Remembering the day Sheffield United's boss took aim at "muppets" from Leeds United after Blades beat Whites to promotion

United had beaten Ipswich Town at Bramall Lane the previous day and knew that anything but a Leeds win would put them in the Premier League. Leeds went ahead through a controversial goal from Mateusz Klich, after Villa had stopped following an injury, before Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa ordered his side to let Villa score unopposed.

For United it was the perfect riposte to comments from Leeds players, including Patrick Bamford, who had attempted to pile the psychological pressure on United in the race for second place.

"We've had one defeat in 13 and I've got muppets from Leeds talking about the pressure being on us," Wilder said in an interview soon after promotion had been sealed.

“Bamford and [Adam] Forshaw and a couple of others. ‘It's over to you’ and this, that and the other. They got beat seven times since Christmas. We've been beaten once. We've set it up from Christmas to be in the race and we've steamrolled it. After the international break, two points a game. That's promotion form right the way through in the pressure part of the season. Listen, don't mention anything about bottle and b******s or about us dipping out. Full respect to Marcelo as well for the way they handled that today. Not full respect to Patrick Bamford, obviously.

“But the way we've gone about it, I think it has gone under the radar. It's not got enough credit in terms of media coverage. Everybody wanted Leeds to go up. And we've just come absolutely steaming through and deserve to play Premier League football.

"It’ll be a fabulous experience for everyone at our football club. We had a lot of pelters for six years when we were in League One and a lot of crap to put up with, for a long long time. Now, it’s our time. We’ve got to enjoy it. We’ll enjoy this period and we might take a few thumpings. But everyone said that in the Championship, as well. Two years, in and out.

“In, year, out. See ya.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to The Star website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit https://www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.