Steel City derby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Steel City Derby | ||||||
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| The Teams | ||||||
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| Results summary | ||||||
From 123 competitive games |
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| Last Result | ||||||
Saturday 7 February 2009 |
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| Previous Result | ||||||
Sunday 19 October 2008 |
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| Next Match(s) | ||||||
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Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England Saturday 17th April 2009 |
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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.
The Steel City Derby first took place on 16 October 1893, ending 1-1.[1] Since then the teams have met a total of 123 times, with United having won 3 more of the encounters than Wednesday (as of 15:00 2009-02-07). United have led the series of league encounters since 1951.
Contents |
[edit] Recent Games
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. The result meant 2007-08 Steel City victory for Wednesday as the result after the two games was one point to United and four points to Wednesday.
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 wonder 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.
[edit] Competitive Matches
Eligible competitions - Football League, Premier League, F.A. Cup, Football League Cup, Full Members Cup
| Venue | Date | Attendance | Competition | Winner | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | October 7, 2001 | 29,281 | Football League First Division 2001/02 | Drawn | 0 - 0 | |
| Bramall Lane | January 29, 2002 | 29,364 | Football League First Division 2001/02 | Drawn | 0 - 0 | |
| Hillsborough | September 1, 2002 | 27,075 | Football League First Division 2002/03 | Wednesday | 2 - 0 | |
| Bramall Lane | January 17, 2003 | 28,179 | Football League First Division 2002/03 | United | 3 - 1 | |
| Bramall Lane | December 3, 2005 | 30,558 | Football League Championship 2005/06 | United | 1 - 0 | |
| Hillsborough | February 18, 2006 | 33,439 | Football League Championship 2005/06 | United | 2 - 1 | 10th league double by United (previous double 1991/1992 season) |
| Hillsborough | January 19, 2008 | 30,486 | Football League Championship 2007/08 | Wednesday | 2 - 0 | |
| Bramall Lane | April 8, 2008 | 31,760 | Football League Championship 2007/08 | Drawn | 2 - 2 | |
| Hillsborough | October 19, 2008 | 30,441 | Football League Championship 2008/09 | Wednesday | 1 - 0 | |
| Bramall Lane | February 7, 2009 | 30,786 | Football League Championship 2008/09 | Wednesday | 2 - 1 | Wednesday's 6th league double (first for 95 years) |
For the score lines of the previous 113 games see :- soccerbase.com
[edit] Summary of all competitive matches
As of 15:00 07 February 2009
| Competition | Games Played |
SUFC Wins |
Drawn Games |
SWFC Wins |
SUFC Goals |
SWFC Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | 110 | 41 | 34 | 35 | 150 | 141 |
| FA Cup | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 |
| League Cup | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Full Members Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Totals | 123 | 44 | 38 | 41 | 168 | 162 |
statistics obtained from soccerbase.com *except the Full Members Cup result.
This table excludes pre-season games, friendlies and testimonials (see bellow).
[edit] Non-competitive matches
Eligible games - Friendlies,
Also see the Steel City Cup page & sufc/swfc friendly's & testimonials page
| Venue | Date | Attendance | Competition | Winner | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Grove | December 15, 1890 | 10,000 | Friendly | Wednesday | 2 - 1 | First ever meeting between the two sides [citation needed] |
| Bramall Lane | January 12, 1891 | 15,000 | Friendly | United | 3 - 2 | |
| Bramall Lane | October 26, 1891 | 22,500 | Friendly | United | 5 - 0 | |
| Olive Grove | November 16, 1891 | 11,000 | Friendly | Wednesday | 4 - 1 | |
| Olive Grove | October 17, 1892 | 1,500 | Friendly | Drawn | 1 - 1 | |
| Bramall Lane | November 21, 1892 | 11,000 | Friendly | Wednesday | 3 - 1 | |
| Bramall Lane | February 26, 1898 | 2,250 | Friendly | Wednesday | 4 - 1 |
[edit] Other facts
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (January 2009) |
The majority of the matches have taken place in the top flight of the English football league system. The two teams have only shared one season in the Third Division (1979/1980). The Boxing Day 1979 match was watched by 49,309; whilst the Easter Saturday 1980 match was watched by 42,526.
The biggest victory by United was a 7-3 win in 1951. The biggest victory by Wednesday was a 4-0 win in 1979.
United have completed the league double on 10 occasions. Wednesday have completed the league double on 6 occasions.
A total of 25 players have represented both United and Wednesday in Steel City derbies.
Alan Quinn became the first and currently only player to score for both sides in a Steel City derby, when he scored for United in 2005, having previously scored for Wednesday in 2003.
The record post war crowd for a derby was in January 1952, over 65000 saw United win 3-1 at Hillsborough.
[edit] 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 (as it was named by Sheffield Wednesday fans), 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. Another feature that made the victory all the sweeter for Wednesday fans was the domination of the United side at the time who where top of the league. while Wednesday where 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 swap it to be played at Wembley due to extreme fan pressure. 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.[2]
[edit] Debate regarding overall Derby total
Unlike the Merseyside derby which has been contested continually since 1962 the Steel City Derby has had several long gaps due to the teams being in different divisions to each other. This can cause some fans of both teams to claim that "missed games" in those season(s) would have favoured their team.
[edit] Resurgance 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.
Before the 2000–2001 season both teams were only in the same league for six seasons between 1970–71 & 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.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Blades-Mad: United vs Wednesday - Facts & Figures, February 6, 2009
- ^ Rollin, Jack (1993). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1993-94. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-7895-4.
