Wednesday Football Club was formed in 1867 in the Adelphi Hotel on Arundel Street (that hotel has got a lot to answer for). The cricket club always had Wednesdays as a day off, hence the name Sheffield Wednesday – fuckin’ stupid, if you ask me. Years later (1889), Sheffield United cricket club formed a football team to give its members something to do during the winter months. In truth, the cricket committee did not like football and at first they treated the idea of starting a football club with complete disdain. But the cricket club was losing money hand over fist and it needed to start to generate much-needed income. On 22 March 1889, my life and love Sheffield United FC was born. Wednesday FC were not at all happy with these events for two reasons: first, they didn’t think the town was big enough to support two teams, but more, importantly, they saw United as a threat to their existence. What also didn’t help matters was the fact that United recruited some of Wednesday’s players. Because of a poor response to an advertising campaign aimed at hiring new local players, the first United side was made up predominantly of Scots.
United’s first competitive game was in September 1889 against Notts Rangers at Meadow Lane, Nottingham. William Robertson placed his name in the history archives of Sheffield United by scoring our first ever goal in the 4–1 defeat. We also lost 13–0 to Bolton, although, as an excuse, our keeper, Charlie Howlett, lost his spectacles in the six-inch-deep mud with the game evenly poised at 6–0! Bramall Lane hosted its first home game for United that same year. With United struggling in their first term, the Wednesday side had reached the FA Cup Final and won the Championship. United were looked on as the paupers but the red side of Sheffield were determined to make a name for themselves, even if it was just to shut up the more established Wednesday outfit.
The following year saw the first ever Sheffield derby and, just before Christmas, United travelled to Wednesday’s ground, the Olive Grove, for this eagerly awaited showdown. A crowd of 10,000 was swelled by a huge firm of 300 United boys dressed in the latest flat caps – only kiddin’! Despite taking the lead, United lost the encounter 2–1. The return game at Bramall Lane in January 1891 saw United gain revenge in a 3–2 win witnessed by a crowd of over 14,000. The two rivals hadn’t got off to the best of starts off the pitch. Wednesday were bitter that United were undercutting them with what they charged fans to see home games. United were likewise incensed when their bid to join Wednesday in the Alliance League was rejected, and they thought that Wednesday had influenced the decision. United went on to join the Northern League instead. In 1892, both Sheffield sides reached the final of the Wharncliffe Cup.
Wednesday refused to play the game at Bramall Lane, so the tie was cancelled. United argued that Wednesday’s refusal was due to the fact that in the previous season United had walloped Wednesday 5–0 at the Lane. After that game, United fans had made a piss-take funeral card which read:
In Loving Remembrance of
THE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY FOOTBALL TEAM
Who were safely put to rest on Monday, October 26th.
Wednesday returned the compliment after beating United 4–1 in the return and made their own cards up to the same effect – see they’ve always copied us: funeral cards, balloons at matches, giant flags, flares, songs; you name it, they’ve copied it.
On Friday, 13 May, both United’s and Wednesday’s bid to join the Football League had been successful. Wednesday went straight into the First Division with United only deemed fit enough to join the Second Division and so the history of Sheffield’s two famous clubs had begun.
Interestingly, at this time, both clubs were nicknamed the Blades. The name Blades actually came from a gang of young thugs who had been hired by publicans during the 1882 Sheffield riots to disrupt a planned march by the Salvation Army. The thugs were nicknamed the Sheffield Blades and the name was transferred to the football teams. United later changed their nickname to the Cutlers but, when Wednesday switched grounds from Olive Grove to a new ground at Owlerton, they also took up the nickname ‘The Owls’. United then became known as the Blades.
Looking back through the history books, it seems the first recorded incidents of trouble at a Sheffield derby went back as far as 1892. During the game, it seems both sets of players left the field of play and jumped into the crowd to join in fighting between rival spectators. Police had to break up the disturbance but the deadly rivalry seeds had already been sown. For the next few years, the derby games were prone to disorder.
The next recorded incident of trouble brought up the name of a certain Blades legend, goalkeeper William ‘Fatty’ Foulke. At 6’2” and weighing in at over 20 stone, Foulke was an intimidating figure for any opposing centre-forward and, although, in those days, it was fair play to shoulder-barge the keeper either into the net for a goal or to the floor, I can’t see Foulke suffering from too many barging centre-forwards.
Foulke’s name will live on in sporting folklore, especially in the red and white side of Sheffield.
Foulke was the heaviest recorded keeper; he went on to play for England and at the latter end of his career he signed for Chelsea but by that time his weight had ballooned to over 25 stone.
One of Fatty’s main dislikes was Wednesday, and crowd trouble happened during the derby game at Olive Grove in 1897 during a United v Wednesday game. Foulke had been subjected to a torrent of abuse from Wednesday fans that had gathered behind the goal – you can just see it, the first rendition of ‘Who ate all the pies’! During the course of the second half, Foulke had had enough and jumped into the Wednesday end to persuade the snorters to shut up. The game was still going on as Fatty waded through the crowds, bless him.
THE STEEL CITY DERBY – RESULTS, FACTS AND FIGURES
United have won 45 games, drawn 38 and lost 41
United: goals for 171, goals against 164
Biggest United score was 7–3 in the 1951–52 season
Biggest Wednesday score was 5–2 in the 1928–29 season
United have won the FA Cup four times to Wednesday’s three
United have only won the old First Division Championship once throughout their history, while Wednesday have won it four times
Wednesday finally won a game at Bramall Lane in 2008, after 41 years and 12 bites of the cherry.
United did the double over Wednesday in 1991 and 2006. Wednesday have recently ended their double drought in the 2008-9 season; the last one before that came in 1913.
Wednesday won the old League Cup in 1991
United have been above Wednesday in terms of final league placing since 2001.
Not many people will argue that Wednesday had the lion’s share of battle victories during the 70s. Their mob, the EBRA (East Bank Republican Army), had big numbers, and in those ranks stood some big hitters. The SRA (Shoreham Republican Army, later to become the Shoreham Barmy Army) themselves had some good lads but nowhere near the quality and numbers that Wednesday could produce. Many a time, especially in the then named County Cup games (a Cup competition between Rotherham, Doncaster, Chesterfield, United and Wednesday), both teams would infiltrate each other’s Kop, with Wednesday amassing big numbers on United’s Shoreham End.
The United lads gallantly tried to defend our turf from the invading snorters but they would often finish off second best. I was far too young in those days to get involved in the combat but I do remember looking up at our Kop from the John Street terrace during games with Wednesday; they had more on our Kop than we did and they seemed to hold the central ground as well.
Sheffield in the 70s was a hotbed for trouble at football. In 1973, United fans topped a football league of shame. The United hooligan element had seen 276 arrests, with Wednesday finishing third in the table with