Big Sheffield United what if? moment remembered as unconventional methods inspired promotion assault
Big Sheffield United what if? moment remembered as unconventional methods inspired promotion assault
Sheffield United’s history has been littered with big what-if moments - times when the entire direction of the club could have easily been altered with a small turn of the dial. Think back to the side that were a point away from qualifying for Europe back in 1974/75, before going down the following season.
The cruel end to the Triple Assault campaign at Cardiff in 2003. Wembley 2009 which began a baffling slide into League One which lasted for six painful seasons. The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 which derailed a push for European football which looked well and truly on, before the world fell apart.
Every era of Unitedite will have its own ‘near miss’ with another big question surrounding the Howard Kendall era in the 1990s. It was brief but for a time it was brilliant, United signing a host of players with top-flight pedigree in a bid to get them back there.
Fans who remember the era still talk glowingly about Gordon Cowans pulling the strings in midfield, Jan Aage Fjortoft and Gareth Taylor battling up front, two ‘keepers of the quality of Alan Kelly and Simon Tracey keeping the other on the bench.
Little surprise, then, that United’s class of 1997 reached that season’s play-off final, before the cruellest defeats - thanks to David Hopkin’s last-minute volley from long range - sealed Crystal Palace’s Premier League place and condemned United to another season in Division One.
It was to be Kendall’s final game in charge before he went to Everton and although United regrouped through a tumultuous season to achieve another play-off place and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, 1997 was as close as they came to the Premier League until they eventually made it eight years later, before being instantly relegated.
It’s a ‘what-if?’ story that has crossed many minds in the years since; would Kendall have remained if he had taken up? Would his squad, packed with top-flight experience and good pedigree, have made a fist of survival? If so, and United consolidated as a Premier League club, how different could things be now?
Big Sheffield United what if? moment remembered as unconventional methods inspired promotion assault
“Oh, we'd have been fine,” insisted midfielder Don Hutchinson, speaking to The Star on behalf of www.sportscasting.com. ”I can remember chatting to Howard Kendall on the bus after a game, just picking his brains about being a manager and being a coach.
“I asked him: ‘When you are buying your players, what are you looking for?’ He said, ‘If I buy Championship players, we'll stay in the Championship. If I buy Premier League players, we'll go to the Premier League.’
“And in the space of 18 months, he signed Michel Vonk and David White from Man City. He signed Gordon Cowans from Villa. I came from West Ham. Gareth Taylor came, Jan Fjortoft came. Andy Walker came, Scottish number nine. We already had the goalkeeper, Alan Kelly.
“He filled our team full of Premier League players, basically, to try and get out of the Championship. His theory was if you buy Championship players, you'll just stay in the Championship. You've got to buy Premier League players. We would have been absolutely fine.”
Kendall passed away a decade ago, at the age of 69, and is mostly remembered for his first spell in charge at Goodison Park, where he delivered trophies including the First Division [twice], the FA Cup and the 1984/85 European Cup Winners' Cup.
His time at United, in comparison, was brief; but sparked fond memories that endear to this day. “Millions,” Hutchinson, who followed Kendall to Everton from Bramall Lane. “I mean, it was just hilarious. I used to pick Gareth Taylor up, who used to live right next to me.
“And honestly, we were like two kids in a sweet shop. When I used to pick him up, it was like we couldn't wait to go into work because we knew something funny and something memorable would happen.
“Howard was famous for his Chinese Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, we'd go to a Chinese restaurant and we'd eat loads of food, have loads of drinks, because Wednesday was normally a day off. And the only rule was that everyone's name got put into a tombola hat. He and the coaching staff would pick out names.
“If it was your name, you had to walk to the top table where the gaffer and all the coaching staff were, and you had two options. You could either tell a joke or sing a song, and that was your only thing for the day. When you've had a few drinks, it's quite funny. We started really well that season under Howard, and we just kept on going with the Chinese Tuesdays.
“Then went away somewhere down south, and we got mullered. We got hammered. So the gaffer came in after the game and went ballistic. He just hammered all the players, and then said: ‘Right, that's it. Chinese Tuesdays are finished. They're all over. You've had your blast.’
“Everyone was more devastated that Chinese Tuesdays had gone than the defeat! And then, typically for Howard, he recognised that the sort of room was all doom and gloom, which is definitely not what he was about.
“Then with a killer line, he just said: ‘Don't worry, lads, it's now on a Wednesday!’ It was brilliant. The team spirit was just off the charts. But it was every day.”