Sheffield United vs Burnley

36 UTB
at health, wellbeing, every child matters
and a host of other relevant topics tied
in with a visit to the ground and also the
chance to meet and interview a player
from the first team. We also organised
travel to and from school and every child
who attended got a home shirt and also
a ticket with a parent or guardian. The
owners and directors bankrolled it and it
cost a fortune as I am sure you can well
imagine. The upswing was seeing our
colours all over the place and loads of
▲ The 2015-16 home shirt worn here by Billy Sharp split opinion
emails from supporters of the other side
whose kids had taken part, had a great
time and were now resplendent in the
red, white and black. It’s hard to gauge
now looking back how many new fans
it won us, but I would like to think that it
has also played a part in the continuously
incredible level of support that we enjoy
form the stands though thick and thin.
There have also been other times when
we have unwittingly got our shirts out on
the streets in pretty huge numbers.
If you remember the old cricket sheds
that once stood at the top of the Cherry
Street car park, you may recall that
they were, for many years, used as a
sports hall and for 5-a-side. They were
a remnant of the Bramall Lane of old
and once housed the nets where many
Yorkshire greats plied their trade when
we were still a cricket venue of some
repute. They also had a spell as water
tanks during the war, so we got more than
our money’s worth out of them. Inevitably,
there came a time when the powers that
be said they couldn’t be used anymore.
The roof had just about caved in at that
point in fairness, but it was another piece
of the old ground that was going, and that
in itself was a bit sad. For years, the late
and much missed Derek Newbould ruled
the bookings there with a rod of iron. Del
did most things around Bramall Lane, or
so it seemed. He finished off helping Carl
Hopwood as kit man and was as much a
feature behind the scenes at United as
the pitch itself!
When we couldn’t hire it out anymore,
for its twilight years we started to store
stuff in there – paperwork, that kind of
thing. Now, you may recall the gold Midas
kit from way back - it would be fair to
say that it was a tad controversial and
featured in several ‘worst ever’ polls back
then, and that was before we had even
released it!
SHEFFIELD UNITED vs BURNLEY