Sheffield United Retro Football Shirts

Sheffield United were formed in 1889 by the Sheffield United Cricket Club by the club president Sir Charles Clegg. Their first game at Bramall Lane was against Birmingham St George’s which they lost 4-0 before they joined the Midland Counties League in 1890/91. The next season saw the club join the Northern League and perform well with a 3rd place finish. In 1892, the team applied for the Football League and were admitted as one of the twelve founder members of division two.

United’s first season in the second division saw them finish in 2nd place and win promotion to the top division in English football where they remained for the next 37 years. These years were referred to as the “glory years” and saw the team win the League Championship in 1898. However, the Blades found success in the FA Cup over this period of time with their first triumph in 1899 with a 4-1 victory over Derby County. The club were runners up in the competition in 1901 but were successful again in 1902 with a 2-1 replay victory against Southampton. The next final appearance came in the last match before the break for the First World War as the club beat Chelsea 3-0 before going on to win their 4th and final FA Cup in 1925 with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal.

Unfortunately, the team’s 37 year stay in the top flight came to an end in 1934 as they finished bottom of division 1 to suffer their first ever relegation. However, this disappointment was short lived as they won back promotion in 1939 just before the start of thr Second World War. The club endured constant promotions and relegations in the post war period with no real consistency occurring. 1971 saw the Blades win promotion back to division one where they went on an unbeaten run of 22 matches and looked serious contenders for the title. However, towards the end of the season, they lost a crucial match 1-0 against Manchester United which put an end to their momentum and they failed to win the title.

This was to be the height of United’s achievements as they plummeted to an all time low with two relegation campaigns in a few years. By 1979, United were a division three club and sufferred further heartache when they were relegated to the 4th division in 1981 for the only time in their history. The club only spent one season in the bottom division as they achieved two promotions in three seasons to get back up to the second division. A lack of consistency throughout the 1980’s saw the club turn to Dave Bassett in 1988 as the club were relegated to division three. Bassett masterminded two successive promotions back to division one and the club remained there for the start of the Premier League in 1992. The club’s star striker Brian Deane had the honour of being the first player to ever score in the Premiership as United produced some scintilating football in the 2nd half of the season to finish 9th after a woeful start. However, the club were relegated in the next season after Deane was sold to Leeds United.

Since then, Sheffield United have struggled to get back amongst the country’s elite clubs. However, after twelve years of failing to gain promotion from the Championship, the club finally won back promotion to the Premiership in 2006 with a 2nd place finish under manager Neil Warnock. Despite his best efforts, Warnock could not keep the Blades in the top flight as they finished in 18th place on a heartbreaking final day where they lost 2-1 to fellow relegation rivals Wigan when a win or a draw would have kept them up. The club struggled initially in the Championship but looked set to bounce back to the Premiership in 2009 but a 1-0 play off final defeat to Burnley scupperred their dreams for another season.