Why do you support Sheffield United?

[Kendal]

Up to half time was one of the best experiences ever. I'd taken my daughter and I think that's contributed to her not switching to the scabs since she's moved near

Wasn't into footie until I got taken to wembley hull semi final fa cup 2015? been a blade ever since

Love some of the sentiment of these posts, and people recalling being gripped by the Blades the first time they watched them.

Imagine this type of thread, 20 years from now. "It was the first time I saw us. I was a kid. I went away to Deepdale with me Uncle.

To be fair, Preston away (in League 1) was my daughter's first game. The noise from our lot had an impact. She thought the MCG for a Geelong - Hawthorn AFL game was a bit subdued in comparison. Of the NW grounds I've seen us play, Deepdale is by far the best.

 

[Zero dark thirty]

You see Zero dark thirty? I keep mentioning that it’s never too late to repent!

Where's mi 90s yellow shirt then sunshine ...had a call from hospital today after having 24hr heart monitor on and bottom chamber is giving 2 extra beats and minute..no idea what that means but mri yesterday might clear things up..I'm fking sick of being poorly

 

[FatPaul]

Dad was a scouser and supported Everton. Me mam is a Wednesday fan, and my first football game was at the sty. No idea when or how I got here, but deffo a blade since 8yr old.

 

[manxblade]

I went to Hillsborough school and the first game I went to was pigs v Blackpool under the floodlights. It was the first time I had seen a game in colour and I loved the Blackpool shirt and had to be told on a number of occasions I was supposed to cheer the blue and white not the orange. My mates dad took me to Bramhall Lane to see blades v Fulham and I just remember how much more noisy it was with the singing.
A blade from then on.

 

[Cheets]

On my mother's side...


My mum's 6 brothers were all Wendy (They lived in Hartley Brook Road) but two of them were regulars at S6. Their dad (my grandfather who died before I was born) was a Blade from the 1920s, but often went to watch both Sheffield teams and started to lean toward Wendy because my Uncle Pete (1927-2009) fell in love with Wendy since they played Man City in the FA Cup in 1934 (attendance 72,841). My grandfather did try to get a ticket for our FA cup final against Arsenal in 1936 but didnt get it. My Uncle Pete told me that his maternal grandfather (1869-1954) was a Blade from the 1890s but am not sure if he attended any of the 6 FA Cup finals that involved us. My mum's only sister (the eldest of the 8 children) married a Blade.

On my father's side....


None of the family were interested in football until Fred Jessop joined the Blades from Derby during the 1937-38 season. Fred lived in Dronfield and his son was in the same class at school as my dad. This was how my dad became a Blade, his brother Tony wasnt interested in football but took his youngest brother Ronnie to both Blades and Wendy home games from the late 1950s but Ronnie noticed that my dad got more animated in matches at Bramall Lane so he decided to become a committed Blade. My dad's sister Joan's older son is a committed Blade and still goes to matches but her younger son chose Wendy but I dont think he often goes to matches at S6. My son is a Blade and his wife was already a Blade when they first met.

Finally an answer to the question: "Who does Silent Blade's dad's sister's older son support?"

 

[Cheets]

My brother was a Wendy but I was excited by the signing of Alex Sabella after the 1978 World Cup. Also I liked United's Admiral kit. Wednesday's seemed boring and old fashioned in comparison.

 

[Radders]

My family were all blades on my dad's side so i was always going to be one too. My mum wasn't into footy but i remember going to a derby match at the lane in the late '50s (my first match) and she said she felt sorry for Weds cos no one supported them. She obviously didn't know about their millions of global fans....

 

[LE3blade]

How did you get here?

I don’t suppose anyone did it for glory hunting! Unless you’re over 100 years old!

For me, my Grandfather was a United fan. I still remember him having a Blades mug even when he was in his late 70s when he passed. He used to go regularly but stopped going when we dropped to the 4th. I think he was born around 1904/05 so he would have at least been around for at least a couple of cup wins.

My Dad is still watching us and is 88 now. He’s more of a TV viewer now and stopped going maybe a couple of years ago.

I went to my first game in the late to mid-80s. A rather drab 0-0 at home to Ipswich when Burridge was the goalie. My first proper memory was with Bassett as Manager and what fun times they were.

I then continued to follow them home and away as part of the London Blades including heading to Trinidad and Tobago to watch them under Warnock.

Despite Bryan Robson being responsible for my commitment waining and moving to Asia, I’ve still watched closely from afar and attended when I’m back. My daughter has taken up the mantle, proudly wears her kit and tells her classmates that Messi and Ronaldo are neither the GOAT as Billy Sharp is!

So fairly traditional at first for me though my daughter can claim slightly less conventional.

How about you?

Born and bread in Leicester, as a kid watched Worthington and Weller in the 70's who were great players, then saw Tony Currie and he became my favourite player and was hooked on the blades thereafter. family converted to Blades fans, albeit brothers are Leicester and Bolton
Bumped into London Blades on the train to Boston united in the FA Cup, remember 1 lad called John who went on the south america tour to watch england in chile/brazil think he was originally Bradford Park Av fan

 

[CarlMcBlade]

I’m a cynical, hard bitten pessimist.…So me and SUFC are a marriage made in heaven…or hell.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Indeed he did. Mr Meadows was real.

I'm not dreaming this, am I?
There used to be regular announcements in the 1980s or 90s for "Mr. Meadows to return to Bramall Lane Control" (or something like that), right?

 

[CarlMcBlade]

SWFC = Delusions of grandeur, founded in a deep narcissism and inflated ego.
SUFC = Gritty realism, founded in a latent inferiority complex allied with a mild imposter syndrome.

That’s why failure for them will hurt them much much more. Whereas relative success will always be much sweeter for us

 

[Grey Blade]

I'm not dreaming this, am I?
There used to be regular announcements in the 1980s or 90s for "Mr. Meadows to return to Bramall Lane Control" (or something like that), right?

It doesn't seem all that long ago! Was always greeted with a certain amount of hilarity as I recall.

 

[54yrblade]

I'm not dreaming this, am I?
There used to be regular announcements in the 1980s or 90s for "Mr. Meadows to return to Bramall Lane Control" (or something like that), right?

No you're not dreaming it. Part of the ground plans for emergencies and the stewards.

 

[Sportbilly /Detroit Blade]

No you're not dreaming it. Part of the ground plans for emergencies and the stewards.

Didn't they also used to say something like all stewards go to phase 5, or something like that, and then afterwards say all stewards return to normal duties?!

 

[Keen Blade]

I got kicked in the head by a horse as a child.

Is that why you wear that black helmet with the laser beam shining out of it ?

 

[Charlieblade]

Born in Worksop seventy two years ago today. Grew up a football mad nipper, and my late older brother was a blades fan.
When I turned 11 years old I was allowed to get a coach and match ticket for 10 shillings, (old money).
Stood on the old Kop of a 3 sided ground.
I worked down the Wicker for Bentleys Vauxhall dealers, so I then learned the train route.
In 1975 I joined the Army. Spent 12 of my 22 years in Germany and the rest south of London.
Married a Sheffield lass and moved to Gleadless.
I remember having a SW radio on a trip down the Rhine, the year we were relegated and cursing West Ham.
My 3 lads are all adults now, and two of them are season ticket holders. So the link carries on.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Didn't they also used to say something like all stewards go to phase 5, or something like that, and then afterwards say all stewards return to normal duties?!

The Mr Meadows thing was covert way of saying all that without potentially spooking the crowd…But we all knew what it meant anyway.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

I had no choice really.

When I was a kid it was either go to Bramall Lane with my Dad or sit at home and look at the scores on Ceefax.

I've lived in Barnsley all my life but never had any interest in supporting them.

 

[54yrblade]

Didn't they also used to say something like all stewards go to phase 5, or something like that, and then afterwards say all stewards return to normal duties?!

Absolutely. Same reason, testing movements for ground evacuation etc

 

[54yrblade]

The Mr Meadows thing was covert way of saying all that without potentially spooking the crowd…But we all knew what it meant anyway.

An ironic chuckle rolled around the ground too, from those who knew and those who didn't but joined in anyway

 

[derfblade.3]

Remember watching Garth in the Northern Intermediate league many times. Left winger with sandy hair.

Yes that's Garth. He went from United to Chester where he had a good few years and was a regular scorer. From there he went to Ellesmere Port where he finished his carreer and made it his home. He still lives there and is in his 80s.

 

[Badger Blade]

I grew up as a footballing obsessive but nobody in my family was remotely bothered about football or sport whatsoever.

I used to save my paper round and pocket money and just take myself off to a local game on a Saturday. I lived near Alfreton so would just go and see whoever was at home locally that weekend, so went to places like Derby, Notts County, Mansfield, Chesterfield (never to Forest of my own accord!) then one day decided to get on the train to the Lane in 2005 and sat in the away end with the Derby fans back when you could pay on the gate in cash. Most of the kids at school either supported Liverpool or Man United so were very much armchair supporters who never went to games and thought anything below the Prem was a load of shite so I went by myself.

After going to the game and having soaked up the atmosphere, I decided I fancied coming again so went in on the Kop for Hao Haidong's cup debut (!) then went to a league game where we beat Brighton 3-0 where one of my mates tagged along.

Bramall Lane was where I enjoyed watching the game more than anywhere else and 21 years later, I'm still here, win, lose or draw, still coming back for more!

 

[Æthelstan]

All my mum's side supported United (except one cousin who randomly decided to support Wednesday, then swapped when he was 15 to the superior side, which I don't think should be legal).

My dad also supports United, but his family is from Rotherham and supported them instead. Honestly, I'm lucky he didn't support Rotherham, otherwise I'd have been going to their games as a kid instead.

Being a United fan is a lower form of masochism than supporting the Millers.

 

[Russ]

Dad is a Blade. Dad's dad was a Blade. Dad's dad's dad was a Blade.

First game I remember was a 5-0 win against Bolton. I thought it was hilarious that Joe Bolton scored against Bolton* and was hooked. Colin Morris hat-trick in that game too.


*Is that the only occasion that one of our players has scored against a team with the same name as them?

I think you are correct in that assumption.

However we once scored against Reading when I was Reading the programme.

And once Don Penn scored a pen against us. But we won’t go into that…

 

[georgethecat]

A post I made previously on this forum:

Didn't grow up in Sheffield. Have no Sheffield connections. Took a real interest in the blades during the Bassett era and was immediately hooked. I loved the never say die attitude and commitment of the squad at that time. Have been travelling over from NI up to 10 times each season for about the last 20 odd years. Can't describe the feeling that I get when I approach bdtbl. It's amazing to see the red and white stripes everywhere! (Very rare to see another blades shirt over here). This is a football club that gets under your skin and draws you in at every turn, both positive and negative. My kids are brought up as blades (see my avatar) and we wear our colours with pride over here. I regularly bring friends over for the weekend to watch a game and they all have developed a genuine affection for the club. Best way to describe it for me is that on the mornings of travelling to see the blades I am like a kid on xmas day. There is nothing like it.

 

[PrestwichBlade]

Mum's side were sort of Wednesday. She met my dad and became a blade. Dad's side of family, well I had no choice really, extended family had board rep over 3 generations plus club sponsorship, so I'd have been disowned if I'd chosen anything different! . I was hooked though from my first visit walking up south stand steps and seeing the pitch for the first time. I don't get to games much these days, but when I do, I still get the same feeling. The football is almost irrelevant these days, but the club and everything that goes with it, for the most part, is very special.