Steel City derby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 they have met a total of 119 times, with United having won 6 more of the encounters than Wednesday. United have led the series of league encounters since 1951.
Contents |
[edit] Statistics and Records
[edit] Summary of all matches
| Played | United Won | Drawn | Wednesday Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 119 | 44 | 37 | 38 |
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. Only 3 matches have finished in a goaless draw.
United have won the last 3 meetings. The last meeting at Bramall Lane was on December 3, 2005, which ended with a 1-0 victory for United. The most recent meeting was at Hillsborough on February 18, 2006, which United won 2-1 - and so completing the double over their rivals. Wednesday have not done the double over United since the 1913-14 season. United have completed the league double on 10 occasions. While, Wednesday have done the double on 5 occasions. Below shows the results from the last 10 league encounters between the two teams.
[edit] Results of last 10 league meetings
| Venue | Date | United score | Wednesday score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bramall Lane | October 23, 1993 | 1 | 1 |
| Hillsborough | January 22, 1994 | 1 | 3 |
| Bramall Lane | December 16, 2000 | 1 | 1 |
| Hillsborough | April 1, 2001 | 2 | 1 |
| Hillsborough | October 7, 2001 | 0 | 0 |
| Bramall Lane | January 29, 2002 | 0 | 0 |
| Hillsborough | September 1, 2002 | 0 | 2 |
| Bramall Lane | January 17, 2003 | 3 | 1 |
| Bramall Lane | December 3, 2005 | 1 | 0 |
| Hillsborough | February 18, 2006 | 2 | 1 |
Wednesday have a poor recent record at Bramall Lane and have not won there since 1967. The biggest victory by United was a 7-3 win in 1951. Wednesday's best result was a 4-0 win in 1979.
[edit] 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.[1]
Former Wednesday players Alan Quinn and Leigh Bromby became the first players to play for both sides in a Sheffield league derby when they lined up for United in the December 2005 game. Quinn's winning goal in this match made him the first player to score for both teams in league derbies, having scored Wednesday's goal in their 1-3 defeat at Bramall Lane in 2003.
[edit] Notes & References
- ^ Rollin, Jack. Rothmans Football Yearbook 1993-94. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-7895-4.
[edit] External links
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| Sheffield Wednesday Football Club |
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| The Club | Staff | Ladies |
| History | Former players | Records | Seasons |
| Olive Grove | Hillsborough |
| Steel City derby | Wednesdayite |
