Ollie Norwood: Sheffield United's king of ping and a vital cog that some will only appreciate now he's gone

A few minutes was all it took. It was August 14, 2018, and a first-round League Cup tie between Sheffield United and Hull City at Bramall Lane. Just 6,327 bothered to turn out, with United's decision to close the Kop stand a damning indication of the interest levels in the early-season game.

Those who did venture out witnessed the debut of new signing Oliver Norwood in the United midfield, and the instant improvement he made to it. The range of passing. The composure on the ball. The crunch in the tackle. There was also a missed penalty in the shootout, but we'll overlook that for the purposes of this piece.

It was as composed a debut as many can remember and set the tone for what would follow; 227 more appearances in a United shirt, two Premier League promotions, countless cross-field pings. Much was made of United's overlapping centre-backs in their first promotion season and subsequent ninth-placed top-flight finish, their marauding full-backs and free-scoring strikers in David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp. But Norwood was the cog that made the whole thing work at its fluid best.

For me, he didn't always get the credit he deserved for it. Those 70-yard pings, with arrow-like precision onto the boot of George Baldock or Chris Basham on the right, were delivered so consistently that some supporters potentially became a little blase about the skill required to pull it off. His defensive contribution was criminally underrated. There was a bizarre campaign by his boo-boys to convince everyone that he couldn't take a corner.

I've long since maintained that Norwood is exactly the kind of player that some fans take for granted while he's here, and will only miss when he's gone. That time is now upon us, with the 33-year-old's contract not being extended beyond this summer. His retro long-sleeved shirt and Adidas Predators packed away, the quest for a remarkable fifth Premier League promotion taken elsewhere.

Promotion hero Norwood sends poignant Blades message after departure

Writers are a bit like teachers, or parents, in that you're not supposed to have favourites. But there was something about Norwood I really admired, both on and off the pitch. He never hid, even when his detractors started to shout loudest. I thought it took some real courage to step up and slam home that penalty against Wolves into the top corner, to seal United's first win of a miserable season. It must have flashed across his mind, during the long delay, what would await him if he'd missed. Abuse before had forced him to delete his social media accounts and he was well aware of the portion of Blades fans who, for whatever reason, didn't rate him. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to news of his departure helped redress the balance and remind him of the esteem he is held in at Bramall Lane.

We are also privileged to get a peek behind the curtain at players as people and although I wouldn't ever profess that we were friends or anything, I generally found Norwood as impressive off the pitch as he was on it. He's a big cricket man, which helped. He was also brutally honest, a dream to interview because he actually answered the question with a thoughtful and forthright response rather than rely on cliches and give the impression he would rather have been anywhere else in the world. Even when he probably did.

Last summer after promotion and the Town Hall parade, a Premier League player once more, he stayed behind after his teammates had cleared off and shared a beer with a group of us, just generally chewing the fat about life in general. No airs and graces; just an ordinary bloke from Burnley with an extraordinary gift.