Sheffield United vs Millwall

56 UTB
FORMER PLAYER
A player with electric pace, he caught
the eye of the Blades as a 15-yearold
and became one of the youngest
players ever to represent United at
reserve team level. It was clear then, the
Blades had a player on their hands, and
Ian admits he immediately felt at home in
the Steel City.
“I was playing in a cup final for my
school at the City Ground,” explained Ian
who was born in Nottingham.
“After the cup final, Forest’s Peter
Taylor and Ronnie Fenton got me into
a room and asked me to sign for them
but I told them I didn’t want to because
all my brothers were Notts County
fans, and they were threatening to
chuck me in the Trent if I signed! They
both laughed, but then they realised
I wasn’t joking!
“About three weeks later I ended
up signing for United. Jimmy Sirrel
was the manager, and was formerly of
Notts County, so that was how I signed.
I remember going to the ground and
then the house in Nether Edge where
the young players stayed, and I just
got a really good feel for the club,
so I signed.
“I played a couple of reserve games
when I was 15. The first was against
Manchester City and I played against
Colin Bell who was a real favourite of
mine, he was coming back from injury,
so that was an unbelievable feeling.
“I never thought too much about
making it, I was just surprised to have
been called up to play for the reserves.
I just remember it being a really good
experience. My attitude was I just
loved playing football, I wanted to play
all the time.”
Ian was starting to make waves at
Bramall Lane, and it wasn’t long before
he got his first taste of senior action in
August 1978.
Following Alejandro Sabella’s arrival
from River Plate, a friendly between
the two sides was part of the deal. With
Argentina fresh from winning the 1978
World Cup, there was a lot of excitement
surrounding the fixture when the
Argentine giants arrived in Sheffield.
Much to Ian’s delight, he was included
in the senior squad, and eventually
made a first senior appearance in red
and white as a second-half substitute.
“I think I was 16, I was sitting on the
bench and was just thinking ‘wow’,”
revealed Ian, who would also represent
England at youth level.
“They had six players who had just
played for Argentina in the World Cup
- the likes of Daniel Passarella, Luque
was playing up front and one or two
others. I was just delighted to be in the
squad, then Harry Haslam put me on
S Ian played
for England
at youth team
level during
his time with
United
SHEFFIELD UNITED vs MILLWALL