Steel City derby

The Steel City Derby is a local derby in the city of Sheffield, England. It takes place between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday and is considered one of the most passionate and hotly contested Derby matches in English football. It first took place on 16 October 1893 and since then the teams have met a total of 120 times, with United having won 5 more of the encounters than Wednesday. United have led the series of league encounters since 1951.

Sheffield United's relegation from the FA Premier League, and Sheffield Wednesday maintenance of Championship status during the 2006–07 football season, meant that the two teams would play against each other during the 2007–08 Championship league season.

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.

tatistics and records

ummary of all competitive matches

statistics obtained from [http://www.soccerbase.com/head.sd soccerbase.com] *except the Full Members Cup result.
This table excludes pre-season games, friendlies and testimonials.

Results of last ten league meetings

Other facts

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 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 5 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 attendance record for a Steel City derby was in 1979 at Hillsborough, which was watched by a record Third Division crowd of 49,309 spectators.

Famous matches

The most famous match at Bramall Lane was on September 8 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 December 26, 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 them was the domination of the United side at the time while their rivals were struggling at the wrong end of the table. The match was watched by a record third division crowd of 49,309 spectators.

On April 3 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.cite book|last=Rollin|first=Jack|title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1993-94|publisher=Headline Book Publishing|Date=1993|id=ISBN 0-7472-7895-4]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.footballderbies.com/honours/index.php?id=32 Information at FootballDerbies.com]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/sport/football_heaven/steel_city_derby/ BBC derby page]
* [http://www.swfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10304~1219123,00.html list of all 25 players to play for both clubs]