Dave Bassett's Sheffield United legacy lives on as "trailblazer" former manager hits another milestone

The long hair may have thinned a little, the body which took some real punishment from fights with his own players a little older. But Dave Bassett’s status as a genuine Sheffield United legend, as he celebrates his 80th birthday today, is as strong as ever.

The man who guided United to two promotions in the space of two years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bassett was more than just a manager. He was a trailblazer, an icon, a character. It is rare in football for a man who spent so long at one football club to be spoken highly of by those who served under him. In Bassett’s case, it’s hard to find someone who remembers his near-eight year stint at Bramall Lane anything other than fondly.

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His time in South Yorkshire - which saw him battle the big boys on a shoestring budget and pull off miracle after miracle before relegation eventually caught up with United in 1994 - brought so many iconic moments. That day at Leicester in 1990; the first Premier League goal. Derby doubles over Wednesday. Iconic cup nights. Memories to last a lifetime.

Decried because of his style of play at Wimbledon and United, and unfairly tagged as something of a football “dinosaur,” Bassett was anything but. Over a career spanning more than 1,000 games he was actually ahead of the curve when it came to implementing sports science methods, video analysis and changing the diets and habits of his players - years before Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal and was credited for doing the same.

He even paved the way for the myriad club documentaries that we see today. The BBC series United! may not have been as polished as today’s efforts from Amazon and Netflix but offer a brilliant glimpse into the club back in 1989/90, culminating with that promotion day at Filbert Street. “The documentary capped an incredible season with a brilliant finish,” said current Blades boss Chris Wilder, one of Bassett’s former players who was on the pitch against Leicester.

“It was one of the trailblazers and that's what Harry was. He was a trailblazer in terms of sports science, from a psychology point of view and video analysis. Harry was a larger than life character – a fighter and nothing was given to him in terms of his playing and coaching career. He started at the bottom and worked his way up to the First Division to become an incredible manager; one of the best this football club has ever had.

“He's a mentor to me and I speak to him every two or three weeks. He’s still tight with a lot of the old players he’s managed. He's someone I've leant on now since I became a manager 20-odd years ago. He'll always give his opinion, as you can imagine, and, while I might not always agree with it, I'll always listen to it and respect it because he had an outstanding career.”

Bassett’s Bramall Lane tenure is chronicled in the upcoming book Bassett’s Blades, written by United journalists Danny Hall and Nathan Hemmingham. Amongst those to be interviewed include Chris Kamara, the former Blades midfielder who became a celebrated TV personality after hanging up his boots.

“He has a very unfair reputation from some people in football but having worked under Dave Bassett, I am convinced that he would have been perfect for today’s game,” Kamara said in his foreword. “Absolutely 100 per cent perfect. He was one of the best man-managers in football and although he’ll tell you himself that he isn’t the best coach in the world, he had the ability to put teams together. The ability to motivate them and the ability to let characters be characters and then produce on a football pitch, which is not always an easy thing to do. Football has changed a lot over the years but a Dave Bassett figure now would be awesome.”

The mercurial Glyn Hodges was one of many players to have played under Bassett at Wimbledon and Bramall Lane, although the relationship was not always rosy. “I don’t think I ever came home with a full month’s money,” Hodges laughed. “Harry was always fining me for something. If you stepped over the line, he’d cut your legs off and bring you back down to earth very rapidly.

“He gave me my head. He gave me responsibility and let me do what I did. Obviously, it was within a structure in the game but I knew that he trusted me in positions. It was the licence to just go and play my football. He gave me good roles where he would trust me and I could do what I did best. He gave me free rein to do that. He knew when to push our buttons and when it was time to work. The difference between playing and working. He knew when it was time to work and work hard.

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“He would actively encourage rows and digging people out. I daren’t pull out of a tackle. I daren’t pull out of a header because I knew the dressing room would come for me. There was no hiding place and you were accountable. You fought your corner, but you got told in no uncertain terms.

“If it got too serious, then he would have to act. But he had people he could trust in his changing rooms and we all looked after each other. He loved it. He loved all the skullduggery, all the loons, and he would always turn a blind eye if anything happened that he could brush under the carpet. I should have kept a diary for Wimbledon and Sheffield United. Because it was that far-fetched that they would make a film out of it.”

Bassett’s Blades, published by Vertical Editions, is released this month. Pre-order at www.verticaleditions.com/shop or buy from all good book stores.