Originally Posted by
haich1889
Just posted this on another thread but took me 3 hours so thought I'd post separately.
Being a Blade is so hard, you only have to ask my Dad who's 80 years old & never seen us win anything in all that time. It's 93 years since our club (from England's 4th largest City) last won a major trophy. It's 82 years since we even got to a major final.
During this period teams like Oxford, Luton, Wimbledon, Coventry, Wigan (ffs), Hull, Millwall, Cardiff, Southampton, QPR etc etc etc have all either won silverware or at least been involved in a final.
I remember Praise & Grumble when it first started & since that day the most common theme for Blades fans (by a huge margin) has been lack of ambition & spending. Apart from 2 or maybe 3 short periods under Howard Kendall & Bryan Robson there has never been a period of substantial investment in a bid for success. The 3 promotions to the Top tier of football that I have seen under John Harris (1972), Dave Bassett (1993) & Neil Warnock have been attained by chance/team spirit/excellent motivating management rather than any actions the personnel that run the club.
The majority of my childhood years up till the age of 11 were spent living in Ghana (West Africa) due to my dad working in the Gold mines. 12 months abroad was followed by 3 months home leave during which time we attended all possible matches at BDTBL & some away games (I remember watching Trevor Hockey playing for Birmingham away - we lost 1 - 0). My dad promised if we ever got to an FA cup final that we'd fly back to be there. My first shirt had a massive number 2 on the back as Len Badger was my favourite player. I wore my shirt outside my shorts like Geoff Salmons who I loved almost as much. Living in Africa in the 60's/early 70's the only contact with home was by Air mail (to phone England meant booking your call 2 weeks in advance so no-one ever bothered) & Grandad sent letters/Topper comic [later Spiderman mags]/Blades programmes/Green'uns every 2 weeks which usually took 2 - 4 weeks to arrive. MY first experience of BLADES heartbreak was opening the cardboard tube to see a full page headline telling me that Salmons had left for a record breaking £165 000 to Stoke. I was absolutely gutted as this was my the first experience of losing a hero. I remember my dad mumbling something about Jones/Birchenall/Wagstaffe but at that point I didn't understand the significance. The only media was a huge radio which constantly sounded like a Tram was running alongside & the BBC world service had live commentary every Saturday from a big game. Needless to say SUFC never featured until one 'GLORIOUS' day we played Bristol City in the Watney Cup final. My dad and me stood round the radio twiddling the ariel for over 2 hours as the commentary was barely audible. Cue 2nd experience of heartbreak as The Blades lost on penalty's (mmmmmmm starting to sense a theme?). I think Currie & possibly Hemsley missed???? When I was 8ish we were blessed to home on leave at the end the 71/72 season & sat on the back row of the Bramall Lane Stand as my beloved Blades won promotion, beating Cardiff 5 - 1 & Watford 3 - 0 in front of big crowds. It was magnificent & still remembered as if it was yesterday. During our final year abroad United topped the league & eventually missed out on Europe due to the EUFA's timely descision to bin the 'Inter City Fairs Cup' & introduce the re-branded EUFA Cup. No matter: the following season (my first full one in England) dad purchased 3 season tickets (my younger bro was on board now) on the same back row, in the exact same seats in the Bramhall Lane Stand where we had witnessed the glory 4 years earlier. I was so thrilled & excited ..... WE WERE RELEGATED so back down earth again which, still wasn't the NORM as I was still blessed with the exuberance & confidence of youth.
42 years later & three experiences of 3rd Tier football, one experience of 4th Tier embarrassment, countless talented players sold at the first sight of a bid (usually to clubs with much less support), an abundance of lies, a seemingly endless & limitless lack of ambition, NOT A SILVERWARE POT TO PI55 IN, almost 3 times as much time in the bottom 2 leagues than in the Top.
Sorry for boring everyone & cut to the chase:
IF...... in the last 80 years, just ONE PERSON/BOARD had shown a fraction of the financial, emotional commitment, passion & love for SHEFFIELD UNITED that my family (my Grandad/my dad/my brother/nephew/my kids) & countless other family's then I would be at least be content that "we tried". Quite simply SUFC have never & I'm starting to think (at last) we never will, show any kind of ambition. We are a huge City FFS, there is a huge fan base waiting to be tapped. Those who say Blades will always be a small club & we should get behind them whatever dross is put in front of us, really epitomise the ethos our inept, incompetent, spendthrift, passionless & lacklustre Boards/Chairmen have brought to my beloved club over decades.
WE HAVEN'T WON ANYTHING SINCE 1925 FFS.
Belief that Sheffield United have the potential to compete at the top with commitment that match's that of 1000's over the years IS THE REASON MANY OF US SHOW DISCONTENT FROM THE STANDS. It is the REASON MANY OF US DON'T SETTLE FOR CONSOLIDATION OR MID TABLE MEDIOCRITY. Maybe it's just me?? in my life I have never done anything without wanting to be the best!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't take charge of or stay in charge of MY CLUB unless you are willing to bring success. Be willing to go into debt if that's what it takes (God knows this club has made me spend more than I can afford constantly). If that means getting rid of a Draconian wage structure or paying out some of your Fortune then FFS DO IT, if not FOOOOOOOK THE HELL OFF because being happy with 2nd, 3rd, 4th, middling, bottom etc just isn't & will never be good enough for some of us.
SUFC was mentioned twice on my divorce papers, that is commitment. I want to see something similar before I die (my Dad has given up now at 80).
WOW.... this started as a 'QUICK REPLY' ... Sorry