“A to Z of Sheffield United:

A is for Abdullah bin Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – son of Prince Musa’ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his mother is Princess Fatima bint Hashim bin Turki bik Alngers of Turkish descent. No, he is not one of the local taxi drivers made good, he is a rich paper merchant and 50% owner.

B is for Blades. This used to be Sheffield Wednesday’s nickname, until Wednesday moved to Owlerton & became the ‘Owls’. And in true northern style, the men from Bramall Lane nicked it the moment it was left unattended.

C is for Chengdu Wuniu, a Chinese team the Blades bought in 2006 to find talent. It obviously worked well!

D is for Diego, as in Maradona. In 1978, the United manager Harry Haslam watched the 17-year-old Maradona in action on a scouting trip to Argentina and was so impressed he immediately arranged a £200,000 deal. But the transfer fell through when the Second Division club failed to stump up extra cash on top of the fee. The biggest ‘the one that got away’ ever?

E is for equal. The record between Millwall and Sheffield United is 22 wins each & 8 draws.

F is for founded in 1889, four years after the Lions.

G is for Greasy Chip Butty song – sung to the tune of “Annie’s Song”, it celebrates Sheffield culture – such as getting fat and smoking & drinking yourself to death.

H is for Harry. One of United’s most famous recent sides is the one under Dave ‘Harry’ Basset, which kicked and rushed their way to promotion to the old First Division from the Third in 1990 and enjoyed 4 seasons of top flight football – their longest run in the last 40 years.

I is for Ifill, the Blades taking the tricky winger from us after our relegation.

J is for John Smiths Bitter – the only drink they serve in Sheffield.

K is for kit, United have played in red and white stripes for most of their history in contrast to Wednesday’s blue and white.

L is for for Lipsham. Millwall’s first-ever manager made his name as a winger for Sheffield United, where he won an FA Cup Final medal. Did a great job in building a very decent Millwall team between 1911 and the start of the first world war.

M is for missing. Bramall Lane was a three sided ground right up until the 1970s, because it hosted county cricket matches for Yorkshire CCC. It is the only ground to be home to the football league champions (United) and county cricket champions (Yorkshire) in the same year (1898).

N is for naughty. Sheffield United has a very active hooligan element still (Blades Business Crew), and has had many run-ins with Millwall’s own finest over the years. The BBC came unstuck recently in SE London, but at least they made the effort, unlike many (including Leeds).

O is for old. Not United related, but Sheffield is home to the oldest football club in the world – Sheffield FC, founded in 1857.

P is for Paul Peschisolido, former Blade married to lovely Karen Brady. Had to endure taunts of ‘You’re shit & your wife’s a slag’ many a time at The Den.

Q is for queue, a famous feature of the Sheffield city landscape, especially in the 1980s outside Job Centres, and nowadays outside Greggs’.

R is for roundabouts. There are a lot of them around Bramall Lane.

S is for Sheffield Wednesday. The original ‘Blades’ and also regulars at Bramall Lane. It was because Wednesday stopped using the ground that the landlords at Bramall Lane decided to start Sheffield United. United fans respect and thank Wednesday for that all the time.

T is for Tevez. Carlos Tevez scored the goals that helped keep West Ham up at the expense of Sheffield United, even though it was proven that his contract didn’t meet FA rules. Blades fans are very Zen about this now, accepting that fining a club a few million pounds, who cheated to stay in the multi-million pound PL, was completely just and fair.

U is for Unitedites – another nickname given to Sheffield United fans. No idea why!

V is for very wet. It rains in Sheffield at least once in every 24 hour period.

W is for West Ham United. Blades fans hate them nearly as much as us (see T). However, they’ve
not killed any Hammers yet, sadly.

X is for Xenodochy. Natives of Sheffield are very welcoming. It is almost impossible not to pull a northern tart in the Leadmill.

Y is for years. Sheffield United have not managed to win at The Den in just over 7 years.

Z is for zenith. Sadly, Sheffield United peaked early in their footballing career, their best years were between 1897 and 1902, when they were runners-up in the league twice, champions once; and FA Cup winners twice and runners-up once. “

“G should be for grasses after them getting slapped in deptford and bubbling people up.
Northern wrong uns.”

“another big game and big away following. gotta love the championship.”

“Sadly can’t see us scoring. Hope I’m wrong”

“We were awful again on Saturday, no cutting edge and I despair at the way all our attackers take the pace out of any attacks and check back in.

“Fulham were marginally better than us and we deserved a draw. Note, we were marginally better than both Hull and Sunderland, it’s all about margins.”

“To be honest it’s like Groundhog Day.
Every match we play we get out passed and nearly every match we play we have less possession than the opposition. It was the same last season and it will be the same next.
However, we still show energy and create plenty of chances. We are basically a team of Division One players overachieving”

“The fact we have less possession, yet in most games create decent chances, and some games more chances and better chances shows how piss poor football has become. Too many teams play this shitty boring possession game of keep ball, usually at the back, its tedious.
I wish we had two decent wingers that we coul spread the ball out to, tell them to whip some early crosses in or go at the full backs, proper football, far more exciting than that possession in your own third shit. “

“Its not that we are unlucky all the time,
We are missing that bit of quality upfront,
We didnt invest in the summer and it shows.”

“It’s not all doom and gloom. Williams is back in training, Wallace is back from suspension. Harris is targeting a CB in January. And every season ticket holder receives a free packet of fruit pastilles at this Saturday’s game.”

“Mahlon Romeo and Jed Wallace could be reunited on the right flank for the first time since the League One play-off final”

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