English Premiership

Sheffield United Football Club (pronounced /ˈʃɛfiːld juːˈnaɪtɪd/ ) is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire. They currently play in the English Football League Championship. They play at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, and play in red and white striped shirts.

Their nickname is ' The Blades' . The club emblem is said to have been designed by former player Jimmy Hagan. They have the nickname The Blades due to Sheffield's worldwide reputation of steel production. The emblem was first used for the 1977–78 season, replacing the city's coat of arms that had been used since 1966. Like all clubs, Sheffield United have a range of songs and chants sung by their fans, including the most notable: their unofficial anthem, The Greasy Chip Butty Song , which is sung before each half, and often after the game if the team has performed well. Sheffield United won the League in 1898 and the FA Cup in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925. They were beaten finalists in the FA Cup in 1901 and 1936. Their best performance in the League Cup was reaching the semi finals in 2003.

Former players

For more details on this topic, see List of Sheffield United F.C. former players.

Reserve and Academy teams

• Sheffield United Reserves currently play in the Pontin's Holidays League East at the Coach and Horses ground.Sheffield F.C.'s home ground.

• Sheffield United Academy U18s currently play in the FA Premier Academy League U18s Group D at the Shirecliffe ground at Firshill Crescent.

International links

In January 2006, Sheffield United became the first foreign club to take over a Chinese team when they purchased the football club Chengdu Wuniu, based in the city of Chengdu, China. The club was re-named the Chengdu Blades, after their new owners. Sheffield United shirts are now sold in China, and Chengdu shirts are now sold in Sheffield, increasing revenue streams for both clubs.

In February 2008, Kevin McCabe, the club's chairman, finalised an agreement with Budapest-based Ferencváros to buy its football team, and also negotiated with the Hungarian government to purchase and develop the ground around Stadion Albert Flórián. The development of a new all-seater football stadium with a capacity of 25,000 has been started. A match was played in Budapest to celebrate the link-up.

The Blades also have operating/business and exchange of ideas links with Central Coast Mariners of Australia and White Star Woluwé of Belgium.

The Australian Valad Property Group were sponsors of the South Stand at Bramall Lane. From the 2009-10 season, the South Stand sponsors are GACWorld

Rivalries

Sheffield United have numerous rivalries. The most outstanding rivalry is with their city neighbours Sheffield Wednesday. Both teams have chants which aim to berate the other, as with lots of other football rivalries. United and Wednesday's meeting has come to be known as the Steel City derby; to date 119 matches have been played in the Steel City derby, with United winning 44, Wednesday 41, and 37 draws. Sheffield United's other rivals are mainly other teams from Yorkshire, such as Leeds United, Barnsley, Rotherham United and Doncaster Rovers. Sheffield Wednesday remain United's main rivals as meetings between United and Wednesday have occurred the most, and most of Sheffield supports one of the two teams. Sheffield United's rivalry with Barnsley is also rated highly by both sets of supporters; both United and Barnsley referring to each other as "Dingles" and "Dee-Dars" respectively.

Sheffield United, also have, along with many other sports teams across Yorkshire, a strong rivalry with Nottingham Forest. This can be attributed to the miners strikes of the 1980s, where workers in the pits of Nottinghamshire did not join the strike (known locally as scabbing) whereas miners from Yorkshire were on strike. The rivalry between Sheffield United and Forest intensified due to the Blades beating Forest 2-0 at the City Ground for Brian Clough's last ever game as Forest Manager in 1993, Forest were relegated that season. United also defeated Forest in a hostile 2003 1st Division play off semi final, the highlight for United fans being an own goal by former Sheffield Wednesday captain Des Walker.

Supporters

Sheffield United derives support from a broad cross-section of the community. The majority of football fans in the S2 postcode of the city (where the ground is located) are Sheffield United fans, particularly the Sharrow, Heeley, Highfield, Manor and Park Hill areas of the city. There is also a lot of support in the S3 areas, close to the city centre, S8 and around the Gleadless area, a strong contingent from the Dearne Valley, with a large supporters club from Swinton in particular. The club usually run two or three special student deals each season, and so also have a small student following, based in the suburbs of Crookes and Broomhall.

Famous supporters

Supporters of note include former manager Neil Warnock, actor Sean Bean, the Sports Minister Richard Caborn, MP, the singer Paul Heaton, musicians Joe Elliott and Antony Genn, television presenter Anna Walker, author G. P. Taylor, Olympic Laser Class Sailing gold medalist Paul Goodison has followed Sheffield United since he was a youngster and Alex Quinn (Sky Sports News presenter). As a boy Argentinian legend Juan Sebastian Veron dreamed of playing for the Blades. Michael Palin is a Blades fan and kept up to date with their results even on his trip aound the world in 80 days.

Chants

Like many English clubs, Sheffield United supporters have a wide variety of chants and songs, the most famous of which is The Greasy Chip Butty Song . Many others are intended to berate their local rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, the most famous of which are (to the tune of "Singing the Blues): "Never felt more like Swinging a pig/from Hyde Park Flats to Wadsley Bridge/United! You've got me swinging a pig/As you do, as you do, as you do!" and "No pigs fans in town/No Hillsborough to sadden my eyes/Jack Charlton is dead/and the pig's fans have fled/and the year is 1889!" . They can also be heard to sing "Are you Wednesday in disguise" to poorly-playing teams—an attempt to undermine both the opposition and Sheffield Wednesday. A popular chant at the moment is "Oh when the Blades go marching in!" this is usually sung for a long period of time whilst playing away from home. Songs played before kick off at Bramall Lane include 'Meet Her At The Love Parade' by Da Hool, 'We took Pelham' by Deadly Avenger and 'United' by Judas Priest and. These songs are known to fans as the 'Countdown To Kick-Off'. . Another popular chant is (sung to the tune of "I am sailing"): We are Bladesmen, we are Bladesmen, super Bladesmen, from the Lane. We are Bladesmen, super Bladesmen, we are Bladesmen, from the Lane".

League history

For more details on this topic, see Sheffield United F.C. seasons.

Honours

For more details on this topic, see Sheffield United F.C. records.

• Divison One/Premier League
  • Champions: 1897/1898
  • Runners-up: 1896/1897, 1899/1900

• Division Two/Championship
  • Champions: 1952/1953
  • Runners-up: 1892/1893, 1938/1939, 1960/1961, 1970/1971, 1989/1990, 2005/2006

• Division Three/League One
  • Runners-up: 1988/1989

• Division Four/League Two
  • Champions: 1981/1982

• FA Cup
  • Winners: 1899, 1902, 1915, 1925
  • Runners-up: 1901, 1936

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