Chapter 6 - Decline and Fall 1925 – 1934

Blades pre season training (Film)

Although the title of this book is ‘Triumph and Disaster’ until this point there has been much more of one than the other. This chapter tells the story of how Sheffield United slipped from being one of the country’s top sides to become also rans, a position they have occupied ever since.

Such changes are rarely apparent at the time and, in the wake of the win over Cardiff, few would have believed that Sheffield United had just won their last major honour. The victorious players were lauded as heroes and, in an early foretaste of modern celebrity culture, Billy Gillespie and Fred Tunstall appeared in a film called ‘Football’ which received a limited release in Sheffield. This provided a welcome release in a city so riven with violence between the rival Mooney and Garvin gangs that it earned the nickname ‘Little Chicago’.

In 1925 - 1926 United finished fifth in a season which saw the offside law changed so that only two players were now needed between the man and the goal for him to be on side. The goals against column exploded and Champions Huddersfield Town conceded more goals than the team that had finished third from bottom the previous season. The change suited United’s swift attacking play and they notched up a phenomenal 102 league goals, more than any other team, with Johnson and Tunstall both getting over 20 goals and Boyle, Gillespie and Menlove all getting double figures. In a particularly memorable games United hammered 8 past Manchester City, 11 past Cardiff and 6 past Burnley.

Footage of United's Cup exit against Sunderland at the Lane (Film)

The rot began to set in at the back with United conceding 82 goals also more than any other team. The new off side law, which saw the strikers netting from all angles, caused dreadful problems for United’s defence. Tellingly, of the defence that kept out Cardiff in the Cup final, only George Green was still first choice at the end of the season. Cook, Pantling and Milton had all lost their places in the team. For the 1926 - 1927 season it was clear that the defence had to be tightened up and a number of players came in but the likes of Bernard Harris, Harry Cawthorne and Albert Chandler were just not good enough. With a spate of injuries to key defenders playing its part United again had one of the divisions’ poorest defensive records but finished eighth.

A notable achievement that season, as always, was the completion of another league double over newly promoted Wednesday. The first meeting took place at Hillsborough on the opening day of the season and got off to a shambolic start for the Owls. Fred Tunstall hit a typically powerful shot at Jack Brown in the Wednesday goal who fumbled and let in Harry Johnson to score. A crowd of over 43,000 had come to the first league derby of the 1920’s and Jimmy Trotter equalised for Wednesday just before half time. After fifteen minutes of the second half Trotter put Wednesday in front. As the minutes ticked by an unlikely win was on the cards but the celebrations of the jubilant Owls were cut short when, seven minutes from the end, Johnson and Gillespie set up Walter Hoyland to get United back level. Two minutes later the Owls were left gutted when Tunstall’s cross from the left was hit first time by Harry Johnson to earn United a win.

The return match at the Lane in late January saw a 60,000 crowd led in community singing by Sir Henry Coward and the Orpheus Choir. Johnson set up Tunstall this time with a determined run through midfield and a clever switch out to the left which Tunstall struck with the full force of his awesome power into to blast United into the lead. The second goal was a scrappy affair four minutes from the end but Blades fans were left celebrating a 2-0 win. Few will have realised that footballing power in the city was about to undergo a tectonic shift.

The Radio Times advertises United's historic visit to Highbury

The following Saturday, January 22nd 1927, United’s away match against Arsenal was broadcast live on national radio, the first such football broadcast of its kind. The front page of that weeks Radio Times carried a diagram of a football pitch divided into eight numbered squares and an audience of millions tuned into hear the commentator read out ‘3, 7, 9’ etc as he tracked the ball around the pitch. It has been suggested that this was the origin of the phrase ‘back to square one’. The match finished 1-1 with Fred Tunstall scoring United’s first broadcast goal.

The 1927 – 1928 season was one of the most riveting in the history of the league with 12 teams facing relegation on the last weekend of the season, 10th placed Arsenal only avoiding relegation by 2 points. United’s strengths and weaknesses were on full display when Arsenal came to the Lane on January 7th 1928. The blistering attack fired the Blades into a 4-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour with Johnson, winger Albert Partridge, Gillespie and Johnson again getting the goals. But just five minutes later the old defensive frailties were on display when Arsenal hit twice in two minutes to pull it back to 4-2. After the break the United attack took up the slack and Harry Johnson rounded off his hat trick wit a neat solo finish. Another Arsenal goal followed but Johnson wrapped up the points 20 minutes from time when he skipped past Parker and Moody and slotted the ball into an empty net. A late Arsenal goal made it 6-4.

Harry Johnson enjoyed his most prolific season with the Blades scoring 33 goals in the league (including five against West Ham in December) and 10 in the Cup as United fought their way to the semi final. A week after beating Arsenal United beat Notts County 3-2 at Meadow Lane with Harry Johnson getting two. A home draw with Wolves followed in the fourth round and Harry Johnson struck at the double again as United won 3-1. The prize was a fifth round tie away at Hillsborough.

In front of over 57,000 United and Wednesday played out an exciting, end to end but goalless first half on a muddy pitch. A couple of minutes after the restart Strange, out on the left for the Owls, played the ball inside to Harper who found Jack Wilkinson in enough space to hit a stunning shot past Jack Alderson. United immediately pushed for the equaliser and within four minutes Billy Gillespie had held up play, picked his spot and played the ball to Bert Partridge who scored with a blistering first time shot to put the Blades back level.

Twelve minutes from the end Wednesday had a fantastic opportunity to put themselves through to the next round when, from a corner,

“(Mark) Hooper sent across a perfect pass to (Jimmy) Seed, no more than two yards from the goal. Seed put everything he knew into the shot, but Alderson was in its way. He did not see but felt the ball as it came into him. Seed in the meantime was sitting on the ground facing the field of play. Neither he nor Alderson realised that the ball had drooped dead almost on the goal line. The spectators advised both players as to the proper course of action, but before either had become aware of the actuality of the situation Birks rushed up to clear the ball to safety”

The Telegraph noted of the ‘lost ball incident’

“How Seed avoided treading on the ball, or accidentally touching it over the line was surprising, and his face as he sat on the ground in the goal, the golden opportunity which had eluded him like a will o’ the wisp just dawning on his mind, was a profound study”

The Blades take on the Owls at Hillsborough in the Cup
Film

The replay on the following Wednesday was a different matter. The goalless first half mirrored the previous game but in the second half United came out guns blazing with Bert Partridge scoring again before Harry Johnson hit a hat trick in fifteen minutes, the first player to score three in a major derby. “Sheffield United won their replay against the Wednesday at Bramall Lane yesterday almost as they pleased”, noted the Sunday Pictorial, “even the big score of 4-1 in no way showing the difference in the teams”. United were similarly impressive in the next round, sweeping Nottingham Forest away 3-0.

United beat Forest at the Lane in the Cup (Film)

Clem Stephenson of Huddersfield and Gillespie before the semi final

In the semi United faced the daunting task of playing Huddersfield Town (who had won the league three times and been runners up once in the previous four seasons) at Old Trafford. Despite Huddersfield’s table topping title push contrasting with United’s relegation dog fight United were the better side in Manchester leading twice with Harry Johnson goals but having to make do with a 2-2 draw.

Footage of the Cup replay at Old Trafford (Film)

The replay was at Goodison Park and was a hard fought 0-0 draw and both teams went back to Manchester, to Maine Road, for a third attempt to separate them. In the end, in front of nearly 70,000 fans, United were desperately unlucky to lose 1-0 to an Alex Jackson header just before the hour. Huddersfield’s Kelly said afterwards “In the whole of my career I have never taken part in such strenuous games. United are a magnificent Cup fighting side”.

The Bramall Lane board had sent a fair bit of cash to avoid relegation, a total of £10,000 had been spent on centre half Vince Matthews and two inside lefts, Jimmy Blair and Tom Phillipson. Even accounting for the receipts for the Cup run United’s balance on transfers was just £82 to the good. The bank overdraft had climbed to £6,500 making the decision to spend £5,000 on Forest winger Sid Gibson brave to say the least.

At the same time the economic situation in Sheffield and Britain at large was increasingly grim. In 1925 Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill had taken Britain back on to the Gold Standard at the pre war value. As a result the price of British exports rocketed overnight. To restore competitiveness wage cuts were forced on workers which provoked the General Strike in 1926.

The strike was the most widespread industrial unrest in British history. The Trade Union Congress called the strike off after nine days but mining areas, such as Sheffield, remained on strike for another eight months. 1926 saw the Labour party take control of Sheffield City Council for the first time and it would hold it for all but one of the next 73 years. In 1929 the Wall Street Crash led to a worldwide depression and by 1931 unemployment in Sheffield stood at 18.7%, 6% above the national average. As disposable income dried up attendances fell from an average of 27,619 in 1920 -1921 to 14,296 in 1932 – 1933. United tried various means to tackle the cash squeeze even joining a Football League delegation which petitioned the Chancellor to abolish Entertainment Tax. Also, as Roy Hattersley notes

“In 1931 Sheffield United tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the League to amend rule thirty-three so as to permit the unemployed to be admitted for half the usual price”

United, like other clubs, began to run deficits. In the first full season after the war only two First Division clubs had run at a loss but in September 1926 John Nicholson warned that six First Division clubs had lost money over the last season. By 1928 it was thought that only a third of clubs were in the black and a United match programme of February that year optimistically speculated that “…the opinion that the rich clubs should be taxed to help the poorer ones is gaining adherence every day”. The AGM in 1929 reported a loss of £4,878 and plans to extend terracing in the ground were postponed.

But this blow to the city’s economic health does not fully explain United’s fall. Across the city Wednesday, whose fans were suffering from the same economic troubles, won the League title in 1929 and 1930. If the 1920’s had belonged to United the next decade would be Wednesday’s. A more relevant reason for the malaise at Bramall Lane was, perhaps, the men in charge. George Waller had been trainer since 1894 and John Nicholson had been secretary since 1899. This did not exactly encourage fresh thinking as evidenced by Club President Charles Clegg’s comments on the new found dominance of attacking play in 1925; “…there is no necessity for wing men and the centre forward being thrust out in advanced positions. Keep the line, and let the forwards maintain their places”

But as long as United’s prolific forwards could score more goals than the leaky defence conceded the Blades would keep their heads above water and evidence of both these traits could be seen at the Lane during this period. In January 1927 United crashed to their worst ever home defeat in the League when Huddersfield won 7-1 but in January 1929 United rattled an incredible 10 goals past Burnley, with Harry Johnson getting four, in the clubs record home league win.

But when the attacking players came to the end of their careers United were in trouble. 1931 – 1932 saw the last of both Fred Tunstall and Billy Gillespie. Tunstall left for Halifax and later spent three decades in various roles at Boston United. His legacy lingered at Bramall Lane though and as late as the early 1960’s a missed United penalty would prompt calls of “Fetch Tunstall!” Gillespie coached the reserves for a short while before heading back to Ireland to manage Derry City. He was so successful there that they changed their kit in his honour and, to this day, play in the red and stripes of Sheffield United. Harry Johnson’s first team days had all but come to an end in 1929 and he moved to Mansfield two years later where he went on breaking scoring records. The blow was softened by the explosion onto the Bramall Lane scene of his successor, Jimmy Dunne.

Jimmy Dunne

Born in Ireland in 1905, Dunne had been interned by the Free State army during the Irish Civil War for his alleged Republican sympathies. He had actually been signed from New Brighton in 1926 but his appearances in his first three seasons were kept to a minimum by Harry Johnson and a bout of appendicitis. On September 7th 1929 Dunne scored a hat trick in 3-3 draw away at Leicester and never looked back. The Independent described Dunne as “a revelation” and ex Wednesday captain Jimmy Seed called him “the ideal centre forward”. He won 8 Irish caps in his time at the Lane scoring 6 international goals.

From the Dublin Sunday Herald

There were other players gradually emerging at the Lane to replace the old guard. Sheffield born inside forward Jack Pickering made his debut in 1927 but didn’t nail down a regular spot until 1929. Groomed as a ready made successor to Gillespie Pickering was a smart passer of the ball who let his distribution do the running he didn’t fancy and he was capped by England against Scotland in 1933.

But his time at United was much less calm than his football. When he began playing he was working in a betting office, something that went down like a pint of vinegar with the staunch Methodists, such as Clegg, who ran United and Pickering was found other work, eventually qualifying as a chartered accountant. But his performances were patchy. In October 1930 the programme complained that he did not put “enough ginger” into his football and described him as “moody”. He was occasionally dropped.

Arsenal score their first of eight goals against United at Highbury in April 1930

Towards the end of 1931 United’s leaky back line was strengthened with the emergence of goalkeeper Jack Smith. Jack Alderson, Norman Wharton and Jack Kendall had all tried to stake a claim to the goalkeepers spot over the previous few seasons with little success. Smith had been born in Penistone but had grown up in the United States where he had been a talented baseball player. Known as ‘Smiler’ by his team mates for his warm personality, Jack Smith would go onto to set a club record with 193 consecutive appearances. He subsequently broke this when he played 203 consecutive games.

In front of him the pacy and hard tackling right back Harry Hooper was signed from Nelson and secured a first team berth from the 1931 – 1932 season. An apprentice tailor in his youth the immaculately styled Hooper would remain with United until 1946 eventually becoming captain. Another new addition to the starting line up that season was midfielder Bobby Barclay who was signed from Derby for £3,500. A clever creative player with a good goal scoring record Barclay would go on to make three appearances for England and against Leeds in March 1933 he dribbled past four players to score one of the goals of the season.

With the introduction of these young players United carved out a niche in the middle of the first division. In 1929 – 1930, Jimmy Dunne’s first season as a first team player, United escaped relegation on the final day of the season with a 5-1 away win against Manchester United in which Sid Gibson repaid his transfer fee playing “the game of his life” which he rounded off with a goal. League finishes of 15th and 7th came in the next two seasons with Dunne’s awesome scoring record, 36 goals, 41 goals (a club record), 33 goals and 26 goals in the four seasons to mid 1933, being the highlight.

If things on the pitch had settled into a rut there were plenty of changes off it, not all of them welcome. In 1930 George Waller retired as trainer bringing to an end an association with the club which went back 35 years. Another was the death of John Nicholson, club secretary since 1899, in April 1932. Nicholson was on his way Midland station to join the team as they travelled to Birmingham to take on Aston Villa. As he climbed off the tram he was hit and killed by a lorry. Tom Sampy remembered

“He never had a chance and was killed instantly. Most of the players were sitting in a cafe opposite the railway station and we all saw it…we were just glad to get the season over because I think we all sensed that Nicholson’s death was the end of something for the club, and, somehow, it would never be quite the same again”

Men like Waller and Nicholson had been with the club for more than six decades between them. While it is true that a sense of staleness had crept in at Bramall Lane it should be remembered that these men had been instrumental in the most successful period in the club’s history.

The board at Bramall Lane couldn’t help but see that football was changing. 1930 had seen the first World Cup held in, and won by, Uruguay (England, along with the other Home Nations, had withdrawn from FIFA in 1928 and didn’t take part). The opportunity was taken to bring United more into line with current thinking in matters of football management. Former Blade Herbert Chapman had become the first great English manager, first at Huddersfield in the 1920’s and then at Arsenal in the 1930’s. In the new role of manager he took upon himself some of the decisions, such as buying and selling players, which had been the job of the board, and team selection and tactics which had been the concern of the team captain. In June 1932 United brought in Teddy Davison to be the club’s first manager.

Davison had played in goal for Wednesday and had been capped by England despite being only 5ft 7inches. As a manager he had started at Mansfield before moving to Chesterfield where he took them up to the Second Division in 1931.

Davison’s reign at United started well. In his second game in charge United “soundly thrashed” Liverpool 6-2 at the Lane on August 29th but it went downhill from there. By mid November United had won just one more league match leaving them just one point above the drop zone. An impressive run of five league wins on the bounce was followed by a 9-2 trouncing on Christmas Eve at the hands of a wonderful Arsenal side at Highbury. Only Jack Smith’s penalty save spared United the embarrassment of conceding 10. The Blades picked up at the end of the season winning nine out of fourteen league games to finish 10th.

Davison, like many United bosses since, was expected to unearth First Division players at Third Division prices. Before the 1933 – 1934 season forwards Reg Baines and Peter Spooner were bought cheap from York City and neither worked out. There was bad luck when Charlie Wilkinson, signed from Leeds United to shore up defence, missed half the season with influenza. But if there was one thing that condemned United to the most miserable season in their history so far and relegation for the first in their history it was the sale to Arsenal of Jimmy Dunne for a massive £8,250 at the end of September 1933.

Dunne’s spectacular record had attracted bids from Birmingham and Huddersfield and Arsenal had unsuccessfully bid £10,000 for him the previous year. But, with the financial situation worsening, Dunne became the first of many United players to be sold to pay the bills. Albert Platt, the United chairman, excused the sale with the unsupportable claim that Dunne had lost form since Tunstall left, this despite 59 goals in two seasons.

With Dunne gone United’s attack had lost the ability to make good the goals the defence would concede and it was a terrible season. Going into November United had won just three league matches when they travelled to Middlesbrough on the 18th. Reg Baines scored first to put United in the lead but it turned into a horror show after that. Boro fired home 10 goals, the only time United have conceded that many in the League, and by the time United were dumped out of the Cup in the third round they had won only twice more. After a reserve game against Newcastle Unitedites pleaded “Leave us your reserve team and you can take our first team”

A bright spot was Willie Boyd, signed from Clyde in December, who scored 15 goals in 22 league games. Three of these came in a 5-1 thrashing of Wednesday at the Lane on March 3rd. Following a 1-0 win at Hillsborough in October, the Blades only away win all season, United completed another double over Wednesday.

As with most things in life it was a combination of factors which combined to send United tumbling out of the top flight in 1934 for the first time in 41 years. The city’s economic plight made it hard to replace ageing players and old fashioned ideas in tactics and coaching were found wanting in the top division. Sadly, and not for the last time, hopes of a quick return were to be dashed.

Chapter 5 – War and Rebuilding 1915 – 1925

The First World War lasted for another three years. It was a near unique trauma with more than 800,000 British men dying between 1914 and 1918.

On the morning of July 1st 1916 the men of the Sheffield Pals battalion, the ordinary United and Wednesday supporting men who had enlisted so enthusiastically and drilled at Bramall Lane, went over the top at the Somme. By the evening 513 of them were dead. One survivor wrote “Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history.” Years later one woman recalled

“When the news came through it was terrible. Several of the boys I went to Sunday School with had joined the Sheffield Pals. We’d grown up together and they’d all joined together as a crowd. They were lovely boys. I remember I was working in the window of my father’s shop and Dad came in and said he had something very sad to tell me. They’d all been killed on the Somme. I was devastated.”

Memorial on the Somme to the Sheffield Pals

The war hit home even more directly when Sheffield was bombed by zeppelins in September 1916 killing 28 people. One man remembered the mood in the city

Searching for survivors in Burngreave after the zeppelin raid in September 1916

“People were starting to turn against the government and against the war. In my family, it was heartbreaking. My father had been killed. My mum had died just after I was born and I was brought up by my grandmother, my father’s mother. She was devastated by my father’s death. Her hair turned white in a couple of weeks. I remember watching her and my grandfather weeping, trying to console each other. And some of my uncles never came back from the war, either. That was what was happening to lots of families in Sheffield. They were exhausted and they were angry. I can only describe it as a dark cloud hanging over us. But Sheffield was a proud city that had fought for its rights, going back to the days of the French Revolution, and that’s what it did again in the war. Many times the engineering factories were out on strike”

One of the men who didn’t come home was young Jimmy Revill. As understudy to Bob Evans Revill had shone in the United side that reached the Cup semi final in 1914. He was a totally loyal club man and even when he was regularly playing he never pushed for the maximum wage he deserved. One Bank Holiday, when there was no public transport, he walked to Bramall Lane from his home in Chesterfield. He served with the Royal Engineers and was killed on the first day of the battle of Arras in April 1917 and buried along with 3,000 other men at Bethune. To modern players who complain about ‘only’ earning £55,000 per week the Jimmy Revill’s of this world ought to act as a shaming example.

Sheffield war memorial is dedicated

Early 1915 had seen the failure of the Gallipoli offensive and the Allied offensive in France and it became apparent that the war was going to last for some time. The decision was taken to suspend league football for the duration and a system of regional football was set up with United going into the Midland Section. The effects of the war made themselves felt with the emergence of guest players. As footballers joined up they found their war service moving them around the country so they would often turn out for whichever team was nearest.

In these circumstances it wasn’t such a shock when United were beaten 7-3 away at Lincoln on the opening day of 1915 – 1916 with Joe Kitchen getting a hat trick. There were four derby matches and on January 15th Brelsford and Glennon were sent off for each side after a punch up, a grotesque parody of the violence in France and Belgium. J.A.H. Catton remembered that “Mr. Clegg was sitting near me and he immediately said: ‘I thought all this animosity was a thing of the past.’ Still there was the manifestation-quick and vivid as lightning”

Crowds were predictably low and one match away at Bradford recorded a crowd of just 450. The season ended with a 3-0 win over Wednesday at the Lane the final goal coming after a comic mix up in the Wednesday defence. The full back, Womack, took a goal kick and knocked it sideways for the keeper. He was busy doing his laces up and Oliver Tummon latched on to the loose ball and knocked it into an empty net.

The make do and mend attitude threw up some bizarre incidents. For one away match against Leeds City in the 1916 – 1917 season United were short handed and one Blades fan’s dreams came true when he was asked to fill in. A match against Grimsby in the final wartime season saw the linesman sent off for arguing with the referee. Against Hull the Blades arrived without a kit and had to play in borrowed boots. Hull’s David Mercer rattled in 6 goals before the match was abandoned due to bad light.

One of the bright spots of wartime football was the opportunity it gave young players and the best of the bunch was centre forward Harry Johnson. The son of Harry Johnson who had won the League and Cup with United, he broke into the first team in 1916 after one reserve match where a fan threatened him with a gun. On his return from the army Harry quickly became a crowd favourite with his tireless effort and good looks becoming a bit of a heart throb for female fans. A local writer said

“Harry Johnson – they ought to call him Harry Hotspur – may not be the ideal centre forward. He may not be able to ‘kill’ the ball as Billy Gillespie does; he may not distribute adroitly; but, like Her Majesty’s Jolly, once in a while he can finish in style, and it his electric, deadly finish which makes him a matchwinner”

In the first full season after the war, 1919 – 1920, Johnson scored 11 goals in 24 League games including a hat trick against Bolton but it was apparent that four seasons off had taken their toll on some of the teams major players, specifically Sturges, Brelsford, Utley and Simmons. Some comfort was to be had by Wednesday’s relegation but the presence of so many senior servants not only indicated that United could be following them but caused a fall out among the players. Back when Utley had signed one of the terms of his contract was that a League match would be named a benefit and he would be guaranteed £500. This rankled with some of the other players and, after a protest, United were forced to award the same to the rest of them.

Other players came through who would go on to feature after the war. Defender and heavy smoker Harold Pantling joined from Watford in 1914 and soon established himself as a player who wasn’t afraid to get stuck in but not always fairly and in 1918 he had become the first Blades player to be sent off twice in a season. He was capped for England in 1923. Left back Ernest Milton was another, joining the Blades from Kilnhurst Town in 1917 aged 20.

The wartime investment in Sheffield’s steel industry reaped dividends in peacetime and Sheffield, like much of the country, enjoyed an economic boom, which was well under way by mid 1920. United sold every reserved seat for the 1920 – 1921 season and crowds over 20,000 were now the norm. But many of the pre war stars they turned up to see were moving on and it was just as well that local players were coming through. Jimmy Simmons headed to east London to play for the emerging West Ham United and, at the end of the season, Joe Kitchen left for Hull City returning to Sheffield at the end of his career to become landlord of the Wheatsheaf Hotel near Bramall Lane.

Fred Tunstall

With such transition it was a grim season for the Blades and they battled relegation from the start. The alarming statistic of three homes wins before Christmas led the normally frugal United board to splash the cash and in December outside left Fred Tunstall arrived from Scunthorpe United for a hefty £1,000. Tunstall had grown up in Darfield near Barnsley and had worked down Houghton Colliery before the war. It was during his time in the Royal Horse Artillery that he took up football and he developed a searing striking ability. After just 19 appearances for the Lincolnshire side he became a hot property, not the sort of player that tight fisted Sheffield United would normally stump up for. United’s bold move into the transfer market was so surprising that “at the very moment that Tunstall was making his debut for the Blades at White Hart Lane, Peter McWilliam, the Spurs manager, was taking his seat at Scunthorpe to watch this brilliant new prospect”. Fred Tunstall won 7 England caps whilst with United.

At the same time United moved to strengthen their right flank with the signing of David Mercer the Hull player who had ripped United to pieces in a wartime game. Mercer came with a price tag of £4,250 but failed to show much of the ability that had tormented the Blades until the other new signing, right half Tommy Sampy, slotted in behind him from March 1921 onwards.

David Mercer

Sampy’s second game was away against Derby County on March 5th in a desperate relegation clash. United, placed 20th, had lost at home to the 21st placed Rams in the previous match and it was 1-1 at the Baseball Ground, Johnson having missed two golden chances, when the Blades were awarded a penalty. In scenes which would be repeated 60 years later the players began arguing over who was going to take the it, even George Waller got involved. Eventually Gillespie stepped forward but even his nerve failed and he rattled his kick against the post.

The situation was gloomy with another double header looming against high flying Bolton and Unitedites worst fears looked to be confirmed at Bramall Lane with the Blades two goals down with 20 minutes left. It was time for the new men, Tunstall and Sampy, to repay their fees with two goals which snatched a vital point. A week later United gave the Trotters another two goal start and even saw Harold Pantling sent off but the same two, Tunstall and Sampy, nicked another two goals to earn a draw.

But the most remarkable result of the season came at Highbury on March 26th. Without an away win all season United hammered six goals past the Gunners with Harry Johnson getting a hat trick, David Mercer scoring from the spot and Tunstall and Sampy getting one each gain. It was 2-1 to the Blades at half time when Arsenal were ordered to change their red shirts for blue ones.

The four points gained in the two Bolton games and at Highbury probably kept United up at the end of the season with Derby winning only one match in the same period and going down instead. At the AGM it became clear how important this had been with £14,145 being spent on players but just £7,795 recouped. Never again would United be involved in record transfers.

A further bit of good news came in May when United beat Wednesday 2-1 in the first County Cup final in front of a crowd of 21,000.

The 1921 – 1922 season represented some progress with United eventually finishing 11th, well clear of the relegation that had threatened at the turn of the year, but United were knocked out of the Cup in the first round by Third Division opposition as they had been the previous year. Once again it was time to say goodbye to one of the old guard when George Utley left for Manchester City. In the coming season there were further changes in the team with Bill Brelsford ending his playing days and joining the coaching staff, where he remained until 1939, while Albert Sturgess was transferred to Norwich.

The Blades had a promising start to the 1922 – 1923 season, recovering from a wobbly start to win four games in December, but it was in the best Cup run since the bittersweet days of 1915 that this United side exploded into life. The Blades were drawn at home for the first time since 1920 and the game against Nottingham Forest caused great excitement. In a time of political, social and economic upheaval, the Telegraph noted on the morning of the game that

“…Football, however, is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. These almost gladiatorial contests may not secure the ideal combination of a healthy body and a healthy mind, but they head towards this and they certainly act as a deterrent from unhealthiness in both. They are a safety valve against Communism, fanaticism, discontent, and any worse evils there may be, and they help to maintain that standard of manliness of which we as a nation are so justly proud”

Billy Gillespie, having been made team captain, led United out on January 13th but the occasion was a bit of a let down ending 0-0. Indeed, the tie became a dour endurance test needing a further three games to separate the two First Division sides. In the end, after results of 0-0 (in which centre forward Bert Menlove, signed from Crystal Palace at the end of the previous season, broke his collar bone) and 1-1 the ball finally skimmed in off Gillespie’s shin at Hillsborough on January 25th.

Another First Division side, Middlesbrough, were drawn in the next round and, after another 1-1 draw, required another replay which United easily won 3-0 with Gillespie, Johnson and Sampy scoring in a performance described as “virile, competent, persistent and progressive”. But the draw was no kinder to United this time pairing them away against top flight opponents again this time Liverpool at Anfield.

United triumphed in horrendous conditions earning themselves the nickname ‘Mudlarks’ which followed them through the decade; Mercer was especially outstanding. Gillespie and half back James Waugh scored in a 2-1 win in front of a then record crowd of nearly 52,000. United played their first game against lower league opposition in the fourth round in their first meeting with Queens Park Rangers. It was another struggle though and this time United had to rely on Tommy Sampy’s nose to get the ball across the line. Either way United were facing Bolton Wanderers in the semi final, the prize being an appearance in the first Cup final at the new Wembley stadium.

Footage of the match against QPR (Film)

Back in December United had suffered a blow when Harold Gough was injured and his replacement throughout the Cup run was Ernest Blackwell. But Blackwell, a lay preacher, was a brooding character who tended to dwell on mistakes to the detriment of the rest of his game. The upcoming match was to change his life.

Whatever his thoughts were on the morning of March 24th 1923 those of Unitedites were firmly on the biggest match the club had played since the war. The official crowd of 72,000 at Old Trafford was a then record for a match outside London but the gates had been closed an hour before kick off and when the turnstiles were forced thousands more flooded into the ground. In scenes which would be famously repeated in the Final Policemen on horseback had to try and keep the estimated 100,000 fans off the pitch.

Crowd control at the semi final

Gillespie shakes hands with Bolton's John Red Smith

Amid such scenes it’s perhaps not surprising that recollections vary. Some sources claim the match offered fans “little to excite them” while others describe “a most exacting and exciting battle”. What is certain is that the game was won late on with a goal from Bolton’s David Jack. Ted Vizard sent a cross into the United area, Joe Smith failed to make a clean contact and the ball was zipping wide until it clipped Jack’s toe. The ball looked to be looping over the bar but a last minute dip saw it loop over Blackwell and into the net. Blackwell was so riddled with self doubt after the match that he asked to be dropped and Gough was brought back into the team. After just nine more appearances in two seasons Blackwell retired from football.

Sampy, Richardson, Brelsford, Johnson and Milton on the beach

Despite the pain of semi final defeat United had a decent league season which saw them beat Birmingham 7-1, with Harry Johnson getting four, on the way to a finish of 10th. Having survived the transitional period after the war United were putting the finishing touches to a very strong team which played attractive, attacking football, and one of the key pieces in the jigsaw was the signing of George Green from Nuneaton for the start of the 1923 – 1924 season.

According to John Nicholson, the long serving United secretary, left half Green’s £400 transfer was “secured under rather peculiar circumstances” but these remain a mystery. In his time with United he earned eight England caps and took over as captain from Gillespie in 1931. With Green at left half, Tunstall in front on the wing and Gillespie tucked inside, United’s strength lay on the left. Green said “We struck up an understanding almost straightaway”. Ernest Milton recalled

“…Green and Tunstall owed a lot to Gillespie, but the skipper profited from Green’s resilience and strength. George was not very tall, but well made and solid, robust if you like. He was what you would call a brilliant ball-winner, and his distribution was excellent; so with Gillespie’s brain and Tunstall’s speed, it added up to a very effective combination”

Billy Gillespie

The star of the side was Gillespie and after seeing him play one journalist was moved to write

“He is a great forward…A Pied Piper in drawing opponents to him, a conjurer with the ball, the quickest man on either side to “kill” and trap from any sort of pass, and despite that bald pate, smarter off the mark than many a younger one…” 

The Blades managed to build on the impressive league form of the previous season with Harry Johnson and Bert Menlove vying for the centre forward spot. Both made a strong case with Johnson getting four against Everton at the Lane in early November and Menlove getting a hat trick in a 6-2 win over Spurs in March. Johnson and Menlove finished the season with 15 and 12 goals respectively but United’s final position of fifth owed much to Gillespie’s 14 goals.

Going into the 1924 – 1925 season Blades fans were looking forward to the club pushing on and challenging for honours while Wednesday continued to languish in Division Two. But not all was rosy in the garden. That summer of 1924 33 year old Harold Gough decided to take steps to set himself up in his retirement by buying the Railway Hotel in Castleford. As licensed premises this was anathema to the tee total Charles Clegg who ordered him to get rid of the property. Gough admitted that he had “acted in ignorance” and offered to repay the wages he had received over the summer, but refused to give the hotel up as he wouldn’t actually be living there. The United board dug their heels in and destroyed Gough’s career. In September 1924 Gough was suspended by the FA and October brought the cancellation of his FA registration. The coup de grace was delivered the following August when Gough was told that United were demanding a fee for him of £2,400, enough to put off any potential buyers. Gough’s appeal to the Football League for a reduction was turned down and he was told he could not even re-register as an amateur to play for local clubs. He resumed his career in 1927 when United, their point made, sold him to Oldham for £500.

Coupled with Ernest Blackwell’s final retirement Gough’s banishment left United in desperate goal keeping straights and they were eventually forced to spend £2,400 on Rotherham keeper Charles Sutcliffe. As a young man he had missed sailing on the Titanic’s doomed maiden voyage after catching a cold and the experience may well have affected him as he was remembered as a bag of nerves in goal and he smoked a pipe prior to kick off to calm himself down.

Program for a reserve match against Wednesday, December 27th 1924

In the event the season itself was something of an anti climax. A poor start saw the Blades win just two games before the second half of November. A few more points had been picked up by the New Year which made relegation unlikely but also put any attempt for the League out of the question. When the first round of the Cup came round United faced the once great Corinthians side, now a shadow of their Victorian prime, and they were duly battered 5-0 with Harry Johnson bagging another four. Their opponents in the next round on January 31st were Sheffield Wednesday facing United in a competitive game for the first time in over five years.

Rain had been bucketing down all week and the Bramall Lane pitch was little more than a swamp. Wednesday began attacking the Shoreham Street end with the wind and rain assisting them and a blistering start saw them two goals up inside ten minutes. Tenacious play by George Wilson won the ball and he found Jimmy Trotter, on a powerful run through the defence, who dodged Leonard Birk’s tackle and slotted past Sutcliffe. Soon after George Green misread a cross which went over him and fell to Trotter again who put the Owls two goals up.

United were in trouble but kept their composure. In the early years of the twentieth century it was United who were seen as the classier footballing side while Wednesday had a reputation as ‘cloggers’. A few years previously, the Telegraph’s correspondent had commented on one derby that “(Wednesday) hustle to some tune, and Saturday put United out of their stride by these tactics”.

With twenty minutes played United clawed a goal back when a Tunstall shot was spooned into the path of Sampy who netted from a few yards. This fired the Blades up and the equaliser came from a lovely bit of football. Pantling passed to Gillespie who gave the slightest flick between his legs into the path of George Green who scored.

The light was fading fast and conditions refused to let up so both teams ditched the half time break and just swapped ends. Wednesday may have regretted this as the Blades snatched what proved to be the winner 90 seconds after the restart. Harry Johnson’s forceful goal bound run was blocked but he threaded the ball through to Tommy Sampy who dragged the ball out wide, swivelled, and cracked a tight angled shot past Jack Brown. The misery continued for Wednesdayites, only Brown’s excellent performance kept the lead to a single goal.

United faced Everton at Bramall Lane in the third round in front of a record crowd of 51,745. The match was won after three minutes when Fred Tunstall reacted quickest to a quick throw in to smash a stunning shot which the Everton keeper got a hand to but couldn’t stop.

United's Cup win against Everton (Film)

The reward was another home tie but against West Brom, one of the top sides in the First Division. The attendance record set the previous round was smashed with 57,197 fans bringing in £3,741. Gillespie, in charge of team tactics in his role as captain, gave a master class in this game, playing West Brom’s man marking against them. Mercer and Tunstall dragged the Baggies half backs out of position and Sampy and Gillespie did the same to the full backs leaving Reid, the West Brom centre half, at the mercy of Harry Johnson. This first half chess match paid off after the interval when Tunstall and Johnson scored to put United in the semi final for the second time in three years. Gillespie won more plaudits, one observer calling him “a football genius, a law unto himself, yet a brilliant individual the essence of whose play is unselfishness. His wonderful powers as a strategist are well known but rarely controlled”.

United's quarter final win over West Brom (Film)

United had fought their way to the semi final where they faced Southampton at Stamford Bridge in their 100th Cup tie. In what one newspaper branded “One of the worst semi finals ever played” the Saints collapsed and Tom Parker, Southampton’s captain, put through his own net just before the break. As the ball fell for the Southampton keeper, “Sampy and Johnson charged him immediately”, reported the Athletic News, “He lost possession and a tangle ensued. Parker thrust his foot out to intercept Sampy, a potential scorer, but the ball shot from it at a tangent just inside the post”.

Fortunately Parker had a chance to make amends early in the second half when a Pantling handball gave the Saints a penalty but Parker hit it straight at Sutcliffe. Five minutes later

“The ball rolled harmlessly down the Sheffield left. Tunstall followed up but never dreaming of such a gift as came his way. Shelley could have played safety easily. It seemed he was intimidated by Allen coming out. Of a surety Allen’s place was beneath the bar, not the edge of the penalty area. Thereby arose a misunderstanding of which Tunstall was swift to avail himself, by sliding betwixt cross purposes, and trickling the ball into an unguarded goal”.

The United players three days before the final

Going into the Final against Cardiff City Bill Cook was the only link with the 1915 side but Tommy Boyle, son of Cup winner Peter Boyle, was picked at the last minute ahead of the unfortunate Tommy Sampy.

Beer being delivered to Wembley for thirsty Unitedites

George Waller had taken four United sides to the Cup final and he drew on all his experience in preparing for the game. The United players only arrived at Wembley twenty minutes before kick off and Ernest Milton remembered that

“When we got to the ground, we could see the Cardiff lads were already stripped and waiting, while we didn’t have any time to think or get nervous. Waller said he had never forgotten the mistake Wednesday made when he played for them in the 1890 final and they arrived so early that they were nervous wrecks by the time they went out to play”

Wembley Stadium, 25th April 1925

Billy Gillespie leads the Blades out at Wembley

The Blades, in front of 91,000 fans, knew that Cardiff would have identified the left side of Green, Gillespie and Tunstall as United’s main threat so, to scupper whatever countering tactics the Welshmen had devised, Gillespie funnelled play down the right for the first part of the game. Suddenly, on 31 minutes, Gillespie finally hit a long pass out wide to the left and caught Wake, the Cardiff right half, by surprise. “Wake was the only player in the vicinity”, according the Daily News, “Tunstall was coming up a dozen yards away. The half back saw the forward’s approach but allowed the ball to roll on, intending possibly to feint and secure a more helpful clearance up the Cardiff right wing”. But as Wake waited for the ball to come onto his stronger right foot, he miscalculated Tunstall’s explosive speed. The Athletic News described how Wake

“…waited one second too long. Tunstall charged up, took the ball off his toe, and had a clear course for goal. He moved forward a few strides and shot the ball a foot or so inside the far post”

Fred Tunstall scores for the Blades

With the lead United began to play with more freedom and turned in a wonderful display. According to the Telegraph

“United never let the ball stop. If it was held it was held running. But generally it was swept swiftly from centre to wing, and from one flank like lightning to the other. No sooner had the Cardiff defenders turned in one direction than they must wheel about to meet a shifted peril.

As for the Cardiff forwards – well, ‘tis a plain fact, not to be denied, that you cannot play football without a ball. And the ball was a will o’ the wisp to them. They ran when they saw it. Hey presto! ‘twas gone. It vanished as quickly as the conjurors coin. Some fellow wearing a red and white shirt had flickered for a moment in the vision, and the next thing you knew was that the storm centre of the game was different. The ball had gone far down the field, where the other fellows in red and white shirts were proving ownership”

The Sunday Pictorial affirmed that United “were by far the most enterprising and go ahead team at Wembley yesterday”.

United beat Cardiff to win the Cup (Film)

Playing in his only Cup final Gillespie shone. According to the Athletic News

“Never has Gillespie’s generalship been more marked. No player on view trapped the ball so surely, retained it with such good judgement, and exhibited such power and precision in sending it either to the left or right wing or more delicately down the middle. Sheffield United played wonderfully well but special praise is due to Gillespie, the man who waves a wand and whose influence has played such a vital part in United’s capture of the Cup”

Bernard Wilkinson travelled to London with his 1902 winners medal for luck and said that “Sometimes he (Gillespie) was making three Cardiff men go for the ball, with none of them getting it: his tactics were wonderful”.

Unitedites could now have the celebration they had been denied in the dark days of 1915.

“Detonators rang out as the train bringing home the victorious Sheffield United football team steamed into Victoria Station. It was Tuesday, April 28th 1925, and hundreds of thousands of people were assembled in the city streets to give a rousing welcome to their heroes who, three days earlier, had beaten Cardiff City 1-0 in the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

Escorted by mounted police, a procession of coaches carrying the players, their wives, and officials slowly made its way through a city centre emblazoned with the United colours of red and white. On one coach a band played “See the conquering hero comes” but hardly anyone could hear for the deafening applause. Flags fluttered, scarves and hats were waved, and confetti bombarded onto the coaches all the way to the town hall where the team was greeted by the Lord Mayor, Alderman AJ Bailey. Outside the town hall a crowd estimated at 10,000 went wild with delight when United’s captain, Billy Gillespie, raised the FA Cup for all to see. There were special cheers for Fred Tunstall who had clinched victory with the only goal of the match. As the Sheffield Independent said the next morning: “It was a great occasion: it was a great reception – one befitting such an outstanding event”

Sheffield welcomes home the Cup winning team (Film)

1925 Cup winning side

1925 Cup final ticket

Gillespie with the Cup

Chapter 4 – Best of the Rest 1902 – 1915

In 1902 Sheffield United could field almost an entire team of England internationals. Peter Boyle (back row) is the odd one out wearing his Irish international shirt

Little did Blades fans know it at the time but, in the years 1896 to 1902, Sheffield United had reached and passed their peak. They had finished as runners up in the League twice and Champions once and had competed in three Cup finals winning two. Sheffield United would never again be so successful.

United face Bury at the Lane

Britain too was a country which had just passed a peak of sorts. In 1897 the nation had celebrated Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee with a mass outpouring of national and imperial pride. In 1898 a British army under Kitchener had smashed a Muslim army in the Sudan in a stunning exercise in military superiority and vast swathes of the globe were coloured British pink. In 1908 E. Nesbit wrote “We live so safely now, we have nothing to be afraid of. When we have wars they are not in our own country. The police look after the burglars and even thunder is attended to by lightning rods”.

Sheffield was prospering as well. In 1899 electric trams had arrived on the city streets. Sheffield University was founded in 1905 and in 1910 the city got its first cinema.

But this was a thin veneer masking growing discontent. Victoria had died in 1901 but even in 1897 Rudyard Kipling had written his long recessional in which he warned that “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday, Is one with Ninevah and Tyre”. The Boer War slithered to a conclusion in 1902 after three bitter years. Trade Union membership grew from 1.6 million in 1896 to over 4 million in 1914 and the number of days lost to industrial action rose from 3.5 million to nearly 10 million in those years.

Looking back on this surface of calm confidence covering deep upheaval, George Orwell wrote

“There never was, I suppose, in the history of the world a time when the sheer vulgar fatness of wealth, without any kind of aristocratic elegance to redeem it, was so obtrusive as in those years before 1914...from the whole decade...there seems to breathe forth a smell of the more vulgar, un-grown-up kinds of luxury, a smell of brilliantine and creme de menthe and soft- centered chocolates—an atmosphere, as it were of eating everlasting strawberry ices on green lawns to the tune of the Eton Boating Song”

At Bramall Lane any decline was likewise unapparent. The success of the previous years had paid for the impressive new 6,000 capacity John Street stand, designed by Archibald Leitch, which was advertised as having “spacious refreshment bars” and a press box which could “accommodate 60 pressmen”. There was room in there for their pigeons too as this was how many of the match reports were sent back to the editors. Other new features included “14 entrances opening on to either the terrace or the stand itself…Tea rooms on the ground floor…the whole is to be lighted by electric light, the first stand in the United Kingdom of which so much can be said…The terrace is 25 rows deep…with very fine views to be gained…” and it was opened in time for the 1902 – 1903 season.

The new John Street Stand

A cricket crowd in front of the Pavilion for an Ashes Test against Australia in 1902

Looking at the Pavilion from John Street in the 1902 Test

The Bramall Lane end during the same Test

England play Scotland at the Lane in 1903 with the old John Street stand in the background

The Empire Day Pageant, 1906

Sheffield United were booming and averaged attendances of 14,854 in this period compared to 9,732 between 1892 and 1902. But bigger crowds also meant more disorder as the characteristics of football support continued to develop. In 1907 the programme carried a lengthy list of “Don’ts for spectators”.

“Don’t think because you are on the stand you have a right to shout instructions to players. They know what to do without any assistance from you.
Don’t boo at the referee because he gives a decision which you think is wrong. He has his opinion as to what happened, and his opinion is surely worth as much as yours.
Don’t commence shouting ‘Send him off’ if one of the opposing team happens to commit a foul on one of your pet players. Would you shout the same thing if the positions were reversed, and one of your own side had committed the offence?
Don’t make yourself a nuisance to those around you by continually bellowing at the top of your voice, it gets on peoples nerves and takes away a lot of the enjoyment of the game, besides making yourself look ridiculous.
Don’t snap your neighbours nose off because he thinks differently to you. You have come to see your side win, and he has perhaps come to see the others.
Don’t get excited and bad tempered when you argue about this player and that. It does no good in the end, and only breeds bad feeling, and spoils your enjoyment of the game”

United kept up a solid challenge for the League in 1902 - 1903 but suffered from injuries to key players such as Foulke, Bennett and Needham. Nevertheless the Blades remained in second spot until a final day defeat away at Aston Villa saw them finish fourth.

Sadly this was more in the way of a last hurrah than a bright new dawn and Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship titles in 1903 and 1904 showed that United had surrendered the pole position in the city. For the rest of the pre war period United were listless in the League and between 1904 and 1915 they secured finishes of 7th, 6th, 13th, 4th, 17th, 12th, 6th, 9th, 14th, 15th, 10th and 6th. If such relative mediocrity was hard to take the club’s shambolic forays into the Cup were another bitter blow. In 1903 United set out in defence of the Cup against Woolwich Arsenal (future Gunners boss Herbert Chapman was playing for the Blades that season) and won 3-1 but in the next round they were knocked out by Bury. United were knocked out by First Division opponents Bolton and Nottingham Forest in the next two seasons but in 1906 the Blades were drawn away against Second Division Blackpool. The general opinion, as stated by the Telegraph, was that “There was no doubt about the issue. The odds on Blackpool winning were 1,000 to 1”. The odds were further stacked against them when they accepted United’s offer of £250 to play the match at Bramall Lane but it backfired when Blackpool won 2-1. United went out of the Cup in the first round for the next seven seasons, a remarkable run of defeat which saw them beaten by such minnows as Swindon in 1908 and Darlington in 1911.

There are several reasons for Sheffield United’s slump from a front rank football superpower of the period 1896 to 1903 perhaps the most important being the aging of that previous great side. By 1905 Bramall Lane had said goodbye to Tommy Morren, Peter Boyle, Harry Thickett, Bill Foulke, Fred Priest and Walter Bennett. The story of Walter ‘Cocky’ Bennett is particularly poignant. He was sold to Bristol City for £50 and helped them win the Second Division Championship in 1907 but, in the days before £50,000 a week wages, garish limousines and tacky mansions, Bennett went back to work down Denaby colliery when he retired. On April 6th 1908 the roof collapsed and Walter Bennett, League and Cup winner and England international, died aged 34.

Thickett became manager of Bristol City, signed Bennett, won promotion and guided them to the FA Cup final in 1910. Bill Foulke was sold to a brand new team which was being assembled by a millionaire; Chelsea. His weight continued to climb and when he finished playing he became a successful publican in Sheffield despite getting into trouble with the authorities for roughing up gamblers. When he died in 1916 Ernest Needham, Tommy Morren, George Waller, John Nicholson and Joseph Tomlinson joined a large Sheffield crowd to pay their last respects. Fred Priest ended his playing days with Hartlepool and opened a hotel there but it struggled and he died poor in 1922. When United heard of the situation his wife and children were in they arranged a benefit match against Hartlepool refereed by his old friend Alf Common. Harry Johnson became a trainer in 1909 and stayed with United until 1934, long enough to see his son follow in his footsteps down the players tunnel and onto the Bramall Lane turf as did ex team mate Peter Boyle.

Two other members of that great side also ended their playing days at Bramall Lane but in totally contrasting circumstances. Alf Common left the Lane in 1904 claiming that his business interests in the north east required that he return to Sunderland and United obliged by selling him for £520. But controversy erupted a few months later when, with his business interests seemingly holding little interest for him anymore, he moved to Middlesbrough becoming the first £1,000 transfer. The amateur game let out its last howl, bemoaning how money had twisted players loyalties in the modern game. It made no difference but Boro were fined shortly afterwards for making illegal payments to players.

Slightly mystifying cartoon about the Alf Common transfer controversy

In complete contrast was the man who had done so much to champion the professional game, Ernest Needham, who played his last game against Newcastle United on the final day of the 1909 – 1910 season. As well as his achievements with Sheffield United Needham had played 16 times for England, an impressive tally when international matches were rare. He had also been the first United player and professional to captain the national side. He coached the reserve team for a while and acted as a scout for United spotting Billy Gillespie playing for Leeds City. When he died in 1936 one colleague named him “the greatest player association football has ever seen”.

Replacing players of this quality in this quantity is a task which has brought down most footballing dynasties and United were caught in same vicious circle. As the teams’ fortunes on the pitch deteriorated so crowds suffered and the reduced income proved insufficient to bring in players capable of getting the club back to the top. At an AGM in 1911 Charles Clegg revealed that average attendances had fallen to 11,400 and in these circumstances it was easy to see why “the Directors don’t believe a player can be worth £1,500 to £2,000”. Clegg finished by urging United to “wake up”.

It is also worth remembering that other clubs were suffering the same fate. Sunderland and Aston Villa, so dominant in the 1890’s, won the League just once each in the era before World War One. As with United, part of this was down to the rise of new footballing forces, notably Manchester United (formerly Newton Heath) and Newcastle United who won the League five times between them in the years before 1914.

Despite this lack of solid achievement it must be remembered that this United side managed to remain a constant fixture in the top flight something no post war Blades side has managed. One of the first players to be brought into the team to replace the old guard was centre forward Arthur Brown who signed from Gainsborough Trinity in 1902 aged just 17 as a replacement for George Hedley. He was a quick player with a good eye for goal, scoring 104 goals in 187 appearances, so much so that he was picked for England when he was just 18. Unfortunately there was another side to him and it was recalled that he “often failed to give of his best” and he left the club in 1908 under the same sort of cloud as Alf Common.

Arthur Brown

United got rather more reliable service out of the man they signed to take over from Bill Foulke, Joe Lievesley, who came from Ernest Needham’s home village of Staveley. A complete contrast to Foulke, he was described as a steady keeper “who seemed to know exactly what advancing forwards intended to do” and “made his hard work look easy”. He won his starting place in a 4-2 win against Blackburn Rovers in November 1904 and only missed six first team games prior to his departure in December 1911.

At the start of the 1905 – 1906 season Bob Benson filled the right back slot which had been more or less vacant since Harry Thickett had left. Another north easterner, Benson signed from Southampton and was capped by England whilst at Bramall Lane. Remembered as “a man of moods, nervous before a game”, he was particularly famous for his penalty technique which involved getting a team mate to place the ball on the spot while he began his run up on the half way line.

But if these players were worth the money it was depressing for Unitedites to see how hit and miss their cut price buying strategy could be. Archie Annan, Albert Groves, Jack Peart and Peter Kyle, to name but an unfortunate few, all gave patchy service to Sheffield United. The club certainly suffered from its own probity as other clubs were throwing back handers around like there was no tomorrow and picking up great players such as Billy Meredith, Bob Crompton and Charlie Roberts.

The club directors decided that the cure for the malaise was a little team bonding and discipline. Smoking was banned among the players, home or away, and Friday night drinking sessions were replaced with tea and cakes, laid on by the club, and an outing to the Empire Theatre on Charles Street. A plan to get all the players to move into Sheffield was stymied but the directors did lay on group walks in Hathersage.

The Empire Theatre on Charles Street where United players went to be seen about town

In 1908 three players were brought to Bramall Lane who would eventually go on to bring major honours back to the club. Outside left Bob Evans came from Wrexham via Aston Villa for £1,100 and had already been capped by Wales. He was tall for a wide player but one critical journalist commented that he “should go in more and not make arriving a second too late a sort of science”. Whilst with the Blades Evans was capped for Wales on another four occasions before John Nicholson found that he had actually been born in Chester and Evans was chosen to play for England in four matches.

Seventeen year old Joe Kitchen was an incredibly quick centre forward who was signed from Gainsborough Trinity. With a scoring record of 105 goals in 248 games he was on the verge of an England call up but first injuries and then wayward form kept him out.

Albert Sturges

The third new signing, Albert Sturges, was a lanky defensive player who was nicknamed ‘Hairpin’ and he joined United from Stoke. His ability to read a game meant that he was always in the right place and his calm reassurance spread throughout the team and earned him England recognition. Indeed, Sturges was known as a ‘one man team’ for his ability to play anywhere on the park.

The 1909 – 1910 season saw another couple of players come in who would become long standing features of the United side. Jimmy Simmons was a relative of Bill Foulke and came to Bramall Lane as an inside right from Blackwell but was eventually moved out wide. The other was Bill Brelsford who played at right half or centre half. Brought up in Darnall he made his name with Doncaster Rovers. Brelsford wasn’t particularly tall but used aggression to make up for his lack of height. In a match against Leeds City his nose was broken in one encounter and he recalled “I don’t know what caused the bother. Something went wrong and bang went the apple cart”.

In their first season both men took part in an explosive derby at the Lane in November. United surged into the lead inside 20 minutes when Owls keeper Teddy Davison flapped at a long range shot from Brelsford and Jimmy Simmons scored a second soon after. But United failed to kill the game and Sammy Kirkman equalised for Wednesday with a stunning solo run and finish. The Owls pushed on and Freddie Foxall’s cross was flicked on by Andrew Wilson for Harry Chapman to equalise. Just after the break United were hit again as Kirkman latched onto a clearance, controlled beautifully, and swept the ball home. This inspired United and they fought their way back into the game but Wednesday held firm. With ten minutes left it was beginning to look as though Wednesday would leave Bramall Lane with the points when a dangerous cross from Bob Evans was headed home by Jimmy Simmons.

 Wednesday's Teddy Davison saves from United's Bob Evans at Bramall Lane, November 1911

At Owlerton in March United were more ruthless. Initially the game started well for Wednesday when Tom Brittleton put them ahead but Walter Hardinge scored twice to put the Blades in front and Bob Evans grabbed a third for United to round off the scoring. A pretty miserable afternoon for Wednesdayites was underlined when Walter Holbem kicked out at Blades winger Arthur Robins (making one of only four appearances) and was sent off.

United continued to search for a side which would have them back challenging for trophies and in 1911 they made a vital step towards this when, acting on Needham’s advice, Billy Gillespie was brought to the Lane. Born in County Donegal in 1891, Gillespie had played for Derry Institute and Derry Celtic before turning down an offer to sign for Linfield to join Leeds City in 1910 before joining United for £500 the following year. He was spotted by Ernest Needham when he faced him in a reserve match but recalled that

“I didn’t think Needham had been too impressed, for I was getting stuck in, and when he kept saying ‘You’ll get nowhere playing like that, young lad’ I clobbered him all the more. I was surprised when I was told United wanted me”

Needham saw something of himself in the young Irishman and eventually he was moved to Nudger’s old midfield position. In February 1913 he made his first appearance for Ireland and scored both goals in his country’s first win over England and the following season he scored three goals as Ireland won the Home International tournament. As a midfielder his key attributes were his vision and passing ability, able to play long or short with ease.

The team building continued and in 1912 right back Bill Cook joined from north eastern side Hebburn Argyle. Cook had a good footballing brain and hard approach to the game which made up for a lack of speed. A bit of a clown in the dressing room Cook played 324 games for United each of them at right back and two of them in Cup finals.

A charity match played at the Lane between Sheffield and Glasgow, October 21st 1912. Left to right Benson (Utd), Utley (Barnsley), Davison (Wednesday), Reid (Glasgow), Wright (Wednesday), Downs (Barnsley)

For the 1913 - 1914 season United made two more notable signings which left them with a strong side which was capable of matching the best on its day, as such, perhaps better suited to the Cup than the League. Goalkeeper Harold Gough was signed from Midland League side Castleford as back up for regular keeper Ted Hufton but Hufton broke his nose and Gough was given a chance in the first team. In his sixth game he saved a penalty away at Sunderland and held the jersey for the rest of the season. A strong and decisive keeper Gough was capped by England in 1920.

The other new signing played just in front of him, left half George Utley. Utley had captained unfancied Barnsley to FA Cup success in 1912, winning a reply at Bramall Lane, and had been capped for England whilst at Oakwell. His record and reputation for driving midfield play meant that the United board had to stump up a whopping £2,000 and give him an unprecedented five year contract in November 1913. George Waller described the new captain as “a tower of strength, particularly in a Cup tie, and a clever leader of men”.

George Utley

With these two additions the United side built over the previous few years reached maturity. In the League it was much the same drift as before and it was a blow when Wednesday did the League double over United though this was the last occasion on which they did it for more than ninety years. The match at Bramall Lane in October pulled in a crowd of 42,912, a record for Bramall Lane, and gate receipts of £1,192. It was in the Cup that United finally achieved something of note.

Bearing in mind United’s abysmal recent record in the Cup and the fact that their first round opponents, Newcastle United, had won the trophy in 1910 and reached the final in 1905, 1908 and 1911, it is not hard to see why United were such rank outsiders as they faced the Magpies at St James’s Park on January 10th. Jimmy Revill was standing in on the left wing for the injured Bob Evans and was up against one of the most highly rated defenders of the day, Irish international Bill McCracken. Before the match McCracken told Revill that he had made a wasted journey but Revill replied “I've been greased all over today Bill, and you’ll never catch me. I shall give you the biggest doing of your life”.

As it was luck was on United’s side for once as, with United 1-0 up, Newcastle lost their centre forward through injury just before half time. Soon after the break Goodwill, Newcastle’s left half, collided with Brelsford and went off the pitch unconscious. With United 5-0 up against the nine men the home sides’ keeper, Wilson, had to leave the field after a clash with United centre forward Stan Fazackerly. United’s last goal was scored by Jimmy Revill, who had more than delivered on his promise to the bamboozled McCracken.

The second round drew United at home to Bradford Park Avenue and 51,000 turned up, a record for a football match in Sheffield. In fact the crowd was in excess of what the Lane could reasonably hold and fans were crowded onto the cricket pitch. To the Independent this was “stronger proof than we have ever seen before of the disadvantage of the same ground having to be used for football and cricket”. Utley had missed the Newcastle game through injury but gave a classy display which he capped with two goals with another from Jimmy Simmons as the Blades eased through 3-1.

A trip to London followed as United faced a Millwall side managed by Bert Lipsham in the third round on February 21st. Again, Utley was outstanding and found the net twice after Kitchen had put United ahead from the spot after 15 minutes. The long period in between was dominated by a spirited Millwall side and considering that United won 4-0 it is amazing that the excellent Gough was man of the match.

United had not been in the fourth round of the Cup since 1902, the last occasion they had won it, and they were drawn away against Manchester City. Predictably perhaps they were cagey affairs dominated by the defences and two matches finished 0-0. It was only in extra time in the second replay that Jimmy Revill set up Jimmy Simmons for the winner and United were in the semi final.

Tommy Boyle of Burnley tosses up with George Utley before the semi final in Manchester

Unfortunately the match against Burnley at Old Trafford on 28th March 1914 was another fairly tedious, goalless game. United came close when Burnley’s post was rattled and the ball looked to have crossed the line before their keeper scrambled the ball away. One writer commented that “The curse of modern cup football is the belief that defence is not just the best policy but the only policy”. He finished with a dig at Utley; “This is Barnsley playing in red and white stripes”. In the replay at Goodison Park four days later it was Utley’s old Barnsley team mate Tommy Boyle who scored the goal that sent Burnley into the final.

Despite the heavy outlay on players the Cup run had been good business for United. Football had brought in over £17,700 and profits were £3,000 but while the outlook for the football team was bright prospects generally took a dark turn in the summer of 1914. The assassination of an Austrian Duke in Bosnia in June had, by August, led to war.

The outbreak of war was greeted with something approaching euphoria in Sheffield as elsewhere. R A Sparling described the lines of volunteers

“£500 a year business men, stockbrokers, engineers, chemists, metallurgical experts, University and public school men, medical students, journalists, schoolmasters, craftsmen, shop assistants, secretaries, and all sorts of clerks”

The Sheffield Pals drilling at Bramall Lane

These eager, ordinary men were formed into an infantry battalion, the 12th Yorks and Lancs. The wide open spaces of Bramall Lane were eagerly utilised for drilling the battalion but the club soon became concerned about the damage this was doing to the pitch and the ‘Sheffield Pals’ moved to Redmires to the west of the city.

The Pals outside Midland station

There was a widespread belief that the war would be short encapsulated in the famous phrase ‘over by Christmas’. Another phrase, ‘business as usual’, reflected the idea that the war would have very little effect on national life and, controversially, it was decided to persist with the football season. Understandably, with hundreds of thousands of men fighting and dying in the war, there were some who were outraged that able bodied men should be at home earning a living playing football. The Sheffield Telegraph fumed that United and Wednesday were “bringing shame on themselves and the city” by playing while the war in the trenches raged on.

1914 - 1915 was another middle of the road season in the League a huge blow coming in the opening game when Gillespie broke his leg and missed the rest of the season. But as the Cup had proved a real money spinner United chose to focus their efforts there. The Cup campaign kicked off at Blackpool on January 9th. Wally Masterman, Gillespie’s replacement, had such an impressive game that it was dubbed ‘Masterman’s Match’. He gave United the lead before their Second Division opponents equalised. In the second half however, Masterman put paid to a brave effort from the Seasiders who had hit the bar, when he scored the winner. One newspaper commented that “Masterman is rightly named from a football point of view”.

In the fourth round United came up against fellow First Division side Liverpool at the Lane. It was played at a frantic pace but was still goalless after 85 minutes when United sent in a corner and Joe Kitchen rose to head it home. The fifth round match was different; a drab, dour slugfest against Bradford on February 20th. After ninety goalless minutes the match went into extra time and Kitchen, who had been effectively smothered by the Bradford defenders, was shunted out to the right to give him more space. It paid off as he took the ball near the corner flag, advanced towards the goal and knocked the ball into the penalty box. The cross hit the leg of Crozier and deflected into the net giving United the win.

The Blades travelled to Oldham on March 6th for the quarter final but were put under intense pressure by the Latics who were top of the First Division. The Lancashire side hit the post and the game went into extra time but United’s defence held out and earned a replay at Bramall Lane. When the match was played a week later the ground was crammed with 43,157 fans but Oldham were a disappointment and were easily beaten 3-0 as Kitchen kept up his impressive scoring record in the Cup with two goals and Fazackerly added a third.

George Utley leads the Blades out

Confidence was high for the semi final against struggling Bolton at Ewood Park and it brought a crowd of over 22,000. Like the Liverpool game it was a furious end to end affair and Jimmy Simmons broke the deadlock to score for the Blades from a tight angle. Just before the half time whistle,

“Utley was challenged by Glendenning & Jennings, but he coolly and cleverly evaded the attentions of both, and then having run nearly 30 yards, he steadied himself in front of Edmonson and with the utmost deliberation drove the ball into the net. It was a glorious goal, and quite the outstanding feature of the match.”

Bolton pulled a goal back, but the Blades were through to the final where they would face Chelsea.

 Programme for the 1915 Cup final

The final was usually played at Crystal Palace in south London but that ground was being used for war work and so it was moved to Old Trafford. April 24th 1915 was a miserable day in Manchester with thick fog and constant drizzle. One slightly pretentious observer likened the scene to a “Whistlerian Monotone in grey”. The game entered history as the ‘Khaki Cup Final’ as the crowd of 49,557 was full of servicemen, some wounded, who came in their uniforms.

Soldiers watching the final

When Lord Derby arrived he “received a very hearty welcome, which the band, having just concluded a selection, mistook as an appreciation of their efforts”.

“Chelsea were the first to take the field. They were cordially cheered, but the roar which saluted them was as nothing compared with that which greeted Sheffield United a moment or so later”

Utley shakes hands with Chelsea captain Jack Harrow

Despite impressive Cup wins away at Manchester City and Newcastle Chelsea had been poor all season and afterwards one journalist noted that “it was not their day at any time.” United came out at a blistering pace and used the tactic of long passes from one wing to another which had the effect of pulling the Chelsea defence all over the place. The Sunday Pictorial said

“Sheffield United played fast, robust football, keeping the ball always on the move and, as a matter of fact, showing considerably more combination than the Londoners front line”.

Nevertheless, despite all the attacking possession, it was only after 36 minutes that the Blades broke through.

“Nine minutes from the interval, the Sheffielders took the lead, which on the run of play they thoroughly deserved, though it was the result of a ‘mix up’ on the part of the Chelsea defence. Evans bore down the left wing and crossed. Harrow should have cleared but failed. Molyneux had relied on the back, and advanced to try to get the ball. He was too late and Simmons gaining possession sent the leather crashing into the net”.

In the crowd Simmons uncle, Bill Foulke, exclaimed “I didn’t know the little beggar had it in him!”

Ford then Halse mustered a couple of efforts for Chelsea in the remaining minutes of the first half but in the second United were just as dominant and Kitchen had a goal disallowed for offside. Like the first half however, the Chelsea defence held out bravely despite constant pressure until the 83rd minute when

“Utley struck the crossbar with a splendid shot. The ball rebounded to Fazackerly who had just previously enabled Molyneux to make a glorious save by cutting out a header following a corner, and Fazackerly banged it into the net.”

This second goal, scored in the fading light, triggered a pitch invasion which took a few minutes to calm down. When play restarted with only a couple of minutes left, Joe Kitchen rounded the game off with a remarkable goal. He got the ball

“near the half way line and in making a straight dash for goal, he kept Bettridge off, drew Molyneux out of his fortress, and placed the ball in the net after a dribble of 40 yards at least.”

The Chelsea captain admitted that “We lost to the better team on the day. They gave us no rest and little chance”. The Green ‘Un claimed that “if United had won by five goals they would not have been flattered”. The Athletic News said that “United simply brushed Chelsea aside as if they were novices.”

As Lord Derby handed the Cup to Utley he said “you have played against one another for the Cup, play with one another for England now”. Understandably due to the grim situation on the western front the jubilation was not widely shared. On their return to Sheffield the players were ushered out of the station, not through the usual crowd of cheering fans, but through a side door. Charles Clegg was unhappy and claimed that “There has been some talk of disgrace being attached to winning the Cup this year, but I do not hold with that opinion. I take the victory to be an honour to Sheffield.” The Telegraph was optimistic.

“Given the final triumph of the Allies, and the resumption of football next season, there would be no reason whatever why the present United team…should not remain one of the foremost in the League”.

1915 Cup winners