Steel City derby

The Steel City Derby (or Sheffield Derby) is a local derby that takes place between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams based in the city of Sheffield, England. It is widely considered one of the most passionate and hotly contested derby matches in English football.^[1]

The teams have met competitively a total of 140 times, With them both having 48 wins between them. The latest Steel City Derby was played on 26 February 2012, when Wednesday won 1–0 at Hillsborough.

History

The teams first met on 15 December 1890 at Wednesday's Old Olive Grove ground. With The Wednesday playing a friendly match against the newly formed Sheffield United that the home team won 2–1.^[2]

The first competitive Steel City Derby fixture took place on 16 October 1893 during the 1893–94 English Division 1 season (following United's promotion the first Division the previous season), it ended 1–1.^[3]

Most Steel City derbies have taken place in the top two tiers of English football, with only two seasons (1979–80 and 2011–12) in the third tier.

Recent games

2007–08 Championship league games

Comparative table positions of Sheff U and Wednesday in the English football league system.

The first of the two league games for the 2007–08 Championship league season was at Hillsborough on 19 January 2008 in front of a crowd of 30,486; Wednesday won 2–0 with goals from Akpo Sodje and Marcus Tudgay. The second match of the season was at Bramall Lane on Tuesday 8 April 2008 and saw United battle back from 2–0 down, to snatch a 2–2 draw in front of 31,760 fans.

2008–09 Championship league games

The first meeting of the two matches for the following season, the 2008–09 Championship season was held on 19 October 2008, at Hillsborough with a crowd of 30,441. Wednesday won 1–0 with a 35th minute volley from Steve Watson. This game also had a missed penalty by Deon Burton (saved by Paddy Kenny), and 2 red cards, Matthew Kilgallon got sent off for United before the goal and Jermaine Johnson got sent off for Wednesday midway through the second half after being substituted. The return game at Bramall Lane was on 7 February 2009, with Wednesday winning 2–1 thanks to goals from Tommy Spurr and Marcus Tudgay. This victory was Wednesday's first at Bramall Lane since 1967 and their first double victory over their city rivals for 95 years.

2009–10 Championship league games

On 18 September 2009 Sheffield United took a 3–0 lead against Sheffield Wednesday into half time, but two Owls goals in the second half allowed Wednesday back in. But the score finished 3–2 to United and earned Kevin Blackwell his first win against Sheffield Wednesday since joining the club.^[4] The 125th Steel City Derby played on 18 April at Hillsborough was drawn 1–1. Wednesday took the lead late in the first half form a Darren Potter volley, United equalized on the hour mark through a Lee Williamson shot.

2011–12 League One games

On the first derby game of the season on 16 October 2011 United gained a 2–0 lead, but with six minutes remaining, Wednesday came back to draw 2–2 with goals from Chris O'Grady and a injury time equaliser from strike partner Gary Madine at Bramall Lane. The second game on 26 February 2012, at Hillsborough was important for both teams, since both sides were competing for promotion to the Championship. Wednesday took the full 3 points with a 1–0 win after a goal from Chris O'Grady. The goal turned out to be crucial, since Wednesday eventually finished second in the table and gained promotion with 93 points, while United finished third with 90 points. United eventually failed to gain promotion after losing the Play-off final at Wembley stadium to Huddersfield Town in a penalty shootout. After a six year exile, United finally achieved promotion to the Championship in May 2017.

2017–18 Championship league games

The 2017-2018 Steel City Derbies will be played at Hillsborough on Sunday 24 September 2017, and at Bramall Lane on Saturday 13 January 2018. ^[5]

Summary of all competitive matches

Eligible competitions – Football League, Premier League, F.A. Cup, Football League Cup, Full Members Cup
As of 20:00 26 February 2012

Statistics obtained from soccerbase.com *except for the Full Members Cup result.
This table excludes pre-season games, friendlies and testimonials (see below).

Matches played

League

Cup

Non-competitive matches

Eligible games – Friendlies

Famous matches

The most famous match at Bramall Lane was on 8 September 1951, an encounter United won 7–3 in front of a crowd of 51,075. Wednesday scored after just ninety seconds through Thomas, but goals from Derek Hawksworth and Harold Brook gave United a 2–1 interval lead which would have been greater if McIntosh in the Wednesday goal had not saved a Fred Furniss penalty. Dennis Woodhead equalised for Wednesday after sixty minutes, but in rapid succession, Alf Ringstead, Hawksworth and Ringstead again, and Fred Smith scored for United, Woodhead pulled one back for Wednesday before Brook made the score 7–3 in a match never to be forgotten by United fans.

The Boxing Day Massacre, was a match played on 26 December 1979. It was famous for being the biggest win in recent times, when Wednesday won 4–0, with goals from Ian Mellor, Terry Curran, Mark Smith and Jeff King. The United side at the time were top of the league, while Wednesday were 4th in the table. The match was watched by a record third division crowd of 49,309 spectators.

On 3 April 1993, the two teams met in the FA Cup semi-finals. The game was scheduled to be played at Elland Road while the other semi between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur was to be played at Wembley. However The Football Association was forced to move the fixture Wembley due to extreme pressure from the fans of both teams. The match itself proved to be a classic, with Wednesday winning 2–1 after extra-time. Chris Waddle and Mark Bright scoring for Wednesday, and Alan Cork scoring for United. The match was watched by 75,364 spectators.^[6]

Resurgence in the Steel City Derby

Since Sheffield Wednesday's relegation from the FA Premier League after the 1999–2000 season both teams have regularly (six out of nine seasons) frequented the same league, this has caused the local rivalry between the two teams to increase with many fans of both clubs keen to see when they play their city rivals when the league fixtures are announced. It has also seen the emergence of crowd trouble (particularly at games staged at Bramall Lane) in 2003^[7] and 2008.^[8][9]

Before the 2000–01 season both teams were only in the same league for six seasons between 1970–71 and 1999–00 (twenty-nine seasons), although this period did see one FA Cup semi-final meeting in 1993 and a Zenith Data Cup (Full Members Cup) meeting in 1989.

Off-pitch relationship

Supporters of the two Sheffield clubs have a fierce but healthy relationship. This goes right back to 1889, after Sheffield Wednesday, formed in 1867, had vacated Bramall Lane due to a dispute over rent, Sheffield United were established and that subsequently became their home. It was from this the uncomplimentary name of 'The Pigs' originated by the Steel workers who followed Wednesday, aimed at the Unitedites or Laneites as they were known back then. It derived from Pig Iron, an intermediate product in Steel production hinting that Wednesday, regarded the senior football club, were pure and therefore 'The Steel' of the City and United were 'The Pig Iron'. Indeed to this day, supporters of both teams refer to each other as 'Pigs', as the United fans claim that the site where Hillsborough Stadium now stands was once a farm. However, that claim does not correspond with official survey maps. The site where the stadium stands was actually once part of the Hillsborough House estate, previously owned by silversmith J.W Dixon, where after his death, the land was split into 14 plots to be sold, with a 10acre plot sold to Wednesday.

The Clubs themselves do appear to have a amicable relationship, and on 15th July 2011 both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday held a joint conference called "Supporting Sheffield" in which they announced a joint shirt sponsorship deal with two local Sheffield based companies for the 2011–12 Football League One season. The two local sponsors were Westfield Health (a Not for Profit healthcare organisation), who were the home kit sponsor for the Blades and the away kit sponsor for the Owls, and the Gilder Group (a Volkswagen car dealer), who were the away kit sponsor for the Blades and the home kit sponsor for the Owls. United and Wednesday both made a six figure sum from the sponsorship deal.^[10] The deal is the first of its kind in English football with The Telegraph likening the deal to Glasgow rivals and neighbours Celtic and Rangers who have frequently shared shirt sponsors in the past.^[11]

Played for both

Played for both:

Managed both teams:

• Danny Wilson

Played for one, managed the other:

• Nigel Clough
• Teddy Davison
• Ian Porterfield

Played for one, coached the other:

• Sam Ellis
• Phil Henson

Coached both teams:

• Frank Barlow
• Danny Bergara
• Willie Donachie
• Adam Owen

Other connections:

• Derek Dooley, played for and managed Wednesday and was then had a variety of roles at United including Commercial Manager, Managing Director, Chairman and Vice President.
• John Harris, managed United and scouted for Wednesday

Notes and references

External links

• Information at FootballDerbies.com
• BBC derby page (via Internet Archive)