This Sheffield derby will not be for faint-hearted, warns Wilder

The United manager tells Julian Bennetts game was ringed on his calendar as soon as fixtures came out

Local boy Chris Wilder makes no attempt to downplay the importance of tonight’s Sheffield derby. “Well, there’s great respect for the history of their football club, what they’ve done and the great players they’ve had over the years,” says the Sheffield United manager when asked what he thinks of his club’s bitter rivals, Sheffield Wednesday.

“But they’re not really like us – they’re different. I don’t know how I can put this in a way that won’t offend people, but I know that if I’m on the Titanic and there’s a Blade and an Owl and one space left on that life raft I’m dragging that Blade into it!”

This is not the way managers normally talk but then Wilder is not your average manager – not when it comes to Sheffield United, at least. He was born in Stocksbridge, in the north of Sheffield, and grew up an avid supporter of the club. Wilder attended his first derby in 1980 and is even said to have a tattoo of the club’s crest somewhere on his body – a claim he does not refute, laughing as he says: “Some things I have to keep to myself.”

And in May 2016, after 15 years in management at the likes of Alfreton Town, Halifax, Oxford and Northampton, Wilder was finally given his dream job. He secured promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt, ensuring that after a gap of six long years there would finally be a Steel City derby again. United won 4-2 at Hillsborough back in September but tonight is the first time the two have met at Bramall Lane since October 2011 and Wilder’s excitement is obvious.

“I ringed this one in the calendar when the fixtures came out, 100 per cent,” he says. “Our supporters have missed going toe-to-toe with the heavyweights and the sides we are coming up against this season are incredible – but for me the two outstanding games are these two against our rivals.

“It still amazes me how many people are affected by it and for me as a player and a manager, the highs are a lot higher and the lows a lot lower than at other clubs. I quite like getting the bus every now and again and I might get a smile if the bus driver is a United fan, or I might get a stare if they’re from the other side. If we lose I might have to start getting an Uber! “The majority of my pals are United fans and I think it’s certainly not one for the glory seekers or the faint-hearted after what we’ve been through the last few years. I know what it means to everybody and the responsibility I have is a little heavier than I’ve had at other clubs.”

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