club in 2019 after a 12 year spell at Everton. Left on relegation and joined Derby for a season before a two-year spell at Stoke brought the curtains down on a great career. Interestingly, his X/Twitter account is still covered in United imagery
18 Luke Freeman: signed after promotion as QPR’s best player but too individualistic to fit in under Wilder. Joined Forest on loan for the 20/21 season but underwhelmed there; was at United for the first half of the following season but barely featured before joining Millwall on loan in January 2022. Was at Luton for their unexpected promotion season before being released in August 2023; he joined National League Barnet in January 2023.
22 Lys Mousset: had the world at his feet when we went into lockdown but spent those months eating kebabs and generally being unprofessional. We tried to get a tune out of him for a year before letting him join Serie A side Salernitana for an unsuccessful spell in January 2022. Joined Bundesliga side VfL Bochum on a free after his United contract expired but was a total flop at die Unabsteigbaren, spending a short spell back in France with Nimes before being released into the wild in January.
25 Simon Moore: go-to model for the United goalkeeper kits, Moore was first choice in League One but a rotation player in our first season back in the Championship before reverting to a back up role when Henderson joined. Released in 2021 to join Coventry where he was first choice in his first season but a back up thereafter. Will be released by the Sky Blues in June.
26 Jack Rodwell: the invisible man. 73 minutes on the pitch for United over a two year spell before joining Sydney FC where, true to form, he’s spent more time injured than available
30 Richairo Živković: left-field loan signing from the Chinese second division in January 2020 but never really looked comfortable at Premier League level. Loaned to Guangzhou for a short spell later in 2020. Spent 2021/22 at Red Star Belgrade as a nomadic career continued; 2022/23 was at FC Emmen in the Netherlands and he’s now at Singaporean side Lion City Sailors.
Spurs (4-2-3-1)
1 Hugo Lloris: former France captain, now at LAFC
24 Serge Aurier: left Spurs in 2021 for Villareal; after a season there he joined Forest. 18 months later, in January this year, he joined Galatasaray on a short-term deal
6 Davison Sánchez: one-time Spurs record signing but another one now at Galatasaray
15 Eric Dier: joined Bayern from Spurs to ensure that the Bavarians ended a season without a trophy for the first time since 2011/12
33 Ben Davies: still at Spurs
17 Moussa Sissoko: left Spurs in 2021 for Watford before joining Nantes in 2022
18 Gio Lo Celso: another who flattered to deceive after joining Spurs for big money. Spent 18 months on loan at Villareal before becoming a rotation player back at Tottenham this season
27 Lucas Moura: scorer of a hat-trick in a Champions League semi final, left Spurs for São Paulo last summer
23 Steven Bergwijn: back in the Netherlands after a Dutch-record €31m transfer to Ajax last summer
7 Son Heung-min: the second of the only two starters for the Lilywhites that night in 2020 still at the club. Now captain and still undeniably one of the best players in the world
10 Harry Kane: left for Bayern last summer to win things. That went well.
Substitutes
4 Toby Alderweireld: in the vanguard moving to Saudi Arabia in 2021 but left after a year for Belgian side Royal Antwerp
5 Jan Vertonghen: left Spurs for Benfica in 2020 and another back in Belgium now, this time with Anderlecht
8 Harry Winks: spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Sampdoria before joining Leicester last summer for £10m
11 Erik Lamela: left Spurs for Sevilla on a free in the summer of 2021
20 Dele Alli: one-time wonderkid now at Everton who are doing all they can to avoid triggering the clauses in a structured £40m deal. Spent last season underwhelming at Besiktas
22 Paolo Gazzaniga: left Spurs for Fulham in 2021, spent 2021/22 on loan at Girona before joining the Spanish side permanently last summer
28 Tanguy Ndombélé: another Spurs record signing who failed to impress. Has spent the last three seasons on loan: back at Lyon, then Napoli and this season at Galatasaray
29 Oliver Skipp: still at Spurs but very much a substitute with 4 starts in 20 appearances this season. Spent 20/21 on loan at Norwich but hasn’t really kicked on
30 Gedson Fernandes: on loan at Spurs from Benfica from Jan 20 to Jan 21 but they opted to not make it permanent. Has mainly played in Turkey since, loan deals at Galatasaray and Caykur Rizespor before joining Besiktas permanently in 2022.
