STEEL CITY ON THE RISE
40 years ago today almost 50,000 Sheffield fans saw Wednesday thrash United in Division Three — now the Owls are chasing a place in the top flight and the Blades are bidding for Europe
Boxing Day has long been a symbol of the power and potential of Sheffield football.
Forty years have passed since 49,309 made their way to Hillsborough for a Division Three derby fixture between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.
it remains a record attendance for England’s third tier and the date is firmly etched into the city’s footballing folklore.
owls fans will not pass up the opportunity to sing about the 4-0 win, the ‘Boxing Day massacre’ as they like to call it, as they head for Stoke today. That win — goals by ian Mellor, Terry Curran, Jeff King and a Mark Smith penalty — proved to be a springboard to promotion and a successful couple of decades for the blue-and-white half of Sheffield, but this season Blades are in the ascendancy.
Chris Wilder’s team are fifth in the top flight at Christmas for the first time since 1971, when they started the season well after promotion to the old Division one and finished the season 10th.
‘yep, Europe, might be an end of season trip,’ quipped Wilder when the prospect of European football was raised in the after-glow of Saturday’s win at Brighton.
‘Probably Magaluf. That’s one for the older generation, you used to see 20 or so teams out there at the end of May. a lot of clubs look to establish themselves and pick up points regularly. We’re one of those. The boys have done great but you can’t pat yourselves on the back in this game. you just can’t do that.’
With 28 points from the first 18 games, the Blades are well placed to extend their Premier League status beyond one year and their players will share a £10million bonus if they do.
if others continue to misfire they could even finish the season as the best-placed United in the country for the first time since 1975, when Tony Currie was at the height of his creative powers.
Currie’s generation still reflect on that campaign as a missed opportunity. They finished sixth, only four points behind champions Derby in a congested title race in the twopoints-for-a-win era. While Wilder does not expect to catch leaders Liverpool, the passion and style of his team have helped make Sheffield football fashionable once again.
Wednesday have responded under garry Monk and are poised third in the Championship despite losing manager Steve Bruce to newcastle on the eve of the season. They have been out of the Premier League since relegation in 2000 but are daring to dream once again about promotion.
The Sheffield rivals have not coexisted in the top flight since 1993-94 when Chris Waddle and alan Cork were on opposite sides of the divide.
Sheffield is a fierce football city, in fact the world’s first football city, and more than 50,000 regularly turn out in support of the two leading clubs, despite the sometimes desperate fare served up during the past quarter of a century.
More than 30,000 were packed into Bramall Lane for the last home game, when Wilder’s United won 2-0 against aston Villa, courtesy of two goals by John Fleck. The place will be rocking again today to the sound of the Greasy
Chip Butty song as they host Watford, who have recently turned to former Sheffield Wednesday captain and Steel City resident nigel Pearson in the hope he can lead them from the relegation peril.
‘He’s known in these parts,’ said Wilder. ‘He’ll definitely want to nail us and beat the old enemy. He was a fantastic captain and he’s an excellent coach. Look at what he did at Leicester and who is to say he can’t do it again.’
over in S6, Monk’s team stretched their unbeaten run to six games by beating Bristol City with a late Barry Bannan penalty on Sunday in front of more than 23,000 at Hillsborough.
‘We’re only halfway there,’ said the owls boss. ‘The second half only gets more difficult. it is tight in this league. if you lose a couple you can sink right down very quickly.’
Both sides proceed with caution, for specific pitfalls lurk. For Sheffield United, the complications of an ownership dispute and questions of whether owner Prince abdullah can invest in new signings when he must find around £ 50million to buy properties including the stadium and the training ground from former coowner Kevin McCabe.
For Sheffield Wednesday, there is the lingering fear of a points deduction by the Football League after the club was charged relating to the sale of the stadium to owner and chairman Dejphon Chansiri in contravention of the competition’s profitability and sustainability rules.
Few in South yorkshire are prone to over-excitement. it is one of the region’s great attributes. They will wait. and watch developments.
There might be a glimmer of hope for a future to match the mighty history of Sheffield football, but for the time being just savour the present.
it has been a long time coming.