'While I can walk I will carry on going' - Sheffield pensioner celebrates 80 years of being a Blade

An 86-year-old Sheffield United fan who started watching the club when she was six years old is about to celebrate 80 years of supporting her beloved Blades.
86 year old Sheffield United fan Mavis Whitworth who has been going to Bramall Lane for 80 years. Picture Scott Merrylees86 year old Sheffield United fan Mavis Whitworth who has been going to Bramall Lane for 80 years. Picture Scott Merrylees
86 year old Sheffield United fan Mavis Whitworth who has been going to Bramall Lane for 80 years. Picture Scott Merrylees

Mavis Whitworth, of Arbourthorne, first went to Bramall Lane in 1939, the same year the Second World War began, when Sheffield United finished runners-up in the old second division.

After falling in love with the club at such an early age, she has followed them through thick and thin for the next eight decades, refusing to stop even after being mugged on the way home from a night game in 2013.

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To mark her remarkable commitment to the Blades, the club will present Mavis with a signed photo of her favourite ever player, club great Jimmy Hagan, who scored 117 times for the Blades in a 20-year career.

Jimmy Hagan.Jimmy Hagan.
Jimmy Hagan.

Mavis was first taken to Bramall Lane by her Uncle Bill, and recalls him leaving her at the railings behind the goal while he stood further up Bramall Lane’s imposing kop.

She said: “He just asked me one day whether I’d like to go and I said ‘yes’.

“There were no seats at that time on the kop and he used to take me to the railings at the front and tell me not to move and he would come and fetch me after the game.

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“Jimmy Hagan was always my favourite player - I wish we had him now. He was great and he scored goals. I just fancied him and once got his autograph.”

Mavis in the alley where she was bashed on the head with a weapon and mugged minutes from her home after a Friday night Sheffield United match.Mavis in the alley where she was bashed on the head with a weapon and mugged minutes from her home after a Friday night Sheffield United match.
Mavis in the alley where she was bashed on the head with a weapon and mugged minutes from her home after a Friday night Sheffield United match.

As well as watching the team at home, Mavis has also followed the club away, taking in grounds including Hillsborough, Rotherham, Newcastle and Wembley.

She says she still loves the roar of the crowd as the players come out of the tunnel, just near where she now sits, and can recite United’s famous ‘greasy chip butty’ song off by heart.

She said: “I sit in the South Stand now I can see everything, just to the right hand side of the tunnel. Chris Wilder is doing brilliant - really smashing.”

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The eldest of three girls, she now often goes to the games with her sisters’ sons Gary and Ian, but also sometimes still goes alone, much to the consternation of her family.

Her family asked her to stop going on her own especially after she was mugged and seriously injured on the way home from a night game six years ago.

Mavis was left needing stitches after a thug hit her over the head with a weapon before making off with her handbag in an attack which happened in a gennel just metres from her home in 2013.

But she refused to be deterred by the ordeal, and is now looking forward to being honoured by the club with a free season ticket when she turns 90 in four years time.

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She said: “I have lived in this area and on the same street all my life and I have been going watching United since I was six years old. While I can walk I will carry on going.”

Kevin Cookson, senior communications officer for Sheffield United, said: “We are delighted to hear Mavis is well after her ordeal in 2013 and hope she is enjoying watching the Blades in the Premier League.

“We look forward to offering Mavis a free season ticket when she turns 90, alongside a number of Blades fans who have watched United for many, many years.”