It was 125 years ago today

It was 125 years ago today that cricket let the footballers play. And Sheffield United Cricket Club spawned Sheffield United Football Club. The original United.

 

The detailed story of Sheffield United's 125 years can be told by better men than me. (Club Historian John Garrett and author Denis Clareborough, to name but two). But it won't stop me trying to sum up 125 years of the Blades; or the Cutlers as they were originally known.

 

Temporary highs and lengthy lows. Senses filled, and then drained away. It is easy to dwell on the negatives. Of missed opportunities, unfulfilled ambition and a failure to match the club's resources and support with the craved for success on the pitch.

 

The modern day Sheffield United have spent too long trophy-less, too little time in the top division and rarely challenging at English football's summit. 

Three, maybe four generations of Blades fans without anything to show for their support but the mental scars of missing out on European football by a point, lost FA Cup and League Cup Semi-Finals and repeated Play Off final heartbreak. Haunted by the ghosts of the past, treading warily when those paths are crossed again.

 

Yet supporting Sheffield United Football Club in the early years was a joy in comparison. Those early supporters; all bushy moustaches, suit jackets and flat caps, enjoying a league title within 10 years of the club being formed, runner up twice more and four FA Cup victories in the club's first 40 years in existence. How little did they know? They never had it so good. We have never had it so good since.

 

But then we forget that those generations of Blades supporting families since have had much pleasure. Not the full blown success of those early years, but memorable moments all the same.

 

We have seen great players, arguably under-rated and lacking the due acclaim given to their peers elsewhere. We saw Hagan's trickery, Shaw's calm assurance and leadership, Woodward's wing play and stood in awe watching Tony Currie do magic.

 

We saw Edwards and Deane score goals by the hatful, whilst Jagielka and Walker show future international promise. Many more became heroes for their passion, their ability and quality, their value, their off pitch endeavours, or for their bravery in the face of adversity.

 

We have seen quality goals by quality players. Exquisite lobs from magic left foots, beautifully judged chips from near the halfway line, thirty yard net busters, bullet headers and the finales to exquisite build up play.

 

And then there were the cheeky goals; sneaking up and robbing the unaware keeper, or bouncing a throw-in off a retreating goalie's back to curl the ball into the empty net. Goals that if scored by others at more revered clubs would be repeated time and time again on TV for their quality or sheer impudence.

 

As much as the lack of recognition of our club and our players frustrates, we can feel a sense of pleasure that we saw those moments and they are our wonderful memories, our players, and the goals - our special secret.

 

We saw great cup ties and many a shock. Often made special by the glow of the floodlights. Shoot-out joy and Champions turned over. World class internationals with heads in hands. Heroes in red and white stripes hoisted high by joyous fans. Players individually good, collectively exceptional.

 

We have seen a game abandoned in extraordinary circumstances, drifting away down Shoreham Street, sporting vacant stares in disbelief. We have seen our team threaten to walk off the pitch at Highbury, and frequently not turn up at Wembley.

 

We have seen rogue owners; those with unclear motives, the chancers, Interpol's wanted, but survived their clutches with our club intact. We have been lucky compared to some, although it never felt like it at the time.

 

The good, the bad and the ugly of the beautiful game. The good, the bad and the ugly of our special love.

 

The ground remains. Much changed. But still Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane. The oldest professional football ground still in use. Cricket long gone, all sides much changed. Fans in seats where once on terracing they stood. 

The support unwavering, the songs sung with fervent passion. Nowhere like the Lane with a full house. Such noise. Goosebumps. Senses filled.

 

And where are we today? As ever, full of hope for a better future. With a new found belief in our club and the direction we are moving. A sense of pride returning and a trip to Wembley on the horizon. 

United enters its 126th year in the Third Division, but with hope that come its 130th things might look much different. Much better. And if they don't? Then we just carry on as ever. Regardless. United.

 

Up the Blades!

 

Weir Blades

Reasons to be Cheerful - Part 2

 

 

 

 

It took just shy of nine weeks to get here, five weeks to the day since the Blades fell in the play-offs at Huish Park. But at last I think Blades fans have reasons for optimism. Reasons, dare I say it, to be cheerful.

When the season drew to a close with a limp and lifeless performance in Yeovil, thoughts firmly focused on who would be named Danny Wilson's permanent successor. Writing at the time I said;

"Too often as a club we look to the past. We think a manager has to know about United, as if we are something special  show passion for the club in order to impress the fans. Let's move away from this thinking. Let's have a manger who can look at the playing squad with fresh eyes and free of the constraints of saying the right thing to please the supporters."

On paper we seem to have that man. At times over the last few weeks many have commented on the dearth of quality candidates listed by the bookmakers. We have had several names surge to be favourite on the back of a bit of money put their way, often based on the "in the know" of internet forum rumours. Many of those listed have had that Blades link somewhere in there. Of those that hadn't, few ticked the box. (Okay - the pedantic could argue that Weir has a Blades past, although a pre-season trial the season before last hardly constitutes a substantial history with the club)

The disparity of opinions on all candidates demonstrated that the fan-base had a broad range of opinions on who should be manager and the qualities and experience required. For every supporter of a candidate you could find a detractor and in a lot of cases each made valid arguments to support their case.

The relative silence emanating from Bramall Lane in the period could be viewed positively, after all the club has kept its counsel and left the media playing the same guessing game, latching on to the same rumours and sources as the fans. They could validly claim that they took their time to find the man who fits their profile. Yet, it would be interesting to know if weir was one of the 20+ quality applicants, or one of the original shortlist of seven.

Whatever you think of Graham Arnold and his comments on the process, I can't help feeling that there are some concerns for Blades fans within his comments. He had no need to run to the press, in fact doing so would surely create bigger problems for him; both with McCabe family links to Central Coast Mariners and as a word of warning to other potential suitors. To then do so in such vehemently ferocious terms suggests more than just minor issues at play. There is no smoke without fire.

 

Even with the bits of the process that did reach the press, such as Stuart McCall's involvement and withdrawal, you can't help feeling United have stumbled through the recruitment process, but in the end have dropped on with a candidate becoming available, perhaps after rejection at Goodison Park?

So after the long wait, have we got the right man?

Well Weir does seem to have United the fans onside straight away. Whether there is an element of that being relative happiness when he is compared with other candidates and relief that names recently bandied around by the press are not the preferred choice, who knows? It is possible. At one point earlier in the process, two names in the frame led me to tweet that expressing a preference was similar to being asked which STD would you prefer to have?

However, I think that there is a genuine warmth and optimism about Weir's arrival, and one that I share. He lacks experience of management, in our current situation that might have been preferable, but has all his coaching qualifications and a wealth of playing experience in both top level club football and at international level.

 

To be fair to our board it is also worth remembering that Julian Winter appointed Brendan Rogers and Malky Mackay at Watford; both being given their first jobs in management by United's returning Chief Executive. It is fair to say that is a decent track record when it comes to identifying young managerial talent and giving them a chance. The fact that Winter steered the then troubled Hornets through a treacherous financial period - including brushes with administration - should also be considered, especially given the financial down-sizing being undertaken at Bramall Lane.

Weir is well-respected by both those who he has played for and those he has played with. Comments on twitter from fellow pros and fans of Everton, Rangers and Hearts talk of a focused leader, a hard-working role model, a player who led by example. A man who, since finishing his playing career, has sought to expand his coaching knowledge and capabilities, spending time with clubs overseas.

A Rangers fan I know was reminiscing over email with me today and told me of the time the Rangers fan group the Blue Order held up 11 cardboard cut outs of the torso of their favourite defender and burst into a rendition of "We all dream of a team of Davie Weirs". There are times recently when United could have done far worse than that themselves. If Weir can build a squad in his image, with his work-rate, commitment and quality we won't go far wrong.

Many will now say that the club's patience has been rewarded, that the lengthy process was worthwhile. No-one will truly know what has happened behind the scenes over the last nine weeks. I had a tongue in cheek guess at it here. But the fact remains that after such a long selection process whoever became manager will start the season with a difficult task, now made slightly harder. I am sure he would have wanted more input into pre-season preparation, I am sure he would have wanted the opportunity to think longer about which players he wants to keep and not, to allow as much time as possible to move players on, allowing him more freedom to bring on the players he wants to be part of a United future.

Yet Weir knows all this and he has decided that this will be his first managerial challenge. He has been given a three year contract for a reason and the patience I have referred to previously will be important. I don't see a quick fix promotion for United next season and in the short term it could well be a bumpy ride. Weir will struggle to make significant changes to a squad, with only a small transfer kitty and with some players - who many fans consider "deadwood" - remaining under contract; reasonably lucrative contracts for League One as well.

Blades fans have been looking for signs of positivity for some time now. This is a small one, but in time it could be so much more. And that is the key, it just might need that time.

Interview with Steve Thompson - Part 1 (Boyhood Dreams)

For the latest in my series of interviews with former Blades I spoke with a man who has lived the schoolboy dream and served the club in nearly every role possible. From watching on the terraces, he became a ball boy and apprentice at Bramall Lane, before the club sadly released him. He returned at the end of his playing career for a key role in a successful promotion season and was then to return 8 years later as coach before a brief spell as manager.

Steve Thompson could perhaps be viewed as unlucky, particularly with the timing of his appointment as manager at United - the club was undergoing a turbulent spell in the boardroom that did him few favours. But as we talk I realise that he doesn't see it that way. I also find out that he may have graced the Bramall Lane turf more frequently and earlier in his career, but for misjudgement of a scout, the club's lack of money and circumstance.

It was a lengthy chat and there are parts of his career that we barely touched upon, but I still think there is plenty to interest the wider football fan as much as fellow Unitedites.

As a local lad (Steve went to Acres Hill Junior School and Waltheof Comprehensive School) and he was a frequent visitor to Bramall Lane as a lad.

I was a decent player as a schoolboy and played for Sheffield Boys and Yorkshire Boys. I was a right back at the time and my role model was Len Badger. I used to go to Bramall Lane as a fan, every game I played for Sheffield Boys and Yorkshire Boys I wanted to be signed by Sheffield United. Then United offered me a place in their junior team, playing in the Hatchard League, and I ended up spending three years there.

Steve Faulkner was in the Sheffield Boys team around that time and, along with Steve, ended up at United as an apprentice.

At the time, if you were a junior you had a few jobs to do. I remember having to clean the big baths out in the changing room, clean the players cars and we also doubled as a ball boy on matchday, so I had the perfect pitch-side vantage point.

It was a great era and there were some great players for United at that time. It was a joy to watch Tony Currie, Alan Woodward, Eddie Colquhoun, Len Badger, Trevor Hockey.... I could just reel all off all the names. As time progressed you could see TC was just a world beater. I don’t think we will ever see a player as good as Tony Currie at United ever again. He had everything; strength, power, amazing technical ability on the ball, goals from midfield and a brilliant free kick. They talk about Beckham's ability with free kicks in the modern game; well TC was on a par with him.

I was a ball-boy the day United beat Arsenal 5-0 and Tony Currie sat on the ball to tease Alan Ball (Ball had done similar at Highbury when Arsenal had run United ragged by a similar scoreline). Another incident I remember was Currie on the ball and he beckoned Alan Ball towards him. Alan ran at him and TC nutmegged him.

I particularly remember a match against Hull City; I was on the cricket pavilion side, with all the other three sides of the ground packed and the number of people in front of the pavilion forced me back up into the pavilion building itself.

I have played cricket against Ted Hemsley since and we always had a laugh and I still see Badge. Genuine people and in those days they associated with the fans and the fans could associate with them. That is something that Dave Bassett did well with United, we went in that players’ bar after for a drink and Harry always made sure we attended supporters’ club dos. We were a genuinely 'United' club.

For any local lad who is an apprentice with the club he supports, the hardest part must be coming to terms with being released, yet Steve seems relatively sanguine about it looking back.

John Short was the Chief Scout at the time - assisting manager John Harris - and he said that I was too short to play right back. Up to the age of 17 I was about 5'3" and then I had a bit of a growth spurt and I was 6'1" and 13 stone. Too late to salvage my career at United though. In later years though John admitted to me he had made an error, telling me "I got that one wrong didn't I".

Steve started playing for Frecheville Community Association in the Yorkshire Football League whilst trying to forge a career away from football, however the lure of the Lane soon proved too much.

When I was released by United I was working for the Yorkshire Electricity Board and doing nights at Granville College. It was hard though and one night I was heading down Granville Road and could see the lights on at Bramall Lane for a night match. I never made it to the college. I ran off to the Lane and watched the match. I never went back to the YEB. When I stopped being a ball boy I was on the Kop and that was where I could be found every home game in and around playing.

Steve went on to play for Worksop Town and then, in 1976, he attracted the attention of Boston United's then manager Howard Wilkinson. Keen to impress, he managed to get himself sent-off for a clash with Jim Kabia during Worksop's 3–1 defeat at York Street on 24 March 1976. However, the incident did not dissuade Wilkinson and Steve soon became a Boston player.

Whilst at Boston United I was working at Sheffield Newspapers selling advertising space, amazingly I found myself working alongside my boyhood hero Len Badger. Whilst there Jimmy Sirrell (then United manager) approached me about signing for United, my boss at the paper was a Blade and allowed me to join up with United. I went to an Under 21 tournament in Holland on trial alongside fellow trialist Paul Stancliffe and United youth products Keith Edwards and Tony Kenworthy. Jimmy Sirrell wanted to sign me, but they couldn’t pay what I was earning combined at Sheffield Newspapers and Boston and we couldn’t agree terms.

Howard Wilkinson crops up a few times in Steve's story and I wondered if he had a big influence on Steve's career both as a player and manager.

A bit of everyone has rubbed off on me. I was only 18 when I went to Boston as a player and Howard was the manager for a couple of seasons. He kept in contact with me and when I broke my leg at Lincoln, I was still living in Sheffield, and Howard let me do my rehabilitation at Wednesday with Alan Smith. I was a year out, but Alan (Wednesday and one time England physio) was one of the best I ever worked with. Howard treated me like a Wednesday player; I spent a lot of time with Peter Shirtliff, Mark Shelton, Gary Megson and got to know them.

Colin Murphy brought me into league football at Lincoln City and taught me a lot. Lennie Lawrence was a huge influence in 5 years at Charlton. It’s funny, I’ve had 3 southerners, with Dave Bassett as well, and a Sheffielder in Howard and every one of them had an impact.

As Steve mentioned, Colin Murphy brought him into league football at Lincoln City and he was named "Player of the Season" in 1981/82. The Imps lost just nine times from his first 61 outings.

Whilst at Lincoln, we beat United 3-1 at Sincil Bank and won the return 1-0 at Bramall Lane. There were three Sheffield lads in that Lincoln team; me, Gordon Hobson and Phil Turner. It was only later when I met Ian Porterfield (United manager at the time of the game) in a Rotherham pub that he told me he tried to sign the three of us but couldn't have agreed a deal. That would have paired me with Paul Stancliffe and it was when I was in my prime as well, you know 24/25. That would have been fabulous, but you can't turn back the clock and I was fortunate to get the chance in my late 30's to go back and play a supporting role.

Steve's final game for Lincoln was at Bradford City on the day of the Valley Parade fire. He was The Imps' captain that day. We don't talk about the tragedy, but Steve mentions how in the days after he felt like an unlucky omen, a Jonah figure I suggest.

Post-match we flew out to Magaluf on the end of season break and I was in the apartment where the lift snapped whilst I was in it and then on the way back the plane crashed on landing at Leeds/Bradford Airport. It was one terrible event after another.

That summer Steve joined Charlton Athletic and his three seasons there saw him captain a side winning promotion to the First Division and reach the Simod Cup final. In July 1988 Steve moved to Leicester for a fee of £40,000, but had not made a first team appearance by the November. After just 5 months at Leicester, Steve was about to fulfil his boyhood dream at the age of 33. The Blades were looking to bounce back out of the Third Division at the first attempt under Dave Bassett and a fee of £20,000 secured the veteran's services.

Harry rung me up and said he was looking for an experienced centre back to supplement the squad as they were pushing for promotion. United had captain Paul Stancliffe, Brian Smith and Darren Carr and Harry asked me to come in and give it what I'd got. He said he would play me when and if, but I was 34/35 at the time and I snatched his hand off. I was never going to turn the chance down.

It clearly wasn't a difficult decision for Steve and I ask him what stood out about the team he joined. The answer he gave is similar to that of all the players I have spoken to, who played under Dave Bassett at that time.

I have the utmost respect for Harry, a tremendous manager, a fantastic motivator and he had brought together a great bunch of lads. There was a great togetherness and camaraderie about United. It was a tremendous set up and you were made to feel part of it straight away from the moment you walked in the dressing room. My first day at training up at Warminster Road had three fights and I was in one of them. I had a spat with Toddy (Mark Todd); I think Paul Williams was involved in one of the others.

Wally Downes and some of the old Wimbledon boys had brought a bit of the Crazy gang spirit with them, jumping out of trees at you and other pranks. Back then you had a row, then just sorted things out and got on with it. It was a tremendous team spirit and one I recognised from coming up against Wimbledon when I was at Lincoln.

Whether you were in the 1st team or reserves you were all as one, you played together and you drank beer together. An ethos of work hard and play hard, but if you didn't work hard you didn't get in the team. Harry allowed you the freedom of a night out and he would often come with us. In fact he used to drive some of the players and drop them off at Josie's (city centre nightclub and footballer hang-out Josephine's), but don't get me wrong he always knew everything about what time you got there, who was there and what time you left.

On the pitch, the side played better football than they were given credit for as well. It was easy to give them a long ball tag.

You only have to look at some of the players Harry had whilst he was there, take John Gannon, Glyn Hodges, players who were comfortable on the ball and great passers, he moulded Brian Deane at a young age and delivered a great partnership with Tony Agana. But he still appreciated his bread and butter players who won the tackles, stuck their head in. It was a good mix.

Yes we had a laugh and a joke in training, but I remember thinking that I had never done so much set play practice and 11 v 11 games in my life. With Harry, everything was planned and set out to the letter. You knew who you were marking and where you should be.

Steve made his debut against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground in the Sherpa Van Trophy and followed it with a home league debut the following Saturday in a 4-2 victory over Gillingham.

I certainly remember the Wrexham game. I never enjoyed playing at the Racecourse Ground; it was tough with the partisan Welsh fans and their feelings towards English clubs. I played alongside Stan (Paul Stancliffe) in a 1-0 win.

The Gillingham game I remember little about. It was all a bit hazy as I was in dream world. I thought the boat had gone when the chance to play for United had passed in my mid-20's

I ask Steve what are his main memories of that promotion season.

On the Wednesday leading up to the game at home to Reading I had quite a serious car accident and I had written off my car. I had done a bit of damage to myself, but when Harry rang me up on the Thursday and asked, "Are you facking alright?" I told him I was fit to play. Despite the aches and pains I played well and got my only Man of the Match award whilst I was at United. Usually when you won the prize was a silver salver or a cut-glass crystal decanter, I won a car cleaning kit! I can't help feeling it was a set-up from the lads, knowing who the sponsor was that week!

We played some cracking football that season, with great wing play. If you remember Alan Roberts, Harry always used to take him off late in the game, with 7 or 8 minutes to go. In the last home game of the season, there was about ten minutes to go and Alan knew the time had come when Harry was going to make a substitution and as usual it was going to be Alan coming off. He called over to me on the pitch to what was going off on the side-line as Geoff Taylor (Dave Bassett's assistant) frantically flicked through the cards to find the number 7. Alan said; "Watch Harry. They won't find the number 7, it's in the boot of my car!" In the end they went to the away dugout to see if they had a spare. Alan still got substituted, but as he said; "At least I got another 4 minutes on the pitch out of it".

Steve scored his only goal for United at Northampton Town, but some of the shine was taken off it with horrific events elsewhere.

It was the same day as the Hillsborough disaster, so the delight in scoring was short lived as new filtered through of what was happening back in Sheffield. We were due at the PFA dinner, but that was understandably cancelled.

Despite establishing himself alongside Paul Stancliffe in the heart of the Blades defence, Steve disappointingly missed out on the final games of the season.

I had a cyst on my knee. It was a problem which eventually stopped me playing. Darren Carr came in and did very well. I guess I did the job Harry wanted me to do, in fact he told me I had.

Nine months after arriving at Bramall Lane, Steve was to move on again. Not that he was expecting a move and the way he found out about it was quite unconventional too. Perhaps he shouldn’t have expected any different from Dave Bassett.

I was realistic in that Harry had brought me in to do a job, but the way in which he broke the news to me that I was leaving was a little odd. I was up at Abbeydale Cricket Club in the close season with Harry watching the cricket from the pavilion. I had a year left on my contract and hadn't considered the possibility of leaving. Anyway, I was watching the match through a pair of binoculars and scanning around the ground I saw a face I recognised walking up the drive.

ST: "Mark Morris is there?!"

(Morris was one of Bassett's former Wimbledon players, a centre back, who at the time was still at Wimbledon and not a player you would expect to see at a cricket match in the Sheffield suburbs)

DB: "Yes, I meant to tell you Tommo, he's taking your place. I've got you a deal with Lincoln, you're going back to Colin Murphy who wants you to play for a year and be his assistant."

ST: "Oh….thanks a lot Harry"

In Part 2 we talk about Steve’s time at Lincoln and a return to Bramall Lane.

The Italian Job - Part 1

It is a pleasure to welcome fellow Blade Giacomo Squintani to the pages of A United View. You can follow him on twitter - @gos75. Giacomo recently contacted me asking if he could share one or two stories from his time working at Bramall Lane. In his introduction below he describes this as an indulgence, but I think most Blades will remember fondly the people and the matches involved.

Greetings Browsing Blades and thank you for wasting some of your precious time reading about “my time at The Lane” back in the mid to late Nineties  and special thanks to @unitedite for allowing me the self-indulgence! So, my time at United, not as a player you understand, but as an interpreter and then general matchday dogsbody. As you will find out, it was more ‘voluntary work’ than a job, and a very ‘odd’ one at that. But it left me with memories I will cherish forever.

Firstly, a little about me. I am a lifelong, Sheffield-born Blade. However, I am a tad unusual in that my Dad’s Italian and, in my formative years, we lived by the sea in Italy. This meant that I only really managed those early season games when holidaying in Sheffield. My first memories of Bramall Lane are of Budgie making cracking saves, Stan ensuring we held out, Colin Morris laying another header on a plate for Keith Edwards and Tony Philliskirk being our solitary sub. OK, so only one of those happened with unfailing regularity… All my blood relatives in Sheffield were red and white, so I never had a choice to make – not that I’d have got it wrong, of course!

I moved back to Sheffield after my A-Level equivalents in Italy. I went to Sheffield Hallam and lived with my Grandparents  just off Ecclesall Road. Upon graduating, I over-hastily moved to London to look for work, and currently live Darn Sarth, just outside Bristol. But not a match-day goes by without me wishing I was still walking out with the players……

ANGLO-ITALIAN CUP: SHEFFIELD UNITED vs UDINESE (1-2), 24/08/1994

This is how it all began… after years of suffering from the outside, I was given my golden ticket, complete with “access all areas” pass at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane…

This was almost immediately after returning to Sheffield in the summer of 1994. My grandmother had got me the job of interpreter for our opening fixture of the Anglo-Italian Cup, not on the basis of any formal qualification but based on all those times when my Grandfather and her had been in Italy on holiday and I’d been their personal interpreter from the age of four onwards.

(For those of you who don’t know, the Anglo-Italian Cup… well, basically it was a cup between not particularly good English and Italian clubs. When we were in it, it was for second tier teams. Over the years it’s had several incarnations, all of them quite cumbersome, and often generated the wrong kind of on pitch action. Just look at the Wikipedia entry)

I gingerly walked into the Club Secretary’s office for a brief conversation about what I’d be doing and how much I’d be paid. I was told that I would be meeting the Italian match officials (Italians officiated in England and vice versa), and then I would accompany the Udinese contingent. For that I’d be getting £200! £200, in 1994? From the Blades? I almost fell off my chair. It was a decent amount of money for a teenager, even more decent when the aforementioned teenager got to hang out with footballers as well. And it was coming from an ‘employer’ that even I had never considered magnanimous! Still, upon being told the Football League was paying, and not United, it all made sense – I was presented with my club tie and my mother and I went off to buy a suit.

The Udinese players were all easy-going. We met at the Moat House Hotel, where I informed them of the training arrangements that United had made for them. I don't think they were particularly happy with the offering and with the hotel next door to Rowlinson School, I was promptly dispatched to see if the Head minded us/them (still not sure how I should refer!) to train there instead. A deal was struck; one signed shirt for one training session. It was a strange experience for the Udinese players, unaccustomed as Italians are to schools having grassy fields, that it made a nice, convenient change for them. It’s all well and good having hot weather and no rain, but that’s when you get shale or even asphalt pitches to play on. (Mind, that’s where players have to develop ball control skills rather than hoof and hope – think about Brazil’s street footballers and futebol de salao…oh this discussion’s for another day!),

Matchday….on the coach to the Lane, I sat next to Jonathan Bachini, a promising midfielder who went on to play for Juventus and Italy, before two failed drugs tests for cocaine led to a lifetime ban by the Italian Football Federation. Looking out, he was amazed at how the houses looked the same, row after row. Again, if you’ve ever been to Italy, with its ‘relaxed’ attitude to planning, you’ll realise why this represented a cultural shock… At the ground I met the officials again, and at kick-off time made my way over to the John Street ruins. It might have been an international fixture, I may have been sat pitch side, yet behind me lay nothing more than a building site. Whenever I turned, I thought I’d been transported to a rec! (Ian - The John Street stand was demolished in 1994 and lay empty until work on the replacement started in Spring 1996, finally completing in October 1996. The empty space was 'affectionately' dubbed "Fred West's Garden" by many Blades)

We (United that is) went on to lose the match 2-1, with Glyn Hodges, Nathan Blake, Charlie Hartfield and Dave Bassett sent off. Whilst the Pole, Marek Kozminski, was sent off for Udinese. I think we were still acclimatising to the European scene… not that we needed be in any hurry, of course. But Harry Bassett and Hodges stand out for me…

The Italian referee had given an Italian interpretation of a challenge and awarded Udinese a free-kick, maybe even dishing out a yellow card in the process. Having grown up in Italy this did not surprise me, but a shocked Harry took exception. Nor was it the first such incident of course; Harry’s Army’s on-pitch chivalry pushed English refs to the limit, what chance an Italian one?

Harry expressed his dissatisfaction by connecting his index finger and his thumb and frantically bending his arm up and down. Unlike the rules of the game, this did not lend itself to multiple interpretations, so the referee invited Bassett to take the long walk to the dressing room. In spite of Dave’s best bewildered look, the referee called upon me to tell him he’d been sent off. Thankfully he didn’t give me any grief and was off, obviously aware of the reason. (Ian - I think Harry tried denying that he was making an offensive gesture, until video evidence suggested otherwise) 

A few months later, Harry would sign a photo of the two of us at the Lane: “For Giacomo – the man who sent me off!”. Years later, he’d write the introduction to my university dissertation. But more about that later… for now, you can see what the Hallamshire Hospital made of it here!

Moving on to Glyn Hodges. Let’s forget the match, its three goals and five red cards, I have very little recollection of it. It all passed by in a bit of a blur. What I do recall is taking the Udinese boys to the Players' Bar for post-match drinks………..

This is a very British institution. I don’t know if, these days, Drogba and Aguero talk - pint in hand - about the battle just fought: but, back in t’good old days, it was indeed thus. I was merely obeying orders by taking the visitors to meet the hosts, who did not lay on the warmest reception. Red-carded Hodges was most magnanimous in the bar, promptly lifting a crate of cans of beer, handing it to the Udinese lads and ‘suggesting’ they get on their merry way. I’m sure the fact that this spared the Blades having to engage in diplomatic relations with a bunch of divers and cheats and would allow them to carry on drinking and complaining amongst themselves had nothing to do with it!

I actually rang the late Tony Pritchett, United’s longstanding correspondent at The Star / Green’Un, with that story. Yes, this was back when you had to track down journalists by telephone, starting off with just a general number. None of that tweeting malarkey! He gave it a little paragraph in the next Green’Un, starting with “I understand that”. I rang him again after that; “What do you mean, you ‘understand’? Don’t you trust me?” There followed a brief but clear explanation of journalistic expressions!

Back at the hotel, I thought my shift was over and headed for bed. It’s not as if I could hang out with professional footballers and let my hair down, was it?

With hindsight, I could have. I was just scared to intrude on their privacy, which was just daft. With business successfully over, these were just lads having a bit of fun abroad. So I found out around 1:30am, when the hotel receptionist rang me up following complaints about noise. I threw on my shirt, suit and club tie (ever the consummate pro and upholder of Sheffield United Football Club’s reputation!) and paid them a visit.

There were a dozen of them sat in the corridor, cards and cans of Hodges’ beer at hand. They weren’t being overly raucous, but corridors aren’t the most sound-proof area. They asked me to join them, but the over-fretting part of me won and I headed back to bed. “Interpreter in late-night moderate drinking session after Anglo-Italian Cup”… imagine what a non-headline story like those would have done for the impeccable reputation of the English game!

How different the last seventeen years… er, hang on. Seven-teen? Blimey… I’m twice as old now as I was then! It’s enough to send one into a middle-aged crisis, but before I do...How different these years have been for United and Udinese. You don’t need reminding what United have experienced since 1994, let alone where the club finds itself now. As for Udinese; the club is established in the higher echelons of Serie A. They have featured in the last two Champions’ League competitions, visiting the Camp Nou last season and being knocked out by Arsenal in the final preliminary round this season.  

In July 2011, they sold their star striker, Alexis Sánchez (bought for under £2m) to a little-known club called FC Barcelona for a basic fee of over £25m. It’s the sort of fee for which even Ched could be worth selling…… that said, Udinese remain a selling club. They have a knack of picking up promising South American players cheaply, proving their worth in Europe and selling them on to major clubs. Best move on before I mention one Diego Armando Maradona!

I said my goodbyes to the Udinese crew the following morning, having had one heck of a time. Just before the coach pulled away, I did allow myself to compromise my professionalism and ask for a signed shirt. Unlike the Barcelona shirt I bought on eBay during my single days, the Bianconeri shirt still has pride of place in our hallway, rather than being hidden in a cupboard. Every time I pass it I reminisce a little about Bachini, Ripa, Calori, Ametrano, Helveg, Pizzi, Scarchilli et al… I can’t wait for the day my young boys ask me to tell them all about it!

“WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE…”

On September 6^th, United played Piacenza in their first away tie of the tournament. On the evening of September 4^th, a coachload of Blades departed S2 for a trip down motorways, autoroutes and autostrade. None of that EasyJet stuff back then… sure, some Blades did fly out, but the hardcore ones chose the road, right?

And yes, I was one of them boarding that coach. This was courtesy of Mick Rooker, Pools Office Manager (“it’s called ‘Promotions’ now – we needed a new sign and they thought it sounded better”, as he told me a couple of years ago), who’d hired me as interpreter following my earlier exploits. I say ‘hired’, I can’t recall how much he paid me, if owt at all. But money’s inconsequential when you’re dealing with Rooks. Top bloke, one for whom I’d still run through a brick wall today.

Anyway, after an overnight kip on the coach, we reached Milan on the eve of the tie. Yes, because if the match is in Piacenza, you want to stay in Milan; little distance, big difference. Upon reaching Milan, I was sent to help the driver find our hotel. This may be where something had got lost in transl… well, in English (even that’s easy enough with Mick. I was an ‘interpreter’, sure, but not a ‘tour guide’. That map was no easier for me to make sense of than anyone else on that coach, something which became patently evident when we got stuck in the same one-way system for the third time. Look, it just wasn’t clear that the road we wanted was a flyover!

Anyway, Mick made his way to the front and duly turned on the mic, into which I uttered those immortal words; “We know where we are, we know where we’re going, we just don’t know how to get there”. I should have claimed copyright, as the royalties Mick alone would have owed me for repeating them every time he saw me thereafter would have made for a neat little nest egg! But I hardly had the time. He took the mike off me, put it down and proceeded to offer some constructive criticism, albeit not with words I could possibly repeat (hence a colleague running in to turn off the mike!).

But make it to our hotel we did, soon after ending up in a pizzeria where I was faced with the far easier task of placing sixty or so orders. After a few bevvies, on the morning of the game I convinced the staff at the San Siro to let us in and have a look around. Then it was off to Piacenza for a forgettable (well, I have) 2-2 draw (Ian - after the Udinese farce, Dave Bassett took to fielding reserve sides in the competition, which was a shame for those Blades fans who had already committed to travelling to Italy. Not that it stopped them having a good time), my highlight being catching a shot of John Gannon’s equaliser. Then for the small matter of another thousand miles (and then some) to get back to Sheffield….



In Part 2 tomorrow, Giacomo remebers other famous nights at Bramall Lane as he adopts aa new matchday role.

Views from Opposite Ends - Managers unfairly under pressure?

Continuing our Views From Opposite Ends series it is a pleasure to welcome Carlisle United blogger and sometime contributor to the Carlisle United blog Bring Me The Head of Keith Mincher, Mark Donnelly to the pages of A United View.

In an interesting game at Bramall Lane today, 5th placed United came face to face with 10th placed Carlisle United. Yet despite relatively positive starts to the season for both sides, there are elements in both club's support waiting for the opportunity to have a go at their manager.

From a Blades perspective there are aspects of Wilson's appointment that still rankle with some of the support. Although a majority have accepted Wilson and will back him and the team, you always sense that we are one or two bad results from fans turning on him. Even today, when Evans was substituted for Porter the boos rang out and catcalls of "you don't know what you're doing."

Greg Abbott is a slightly different tale. Nearly three years into his reign, he has taken the Blues to the JP Trophy final in two consecutive seasons, winning it last season. He has suggested the team should be capable of reaching the Play Offs, something achieved when he was assistant manager to John Ward. Yet elements of the support see the lack of a top six position an opportunity to criticise Abbott and his perceived negative tactics.

So what did we make of the game and each other's teams. First up I'll let Mark give you his view of the game and the Blades.

A Cumbrian View

Carlisle made the trip to one of the ‘giants’ of the League 1 this year, with around 1,200 (I would say North of 1,500) travelling Blues ascending on the Steel City. The Cumbrians and Blades both advanced through the first round of the FA Cup last weekend, so were full of confidence coming into this fixture. Both managers kept faith with the sides that defeated Alfreton and Oxford respectively.

Pre match view of the Cumbrian support

The hosts started the game brightly, and forced a corner within two minutes of kick off. The ball was cleared, but fell to Lee Williamson, His volley however, flew over from 22 yards. The Blades should’ve taken the lead on 6 minutes. Williamson again tried his luck, this time forcing Collin into a superb save. Richard Cresswell collected the rebound, but volleyed over in front of an empty net.

The hosts continued to apply the pressure, and this paid off on 21 minutes, Carlisle loanee Christian Ribeiro was caught with a high foot, but the referee waved play on, and the Blades continued up field and won a corner. The set piece eventually fell to Ched Evans, who hammered home into the roof of the net. The Carlisle fans were rightfully not best pleased, and the players made their feelings know to the officials.

This goal perked the visitors up, and Lee Miller had Carlisle’s best chance of the game late on in the first half, but drilled the ball into the side netting. The Blades almost extended their lead in first half injury time. Stephen Quinn had to time to pick his spot, and it took an acrobatic save from Adam Collin to deny him.

At half time, the general thoughts in the Cumbrian camp were that we were unfortunate to be behind to the controversial goal, but we were far from impressive. The second half started off at a much slower pace than the first, but sprung into life in the 70th minute. Ribeiro brought down Ryan Flynn in his own box, giving the Blades the chance to double their lead. Adam Collin however, had different ideas. The impressive Collin guessed right to push away Creswell’s penalty.

Carlisle found a new lease of life after this, and pushed on to try and find the equaliser. Rory Loy, and then Craig Curran, failed to hit the target. The home side could have added gloss to the score line deep into injury time. Richard Cresswell scuffed his shot from 6 yards out, and Carlisle got let off the hook.

It’s probably fair to say that this wasn’t one of the Blades best performances this season and there were no spectacular individual performances. £3million (This will never be the actual fee paid!) man Ched Evans was probably the best player on the pitch, and managed to get himself on the scoresheet. The Blades looked organised at the back, and kept the Carlisle front line at bay, and their keeper had very little to do. Lee Williamson looked a threat with drives from long distance and his crosses into the area caused the Cumbrians’ defence all sorts of problems.

In all honesty, this is a game Sheffield should have been winning comprehensively. The contrasts in the two teams were massive. The Blades starting line up included ex-Premier League players and Internationals, many of whom can probably play at a higher level. The fact that they couldn’t kill off the game (especially with Cresswell’s chance in the dying minutes), could start to show later on in the season. On another day, Carlisle may have grabbed an equaliser, and to be in contention for promotion, the Blades will have to finish off their opponents.

I wish United all the best for the season, and can definitely see them in contention come May, See you on January 2nd!

A Blades View

I think Mark has summed up the game quite well. It was a lot closer than it should have been, at the end of the day Steve Simonsen didn't make a save of any note throughout. Too often both sides let themselves down in the final third when the ball into the box was poor quality. In the midfield it was a scrappy affair, with Doyle and Montgomery again failing to impress for the home side and ball retention poor. Former-Blade Paul Thirlwell, alongside James Berrett and Liam Noble, worked hard harrying and hassling, but there was a lack of quality in the central area all round.

With chances spurned by Cresswell (he really should have allowed the ball to drop rather than trying a spectacular volley that flew over an empty goal) and Quinn, credit should be given to Carlisle keeper Collin. His save on to the bar from Williamson was excellent and his all round handling good. He deserves credit for a second penalty save in a week, but the reality was Cresswell's shot was weak and too close to the keeper

Cresswell strikes his saved penalty

The best of the chances that fell to Carlisle fell to Lee Miller, but the shot just before half time was sliced into the side netting when he could have tested Simonsen. Miller was billed as the star man in the Blades programme, but offered little up front for much of the match. In a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 system, he needs to be holding the ball up much better and bringing Jon Paul McGovern and Rory Loy into the game more than he managed to today.

It was surprising seeing McGovern play so narrow, then again he always frustrated me in his failure to frequently beat his man and get to the by-line in his loan spell at United 8 or so years ago. He delivered a couple of dangerous balls second half as Carlisle looked more threatening, the introduction of Zoko adding zest and creativity lacking in the midfield prior to that point.

With a willingness to run at the opposition; Zoko's runs, combined with a failure to properly clear lines, left the Blades scrambling in the closing stages. It did make you wonder why Zoko wasn't introduced earlier or even started, but reading tweets since suggest he is one of those players who is better used off the bench and rarely delivers from a starting role.

I am not one to criticise referees, but I thought Phil Gibbs was poor today. Decisions angered both sides, with free kicks given for soft challenges and inconsistency in his use of yellow cards. I have to say I didn't see the incident Mark refers to in the build up to the corner from which United scored. I guess that is why these articles are good, different perspectives of opinion from opposing fans and different perspectives on incidents from sitting at opposite ends of the pitch. It is fair to say that there were similar incidents at our end, the free kicks subsequently awarded could have been better used in a more threatening manner by the Cumbrians.

The Blades have played better and drawn or lost games this season. I am delighted with three points, a clean sheet and we will just gloss over the match. With all of the teams above the Blades winning, we needed to stay in touch. Mark's point about our failure to kill off the opposition is a fair one and it is something that has bitten us on the backside in recent weeks. It also added to anxiety levels, which again transferred from the stands to the pitch in the latter stages of the game.

Overall, I think today's starting positions are a fair reflection of where both teams will find themselves, even if today's performances did little to vindicate it apart from the differential in the teams capabilities. Given the squad Greg Abbott has assembled, should Carlisle fans expect any better? Based on what I have seen of other teams this season, they shouldn't. There are teams with better starting XIs and squads. It also appears that the Cumbrians lack that one off player who could change a game. They are a steady hard-working collective, lacking spark that Zoko briefly gave them.

Before today Carlisle were just 3 points behind the Blades, now it is a 6 point gap, but only 2 points to the play off positions. Maybe fans of both sides need to appreciate the positions they are in and the job that their respective managers are doing. After all, there can be few complaints. Can there?!

Thanks again to Mark. He can be found on twitter at @markdonncufc