December 10 2009

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace's match against United will no doubt focus on the "Warnock" factor, but there is much more to look back on, writes Simon Pophale.

Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground is the oldest major football ground anywhere, as since 1862, the ground has been hosting football fixtures.

There has been much change since that time and our first visit there was nearly 100 years after it opened, which was in January 1959 for an FA Cup tie, which we lost 2-0. It would be a further 10 years before we would cross swords with them again.

Season 1968/69 was a memorable one for us due to promotion to the top flight for the very first time. It would also herald our first ever league meeting with Sheffield United. The Bramall Lane fixture took place in December of 1968 and we managed a creditable 1-1 draw.

Two seasons passed before we met again, this time in the top flight but it was the hosts who picked up victories of 1-0 and 2-0 in 1971/72 and 72/73. We went down at the end of that season and it would be once again, happier times, when we met again.

The year 1977 saw a return to second tier action and Terry Venables was busy constructing the “Team of the Eighties” and while the season of 1977/78 might have looked unremarkable, we were becoming very difficult to beat and a 2-0 win at Bramall Lane personified this new tougher stance. The following season, we won promotion back to Division One and again, a trip to Bramall Lane heralded a victory by the same score.

While we were in the Division One spotlight, Sheffield United fell into the doldrums, dropping into the Third Division for the first time in their history and then plumbing the depths of Division Four. It would be the 1984/85 season and while our darkest days were slowly becoming brighter with the appointment of Steve Coppell, we introduced The Blades to the harshness of the Second Division with a 1-2 win in September 1984.

This started a run of four seasons where we played United and our good form continued with one win, two draws and one defeat. The 1987/88 season saw United relegated again to Division Three and the next time we met, it would be in the top flight and happy times, once again for us.

The 1990/91 season will be long remembered as the season when we so nearly broke into the upper echelons of the pyramid. Matches against Sheffield United in the top flight saw us also remain successful at Bramall Lane, with a 1-0 win in 1990/91 and 1992/93 and a 1-1 draw sandwiched in between.

With our relegation from the Premier League and subsequent promotion and relegation meant that we missed out on playing the boys from S2 until the 1995/96 season and our great run continued with a 3-2 win in late August.

As the season turned into bitter disappointment for both clubs, we met again the following season and while United bested us in the season, with a 3-0 win at home (their best result against us), we got our revenge at the only match ever played on neutral ground between the sides, with David Hopkin breaking the Steel City hearts with “that” goal in the last minute.

Again, we were relegated from the Premier League so it was the 1998/99 season where we found Bramall Lane once again on the destination list and a 1-1 draw saw us take a point. The last season of the 20th century saw us go down 3-1 at Bramall Lane.

So, to more recent times and it has been a mixed bag of results. With both clubs having one season in the top flight, heading to Sheffield United has become a regular fixture on the season calendar.

There have been some defeats (1-0 in 2000/01, 2-1 in 2002/03) but none felt as depressing as the 1-0 defeat back in 2005/06. We went to United on the last day of the season to be the almost uninvited guest at a promotion party. Chris Morgan got a 2nd half winner and the sickening feeling of the play-offs was to follow.

We have managed some notable wins in that time too, with the standout result of 3-0 in February 2004 the pick of them. It was our fifth consecutive away win, which was a record and it was our best performance there to boot – goals from Andy Johnson, Tony Popovic and Neil Shipperley making the long trip home worthwhile.

The 3-1 win in 2001 saw the Steve Bruce brand of football which took us to the top of the table early doors, included this win over Sheffield United in September. Jamie Smith, Dougie Freedman and David Hopkin scored our goals but those good times with Bruce, as United fans can also testify, do not last long.

Draws are rare currency against United in Sheffield, so last seasons 2-2 draw was hard earned as Nick Carle gave us a late, late leveller after James Beattie had put United ahead with only 8 minutes to spare. Meeting Paddy McCarthy and Danny Butterfield at Kings Cross on the Friday was a personal highlight for me, especially as I said to Paddy he would score and he did!

He won’t be there this time and for many of us, December will give us a last chance to see some of our heroes before they are sold off with the family silverware post-Christmas. Let’s hope that we can make it an away day double after Reading.