Sheffield United exist because a cricket ground lost its football tenant
Sheffield United were born out of a row over gate money. When The Wednesday left Bramall Lane in 1888, the cricket ground's owners needed a new team to pay the bills, and on 22 March 1889 the cricket club founded one. The Blades have played at Bramall Lane ever since.
The parent Sheffield United Cricket Club, formed in 1854, became the earliest club in English sport to call itself United. Oddly, its president, Sir Charles Clegg, also presided over The Wednesday. The football club was set up at the Adelphi Hotel, where the Crucible Theatre now stands. United were first called the Cutlers; the Blades nickname, a nod to the city's cutlery trade, originally belonged to Wednesday until they became the Owls in 1907.
Success came fast. Founder members of the Second Division in 1892, United were the first club promoted to the top flight and were English champions in 1897-98. They won the FA Cup in 1899, 1902, 1915 and 1925, but have lifted no major trophy since. Decline peaked between 1975 and 1981, when they fell from sixth in the First Division to the Fourth, though they bounced straight back as champions. That makes them one of only five clubs to have won all four professional divisions.
Under Dave Bassett they returned to the top flight in 1990 and were founder members of the Premier League, scoring its very first goal in 1992. Relegation, financial strain and a spell in League One followed. Chris Wilder, a lifelong fan and former player, won League One with 100 points in 2016-17, and in their first Premier League season back, widely tipped to go down, United finished ninth. A long ownership battle ended in 2019 when a High Court ruling left Saudi prince Abdullah bin Mosaad as sole owner.
Their 2023-24 return to the Premier League was grim. United conceded a 101st goal in May 2024, breaking Swindon Town's 1993-94 record for the most conceded in a Premier League season, and went back to the second tier.
Source: Sheffield United F.C.
