Sheffield United Football Club was formed at Bramall Lane on 22 March 1889 by the Sheffield United Cricket Club at the suggestion of its president, Sir Charles Clegg. Clegg was a famous local sportsman, Chairman of the Sheffield FA and also chairman of Sheffield Wednesday, who had been the tenants at Bramall Lane from 1881-1887 but had vacated after a dispute over rent. Due to the lost revenue the decision was taken to form a football branch of the Cricket club thus United were established.
The Sheffield United cricket club itself had been going at Bramall Lane since 1854 and was the first English sports club to use United in its name after a number of local clubs were unable to self-sustain and merged. The first English football club to be named United was Hanover United, formed in 1873. It has been suggested that some of The Blades original players came from an earlier amateur side called Norfolk F.C., who played in the Youdan Cup.
The team was formed six days after a crowd of 22,688 paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final played at Bramall Lane between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, with gate receipts of £574. Charles Stokes, a member of the Ground Committee saw the financial possibilities of a permanent football team and they were a professional club almost from the start. They played their first game against Notts Rangers of the Midland Counties League on 7 September 1889 losing 4–1 at Meadow Lane. Their first game at Bramall Lane did not come until 28 September 1889 against Birmingham St George's of the Football Alliance which they also lost 4–0.
United's first season was composed of friendlies and local cup matches, but notable for them reaching the second round of the FA Cup at their first attempt by beating Football League side Burnley 2–1 at home. However, the next cup game against Bolton Wanderers gave United their record defeat 13–0 and persuaded the committee that regular competitive league games were required.
They joined the Midland Counties League for the 1890–91 season, finishing fifth. This season was the first time that the club introduced a red stripe to their shirts, having played their first season in all-white shirts. Unhappy at being overlooked for the Football Alliance and no longer satisfied with the Midland, they then competed the following season in the Northern League finishing third. At the end of the season they applied to join the Football League First Division, which was expanding from 14 to 16 clubs for the 1892 season, but were instead admitted as one of the twelve founder members of the Second Division with the Alliance clubs, replacing Birmingham St George's which had folded.
United made waves straight away by securing promotion to the First Division in 1892–93, after finishing second to Small Heath and beating Accrington 1–0 in the Test Match on 22 April. United enjoyed an unbroken 37-season spell in the top flight (which remains a record for a newly promoted team) winning the League Championship in 1897–98 and were runners up in 1896–97 and 1899-00.
After the League Championship, United played and won an unofficial two-legged "Champions of Great Britain" title against Celtic, who had won that year's Scottish League Championship. Despite this, the 1898–99 season was one of struggle, when United finished 16th out of 18, just one place above the (at the time) two relegation places – the first poor title defence in English League history.
They won their first FA Cup Final on 15 April 1899, beating Derby County 4–1 at Crystal Palace, returning to the London venue to play Tottenham Hotspur on 20 April 1901. Despite Spurs being a Southern League club, they took The Blades to a replay with a 1–1 draw. Seven days later, at Burnden Park in Bolton, the London side won 3–1 in the replay. United returned to Crystal Palace the following year on 19 April 1902, and were again taken to a replay. This time Southampton (also from the Southern League) drew 1–1 but the replay exactly a week later, on the same ground was won 2–1 by the Blades.
The next final appearance came on 24 April 1915 at Old Trafford when United beat Chelsea 3–0 to win "The Khaki Cup final", the last game before the Football League and FA Cup competition was suspended until the end of the First World War. The fourth and final win came with their first Wembley Cup Final, beating Cardiff City 1–0 on 25 April 1925. Their last appearance in a final came on 25 April 1936, losing 1–0 to Arsenal.
After several close shaves – including the 1898–99 title defence mentioned above, 1919–20, when they won just 6 matches, and 1929–30, when a 5–1 win at Old Trafford on the final day pulled them out of the bottom spot – they finished bottom of the First Division in 1934 and were relegated for the first time.
A contributing factor to relegation was the decision to sell Irish centre forward Jimmy Dunne, who scored over 140 goals for the club in just six seasons, to Arsenal early in the 1933–4 season. Dunne scored over 30 top division goals in each of 3 consecutive seasons between 1930–1 and 1932-3, a feat which was not performed again until Alan Shearer managed it in 1993–96. This included 41 goals in 1930–31, which remains the club record and also the record single season tally by an Irishman.
During the 1920s United equalled their record victory with a 10–0 home win against Burnley in January 1930, and also beat Cardiff City 11–2 in 1926. Their record league defeat, 3–10 at Middlesbrough, occurred in their relegation season. They fell just short in promotion battles in 1936 and 1938 – finishing third in the Second Division on each occasion – but it was third time lucky when they pipped local rivals Sheffield Wednesday for second spot in 1939, winning their last game 6–1 against Tottenham. They started the 1939–40 season brightly before World War II curtailed the campaign.
The restart of League competition after the war came a year too late for The Blades as they won League North – a regional competition featuring the Northern clubs from the top two Divisions – in 1945–46. This good form carried over into the following year with a 6th-place finish, combined with reaching the FA Cup Quarter Finals.
The good form was not to last, as the club were relegated again in 1948–49, and suffered the agony of missing out on an instant promotion the following season when Wednesday gained revenge for 1939 and pipped them for second place and promotion on goal average with a 0–0 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur when a scoring draw or defeat would have sent The Blades up instead.
After a couple of middling seasons, featuring lots of goals (including 7–3 and 3–1 wins against the Owls in the Steel City Derby 1951-2), but inconsistent results, Teddy Davison ended his 20-year managerial career at the Lane. He was replaced by Reg Freeman, who guided the Blades to the Second Division Championship in 1952–53, scoring 97 goals along the way. Two seasons of struggle, but survival, in the First Division followed before Freeman died in the summer of 1955. His replacement, Joe Mercer, was unable to stave off relegation in 1956.
Mercer left the club in 1958 to join Aston Villa (who were promptly relegated) and was replaced by former Chelsea captain John Harris, who inherited a team with a backbone of good homegrown talent, including Joe Shaw, a centre half who played over 600 games for the club, and Alan Hodgkinson, a young goalkeeper capped five times by England (he remains England's youngest ever goalkeeper) who also went on to play over 600 league games, and half-back Graham Shaw. The team was always in the promotion frame and had some good cup runs, reaching the quarter finals in 1959 and 1960, and finally achieved promotion in 1961 as runners up to Ipswich Town. In the same season, they reached the FA Cup semi finals but went down 0–2 to Leicester City in a second replay after two scoreless draws.
Sheffield United's most memorable post-war run was in 1971, where they ended the season with six victories and five draws to win promotion from Division Two. The following season United took the First Division by storm. Led by such players as Tony Currie, Alan Woodward, Eddie Colquhoun, Len Badger, Ted Hemsley, Trevor Hockey, Alan Hodgkinson, Gil Reece and Bill Dearden they played the first ten games without defeat, recording eight victories and two draws. With one League Cup victory during this period, United had an unbeaten run of 22 matches. They finally lost the top spot in Division One in a memorable encounter with Manchester United at Old Trafford on 2 October 1971, The Blades losing out 2–0 on that occasion. The memorable goal scored by George Best six minutes from the end is still replayed on television to this day.
The remarkable success in the early 1970s brought to a head the long-standing argument about the desirability of playing football and cricket at the same ground and a decision was taken to build a new stand to provide a fourth side to what was essentially a three-sided stadium. This stand (originally known as 'The South Stand') with a seating capacity of 7746 people, was opened in 1975.
Unfortunately, the completion of the new stand coincided with a slump in fortunes on the field, despite the team finishing that season sixth in Division One. The failure to qualify for the UEFA Cup by one point after failing to beat Birmingham City at St Andrew's in the final game of the season was followed by relegation to the Second Division in 1976. Relegation was a financial disaster, and the drop in season ticket sales meant limited funds for strengthening the team. The club's bank was reluctant to give additional loans on top of the debt on the new South Stand. Revenue from the transfer of club legend Tony Currie and season ticket sales was quickly swallowed up and the bank declined to make further loans unless they could be underwritten by personal guarantees from Board members.
Jimmy Sirrel left on 27 September 1977, with United next to bottom of the Second Division, and was replaced on a temporary basis by Cec Coldwell who had previously taken control between the reign of John Harris and Ken Furphy. Results picked up but the lack of funds for new players was matched by the lack of reserve players suitable for the step up to the first team.
A bad run in January led to the appointment of Harry Haslam, a 'wheeler dealer' who had successfully managed a Luton Town side in similar circumstances for nine years. With a reputation for finding talent, "Happy Harry" brought in a number of players, most notably Alex Sabella but was forced to sell promising players such as Keith Edwards, Imre Varadi and Simon Stainrod. Alan Woodward left for the United States as did Bruce Rioch whose short loan spell brought a mini-revival in the club's fortunes.
The 1978–79 season ended with relegation to the Third Division. United's first ever season outside the top two divisions started promisingly, but their early form soon burned out, and the team spent the rest of the season in mid-table, never threatening the promotion places. 1980–81 saw another good start, with the team at the top of the table at Christmas. Haslam's health started to fail at this point though, and he was eventually forced to stand down in mid-January. 1966 World Cup winner Martin Peters succeeded him, but then the team went into free fall, winning only three of the last sixteen games and were relegated to the Fourth Division. The 1981 relegation came as a result of a last minute miss from a penalty kick in the final game of the season against Walsall, who would have been relegated instead had the kick (by Don Givens) been successful.
Having dropped to the lowest level, United appointed Ian Porterfield from neighbours Rotherham United to help them start the recovery, and with investment from a willing boardroom, United went on to become Fourth Division Champions in 1982, with 92 points – a new record due to the change of 3 points being awarded for a win in the 1981–82 season. United's top goalscorer that season was Keith Edwards, re-signed from Hull City, who linked up well with Bob Hatton, and later that season, Colin Morris (signed from Blackpool), who was to become part of a renowned partnership that would delight Bramall Lane crowds well into the mid-1980s. Edwards won an Adidas Golden Boot for his contribution – his 35 goals being a large part of United's success. The Golden Boot is now on show at United's "Legends of the Lane" exhibition.
United's promotion in 1982 saw them initially struggle in the Third Division, and finish in the lower reaches of the league in the 1982–83 season. By applying themselves to the cause, along with a number of additions to the side, including the signings of Paul Stancliffe and Glenn Cockerill from Lincoln City, the 1983–84 season saw the Blades cruise into the top 3 – which they would not drop out of all season.
United seemed content to bide their time in the Second Division, but scared fans initially by finishing 18th in season 1984–85 in a poor first season back. Further financial backing saw Porterfield and the Blades make a push for promotion in season 1985–86, when manager Porterfield went for experience to get the Blades up, signing veterans Ken McNaught, Peter Withe, Phil Thompson and Ray Lewington. This led the Blades to gain the nickname "Dad's Army" because of the combined ages of the 4 players signed (they were all in their 30s).
Fans were unhappy that crowd favourite Edwards was dropped to the bench in favour of his "aged" colleagues. United's start was actually very bright that season however, and after a 3–0 win away to early season promotion favourites Portsmouth, were fancied for another climb to the top tier. However, injury and bad results saw the club's fortunes falter, and the crowd's anger turned on Porterfield, who after a 5–2 defeat to Norwich, was sacked after a car-park demonstration. Although linked with a number of high-profile managers, United promoted from within, and made Youth Team manager Billy McEwan first team manager in March 1986. Although he soon restored Edwards to the side, the talented forward became disillusioned, and at the end of the 1985–86 season, left for rivals Leeds United for £125,000, and the club finished in 7th position.
McEwan's first full season in charge saw the Blades finish in a disappointing 9th place, but saw the Blades debut of future Manchester City, Everton and Bradford City player, Peter Beagrie, signed from Middlesbrough. The following season saw him trying to mix youth with talent, by giving debuts to future Blackburn star Chris Marsden and to Charlton Athletic and Grimsby Town legend Clive Mendonca, but results saw the club drop into the bottom half of the table, and McEwan tendered his resignation on New Years Day 1988 after an embarrassing 5–0 defeat at home to Oldham Athletic.
Danny Bergara took charge as Caretaker Manager again for the match against Maidstone United in the FA Cup in January 1988, but at the following away game at Bournemouth in the League, a manager who'd recently resigned from his role at Watford was spotted taking more than a passing interest in the action on the pitch. 3 days later, he became manager. That man was Dave Bassett ...
New manager Dave Bassett masterminded a quick revival which launched the Blades towards one of the most successful eras in their history. Successive promotions in the aftermath of the 1988 relegation saw them return to the First Division in 1990 after a 14-year exile. They survived at this level for four seasons (being founder members of the new Premier League in 1992 after peaking with a ninth-place finish in the last season of the old First Division) and reached an FA Cup semi-final in the 1992–93 before being relegated in 1994.
They remained outside the top flight for the next 12 years, although they qualified for the play-offs under Bassett's successor Howard Kendall in 1997 and caretaker manager Steve Thompson in 1998. They were struggling at the wrong end of Division One when Neil Warnock was appointed manager in December 1999, and a financial crisis was preventing the club from being able to boost their squad, but in 2002–03 they enjoyed their most successful season for a decade, reaching the semi-finals of both domestic cups and also reaching the Division One play-off final, where they were beaten 3–0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Three years later, however, Warnock delivered a Premier League return as the Blades finished runners-up in the re-branded Championship. They lasted just one season back amongst the elite, before being relegated from the Premier League amidst the controversy surrounding Carlos Tevez, the player who was controversially signed by West Ham United and whose performances played a big part in their remarkable escape from relegation. Neil Warnock resigned as manager after the Blades went down. The team also purchased Chinese club Chengdu Wuniu in 2006, and redesigned the club crest in the style of the Sheffield United badge and renamed the team "Chengdu Blades". The team were dissolved in 2015.
The club struggled to come to terms with life back in the Championship, with a spiralling wage bill not being matched by the quality of the players brought in, and a succession of managers within a short period of time. The Blades reached the Championship playoff final in 2009 under Kevin Blackwell, but a period of decline then set in. The 2010–11 season proved disastrous, with the club employing three different managers in the span of a season, which ultimately ended in relegation to League One under Micky Adams, meaning they would play in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1989, only five years after gaining promotion to the Premiership.
In the 2011–12 season, the club finished third in League One, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion to rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and entered the playoffs. With victory over Stevenage in the semi-final, United missed out on an immediate return to the Championship after suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town. The Blades again made it to the League One playoffs in 2012–13 after a fifth-place finish, but were knocked out by eventual promotion winners Yeovil Town on an 85th-minute goal in the second leg of the semi-finals.
On 3 September 2013 it was confirmed that Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Musa'ed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the royal House of Saud had bought a 50% stake in United's parent company 'Blades Leisure Ltd' for the fee of £1 with the promise of providing "substantial new capital" with the aim of returning the Blades to the Premier League as "quickly as possible". In 2014, the Blades began to be described by areas of the media as "giant-killers", having reached the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, losing 5–3 to Hull City.
In 2014–15 the team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and semi-finals of the Football League Cup, and despite being eliminated they remained in contention for promotion to the Championship. United secured promotion back to the second tier of English football in the 2016–17 season under the management of lifelong fan and former Blades player Chris Wilder, winning the League One title with 100 points. The Blades finished 10th in their first season back in the Championship, having spent much of the season in and around the play-off positions.
In the 2018–19 season, the team enjoyed a highly successful campaign in achieving automatic promotion to the Premier League, with United having spent almost all of the season in the top six of the Championship, fighting for automatic promotion until clinching second place over Leeds United with a game to spare, by beating already relegated Ipswich Town 2–0 at Bramall Lane on 27 April 2019. Leeds' 1–1 home draw with Aston Villa the next day ensured top flight football for The Blades for the first time in 12 years.
** – Colours / Crest – **
Sheffield United have played in red and white stripes for most of their history, but began playing in white shirts and blue shorts. They briefly played in narrow red stripes for the 1890–91 season, before returning to all-white the following year. The stripes returned in the 1892–93 season, with black shorts replacing the blue in 1904. The shirts remained largely unchanged until collars were first removed in 1955, replaced by V-necks until the 1966–67 season (when white socks were also used), and from here on the neck style varied.
The traditional red and white stripes remained until the 1974–75 season, when elements of black were added, until the 1979–81 and 82 season kit. This was white with a red breast, and with thin stripes down either side, and was created to accommodate the logo of the club's principal sponsor, Cantor's, a local furniture shop. This was to be replaced by a striped kit, with the sponsor Bentley's (1981–82) and Renault (1982–83) written vertically down a white stripe over the left-hand side.
Their kits continued to feature striped shirts, albeit with various aids to accommodate their sponsors, including a yellow square for Laver from 1988–92 (the 1990–92 shirt also featured narrow black stripes through each white stripe) and a black hoop, also for Laver in the 1994–95 season.
Then came the diamond kit, which was so badly received that the club reverted to stripes the following season. Since then, red and white stripes and black socks with varying trim have been the order of the day, with black shorts for all but the 2002–05 seasons, when white and then red were tried. The club also every few seasons opt to put thin black stripes between the red and white stripes. Sheffield United's home colours were the inspiration for the kit of Irish club, Derry City. In 1934, Derry City adopted the stripes, while Billy Gillespie was manager of the club, in recognition of Gillespie's achievements at Sheffield United.
The first time a crest appeared on the shirt was in the 1891–92 season, when a red crest appeared on the white shirt, but this disappeared the following season. United used the city of Sheffield's coat of arms from 1965–77, when a new crest was used, introduced by former manager Jimmy Sirrel, but designed apparently over 20 years previously by former player Jimmy Hagan. This consisted of two white crossed swords, or blades, the club's nickname, with a Yorkshire Rose above, on a black background. This is surrounded by a red ring with "Sheffield United F.C." written around the top and "1889", the year the club was founded, underneath. This has been altered very slightly a few times, with a simple black embroidered crest appearing on shirts from 1987–90, and an all-white crest on a red-edged black shield for the 1992–99 seasons, but reverted to its original form in 2000.
The ground hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862, between Sheffield F.C. and Hallam F.C. The game was played to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund and ended 0–0. As Sheffield's main sporting stadium it held all the most important local matches. The world's first football tournament, the Youdan Cup, held its final at Bramall Lane in March 1867 with Hallam beating Norfolk. This was followed by the Cromwell Cup a year later, which was won by a newly formed team called The Wednesday. By 1877, a crowd of 8,000 watched The Wednesday beat Hallam in the Sheffield Challenge Cup. Bramall Lane effectively became The Wednesday's permanent home between 1880 and the opening of their new stadium at Olive Grove in 1887.
The first inter-association match, between the FA (often referred to as the London FA) and Sheffield FA, was also held at Bramall Lane on 2 December 1871. It was won, 3–1, by the home side, who also arranged a number of games with other Associations including regular fixtures against Glasgow. On 22 March 1889, six days after 22,688 people paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, it was decided to create a home football team to play at Bramall Lane. It was named Sheffield United after the cricket team.
Bramall Lane was regularly used for international matches before the construction of a national stadium in London. The world's first ever floodlit football match took place at Bramall Lane on 14 October 1878 in front of an attendance of 20,000. England's match against Scotland on 10 March 1883 was the first match between these two countries outside London or Glasgow. It makes it the oldest football venue still capable of hosting international matches in the world.
The ground has been an all-seater stadium since 1994 and is now made up of four main stands and two corner infill stands in the north-east and south-west corners. The north-west corner (as well as a lot of the land under the John Street Stand) contains the Blades Enterprise Centre, and the south-east corner is still open, although there are plans to fill it with seating as part of the strategy to build a leisure complex at the back of the South Stand.
** – Redbrik Estate Agency Stand – **
Formerly the Bramall Lane stand, this is the oldest existing stand at Bramall Lane, this two-tiered structure was opened in 1966 behind the goal at the Bramall Lane end, opposite the Kop. The bottom tier is generally occupied by away fans whilst the upper tier, which links into the south-west corner infill stand, is given to home fans (although part of the upper tier may be offered to away fans for cup fixtures if demand is sufficient). This is in contrast to previous seasons, when away fans had the upper tier (and hence the marginally better view) much to the annoyance of home fans.
During the 2005–06 season, the outside of the Bramall Lane Stand was reclad in red-and-white, with the stand sponsors and the club crest on the outside of the stand, while the wooden seats of the upper tier were replaced with newer plastic seats with the words "BLADES" written into them. When the corner infill stand was built during the closed season, the roof over the Bramall Lane Stand was extended toward the pitch to provide better cover for the lower tier and to remove the supporting pillars from the upper tier.
There are approximately 2,700 seats in the upper tier, and 2,990 in the lower, giving a total capacity of 5,680. This stand has for many years housed a basic LCD scoreboard and clock between the upper and lower tiers, however at the start of the 2006–07 season both were replaced by a modern colour video scoreboard. In 2012, the club announced that the stand would be named after Olympic Champion and United fan Jessica Ennis (now known as Jessica Ennis-Hill).
In November 2014, Ennis-Hill requested to have her name removed from the stand if the club offered Ched Evans (a former United player wrongly convicted of rape) a contract. Due to this, and other objections, he was not offered a contract. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, the stand was renamed after local company Redbrik Estate Agency on a three-year contract. In October 2016 the charges against Evans were dropped, he was found not guilty of the offence and he restarted his playing career at Chesterfield F.C. He re-joined United in May 2017.
** – The Tony Currie Stand – **
The Tony Currie Stand is also known as the "South Stand", however some fans still refer to it as the "Laver Stand" (after the stand's long-term sponsors in the 1990s) or even the "New Stand" by many older fans since there was no stand on the South end of the pitch until 1975, where previously it was used as the cricket pitch's outfield. Opened in August 1975, the South Stand is situated alongside the pitch and is for home fans who wish to have a side-view when watching the match (the John Street Stand is for families only).
During the 2005–06 season, this stand was renovated, with a re-clad of the outside of the stand and the old wooden seats replaced by newer red plastic seats and white plastic seats forming an emblem of two swords. The box-seats were also upgraded. This stand holds approximately 7,500 fans, and most of the ground's amenities, including the box office, newly expanded and renovated for the 2006–07 season Blades Superstore, Platinum Suite, "Legends of the Lane" museum, "1889" award-winning restaurant (formerly known as Bosworth's of Bramall Lane), the former police control centre (now relocated to the Blades Enterprise Centre between the Bramall Lane and John Street Stands), newly refurbished reception, press box, players entrance, administrative offices and television gantry attached to the roof of the stand.
The bottom of the stand, facing into the club car park, has been made into a fans "Wall of Fame". Built of the ground's signature mark red bricks, each one is etched with an individual supporters' name or nickname. The wall was launched as a commercial venture by the club in the 1990s and is still offered today for other sections of the ground. In 2018 the stand was named after Sheffield United legend Tony Currie.
** – The Kop Stand – **
Seated since 1991, this is the area in which the most boisterous home fans sit, such that former assistant manager (1999–2003) and manager (2008–10) Kevin Blackwell named the noise coming from this stand as the "Bramall Roar" after the 2003 play-off semi-final second-leg against Nottingham Forest, which the Blades won 4–3, coming from 0–2 down.
The stand is currently sponsored by Kennedy's Law and, was formerly sponsored by Hallam FM. The stand itself is built into a hillside situated behind the goal, at the east end of the stadium. This places the stand along Shoreham Street, hence the often-heard chant of "Hello! Hello! We are the Shoreham Boys" coming from this stand on matchdays. It has the club's initials "SUFC" written into the seats, and holds 10,221 fans, making this the largest stand at Bramall Lane.
The facilities are of lower quality in the Kop because there is no indoor concourse, although an outdoor bar was completed in September 2007 to complement the fast-food takeaway, but in spite of this it is still a firm favourite amongst the fans, and usually full on matchday.
At a Shareholders' meeting in November 2007 the club announced that it intended to expand the Kop by 3,500 (making it the largest 'kop' in the country) and to upgrade all the facilities and cover the concourse areas. However, since then, former chief executive Trevor Birch announced that the extension will not be taken into consideration until the club can gain and maintain Premier League status. United submitted a revised application for the redevelopment of the stand in 2015, which would see 3,215 seats added to its current capacity.
** – John Street Stand – **
The John Street stand, completed in 1996, is used as a family enclosure for home fans and is situated along the north side of the pitch, boasting great views of the playing action. Sponsored by the Maltese Tourist Board, in a combined stand and shirt sponsorship deal, it has the word "BLADES" written in the seats, and holds just under 7,000 fans. This is also where the home disabled supporters may sit. The stand is home to a small club shop as well as the Marstons & Malta Executive Suites and "Tunnel Bar". There is also a row of 31, individual executive boxes with private facilities and their own balconies along the back of the stand.
** – Kop Corner – **
Also called the Northeast Corner or Pukka Pies Stand after its sponsorship deal, this stand was completed in 2001 and is between the Kop and the John Street stand. It is fully linked to the John Street Stand, and is also used as a family enclosure holding around 900 fans (after the installation of new restricted-view seats after the 2006–07 campaign. This section of the ground has always been part of the Kop stand structure and the lower half was historically used as a family standing enclosure until it was demolished as part of the main Kop re-development.
** – Westfield Health Stand – **
Also known as the "new" corner infill, this stand is in the south-west corner of the stadium, between the Bramall Lane Stand and the South Stand and is sponsored by Westfield Health. It is linked to the Bramall Lane Stand (upper tier), sharing its facilities, turnstiles and exits. It is always used by home fans, and reputedly has the best views of the ground. Season tickets for the 2017-18 campaign are available within this stand for the first time since its completion. The stand holds approximately 2,000 fans.
** – Blades Enterprise Centre – **
The north-west corner is filled in by rentable offices, known as the Blades Enterprise Centre, one of many examples of United diversifying their off-the-field activities to maximise income streams. Completed in 2002, the Enterprise Centre provides office space for smaller and new companies in the block between the John Street and Bramall Lane Stands, and also underneath the John Street Stand itself.
Buying Tickets
Ticket information, pricing and dates of sale for individual fixtures is available at tickets.sufc.co.uk. Home matches are normally on sale 4-6 weeks in advance and away match tickets are generally available 2-4 weeks in advance.
You can purchase tickets:
The Stadium
Bramall Lane Stadium
Food and Drink
Their concourse kiosks have a wide variety of food and beverages on offer to both home and away supporters throughout the match. Their food, drink and snack selections include :
Matchday Programme
Their matchday programme “UTB” is priced at £3.50 and available at every home game from a number of sellers outside Bramall Lane and en route to the stadium. You can also buy “UTB” from the Blades Superstore. Situated at the stadium at the bottom of the main car park (Cherry Street).
Disabled Supporters
Sheffield United Football Club operates a ticketing policy which recognises disabled supporters may need assistance to fully enjoy their match day experience and offer a variety of reasonable adjustments based on individual supporters needs. The policy will not discriminate between disabled people with differing impairments.
Sheffield United have a direct contact for all disabled supporter enquires. Kay Adkins, is available to assist with information for all disabled supporters travelling to Bramall Lane. To contact Kay please email kay.adkins@ sufc.co.uk
Fan Experience.
Matchdays are filled with activities for the whole family to enjoy, offering you more than just a 90 minute matchday experience, but providing you with a fun-filled day out for the family.
HOME DEBUT.
CAPTAIN BLADE CLUB.
JOHN STREET FAMILY STAND.
BLADES FAMILY HUB (located on John Street)
MEET THE TEAM
Grand Tours.
Sheffield United FC is renowned for its ground tours - your chance to find out the fantastic history of their famous stadium and, of course, the Red and White Wizards. Tours begin in their “Legends of the Lane” Museum, which is located in the Tony Currie stand. It’s your chance to see and find some truly incredible memorabilia dating back to the earliest times of the Club.
There is a fine selection of FA Cup Winners and Runners Up medals from the 6 finals they have so far played in, plus rare shirts, Caps, boots and balls. Attendees will get an exclusive behind the scenes glimpse at the inner workings of a matchday at Bramall Lane including walking down the players entrance and into the players dug out for some photo opportunities. The tour will also see you take a seat in the directors area to hear some interesting facts about the historical club and ground.
Tours are booked directly through their ticket office and cost just £10 for adults and £6 for concessions. Places are limited so make sure you book early. For more information, contact the Club Heritage Manager John Garrett john.garrett@sufc.co.uk
** – Getting to Bramall Lane Stadium – **
From the North / South / East :
From the West :
By Bus / Rail :
By Tram :
Car Parking
Non Matchday :
Matchday :
Recommended car parking: APCOA Car Parking Eyre Street - The Moor MSPC Eyre Street, Sheffield S1 4QW
Taxis: City Taxis - 0114 239 3939
Location : Bramall Lane Stadium, Bramall Lane, Sheffield S2 4SU
Transport: Sheffield (National Rail) then 20 minutes or bus or taxi. Bus Routes: 1, 11, 18, 41, 51 and 252 stop close by the stadium. Tram: Blue and Purple stop 15 minutes.
Capacity : 32,125
Tel: 0114 253 7200
