Sheffield United vs Bristol City

UTB 35
John Garrett’s
FABLES & FOLKLORE
Blades historian JOHN GARRETT’S long-running inimitable
account of following the Blades always provides a talking point
as UTB again extends a platform for his popular article...
Spooning at Wembley...
We should have played in the first
ever Wembley final 100 years ago
this very year.
In fact, we were masters of the semis
back in the 1920s to a certain degree,
making it there on three occasions. The
first attempt of the decade coming in
1923. There had been feverish activity to
get the stadium open and ready for the
Empire exhibition and also, clearly, to give
domestic football’s greatest competition a
spiritual home after being played at such
venues as The Crystal Palace, Stamford
Bridge, Fallowfield and The Oval, as well
as our beloved Bramall Lane welcoming
the famous final to its footprint, albeit in a
replay in 1912.
1923 saw us meet Bolton Wanderers at
Old Trafford (another final venue where
we triumphed in 1915) on March 24th in
front of 75,000 people where the Blades
lost narrowly to a looping goal from the
legendary David Jack – think the play-off
▲ Sheffield descends on Wembley Way back in 1993
final vs Palace and David Hopkin, but in
black and white and with Harry Enfield
doing the commentary. The Trotters were
off to meet West Ham United and be one
of the first clubs to walk up Wembley Way
to take part in what came to be called ‘The
White Horse Final’ after the huge crowd
continually spilled out on to the pitch and
a police horse – Billy who, of course, just
happened to be white – helped move them
back. Incidentally, the record crowd for a
final up until then had been held by the
Blades and Spurs when they met in the
1901 final – another that went to a replay
SHEFFIELD UNITED vs BRISTOL CITY