The summer 'Christmas' party that helped Sheffield United through a Premier League season and who was REALLY behind it

The location was one of their favourite watering holes - The Porter Cottage pub. And it was there, as they gathered in a quiet corner of the hostelry in Sharrow, where an idea which would go down in English football folklore was first discussed.

“We used to have a few pints in there on a Friday night if we were at home the next day,” Derek French, United’s physiotherapist back then, explains. “Everyone was sat around, talking about what we might do because we didn’t always get going until later in the year, when the whole thing about having a Christmas party in the summer came up. Harry thought it was brilliant and so that’s what we did - singing on stage, Santa suits, decorations, crackers - the full works.

“Because we always improved after the festive period, we thought we might as well get it out of the way right at the beginning and then go from there. And it worked.”

This weekend, as they prepare for Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Chelsea, United find themselves back on familiar turf. Despite challenging for a place in Europe last season, only a year after being promoted from the Championship, Chris Wilder’s side will emerge from the tunnel supposedly low on confidence, low on belief and definitely low on points after taking only one from seven outings since returning to action in September.

Wilder, who played under Bassett during his first spell at Bramall Lane, still counts the Londoner as a friend and a mentor despite being sold a month before the now legendary bash helped inspire a sequence of results which not only saw United comfortably retain their top-flight status but also reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Although he is unlikely to unpack the tinsel and deck the halls of their hotel with holly when his players arrive in the capital tomorrow evening, Wilder is not averse to doing things other managers might find unusual in order to release tension among his squad. At the beginning of his reign, following a painful defeat at Millwall, he encouraged them to “have a damn good drink” on the journey back to South Yorkshire after emptying a nearby off-licence of its weekend lager stock.

Although he remains confident United will avoid the drop, one of those who attended Bassett’s famous ‘festive’ soiree would not be surprised if Wilder is preparing something similar ahead of the meeting with Frank Lampard’s side in order to inspire another upturn in fortunes. Eight months after that unscheduled pitstop in Bermondsey, United had climbed out of League One and on their way back to the top-flight.

“Dave, or Harry as everyone calls him, was a brilliant man-manager and you can tell Chris is the same,” former midfielder Kevin Gage says, remembering the event 28 years ago which continues to fascinate journalists and supporters alike. “Harry was always coming up with different things to get the best out of the lads - telling us nobody rated us, that the opposition thought they were better than us and stuff like that.

“He used to come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful drills in training, and we’d call him ‘Dave Bassettqualio’ for a laugh. If Harry had been foreign, people would have looked at him differently because he was really innovative and forward thinking. Chris is the exactly the same, they both know what it takes.”

“The idea of having a Christmas party in the summer, though, that was really unusual,” Gage adds. “Everyone came along, all the wives and girlfriends, and we all got properly dressed up. It just made everyone laugh really and, looking back, that was probably no bad thing. But to be honest, none of us were too surprised with what had happened -even though I actually think it was Frenchy who came up with the whole thing.

“If anything, when you looked around the room, it just made you realise what a talented bunch we’d got. You knew, in there and in the dressing room, when you saw people like Glyn Hodges and Brian Deane sat next to you that you were capable of giving anyone a game.”

Deane, who scored 119 goals in 275 appearances for United spread over three different periods, described the get-together as a “laugh” but suspects other, much more humdrum factors, were responsible for their achievements that term.

“Yes, I can still picture it, the Christmas party that didn’t happen at Christmas,” Deane smiles. “It got a lot of attention at the time and it was fun. But for me, the biggest thing was that we had a group that was willing to fight for each other and go that extra mile if it was required.”

“We had lots of ability, more than we ever got credit for, but on top of that we were also ready to take whoever we were up against out of their comfort zone,” Deane continues. “We could also mix it up and I don’t think there was anyone who ever fancied coming to our place in winter, when the nights were cold and dark, because they knew we’d battle as well. That was probably why, even though we didn’t always start well back in those days, we always got going as the season went on.”

Another United player at the time, defender Tommy Cowan, admits to only having vague memories of the get-together Bassett arranged and which captured the imagination of the national and regional media. But, echoing Deane’s theory about United’s famous camaraderie, he inadvertently reminded those representing the club now how they can plot a course out of trouble.

“No matter what, we always stayed tight - tighter than any other team I knew,” Cowan reminds. “We could play football. But we never lost sight of the fact that it was all about the marathon not the sprint.

“Yes, pressure builds a little bit when things aren’t going your way. But so long as you stick together and remember what you’re about, it’s amazing as a player how that first win just kickstarts everything.”

French agrees.

“The boys now are a really close knit group, just like the lot we had were,” he says. “What we did back then was for a bit of a laugh - Harry said ‘The boys are daft enough to believe it’s Christmas so let’s go for it, let’s trick them.’ I’m only joking, but yes, he’s told me it was my idea. Everyone needs a bit of positivity at times but from what I’ve seen, these lads have enough to get out of it. They’ve shown they can do it and one result can change everything. History shows you that.”

Despite being a cause for concern - Wilder admitted his men looked “anxious” following last weekend’s defeat by Manchester City - the situation United now find themselves in is far from irretrievable. They lost five and drew one of their opening seven fixtures following Bassett’s Christmas party before going on to come 14th. The season before, they lost five in a row after holding Norwich City and West Ham before rising to ninth - the ranking they achieved last term, despite being written off as relegation certainties.

“I’ve been watching all the games and, to be honest, I don’t think we’ve actually played that badly,” Gage says. “As Chris has mentioned, there’s a few things we can tighten up on but, really, I don’t think results have reflected the performances. This group has shown they’re good enough before and, so long as they keep working hard, which they will do under Chris, then things will eventually go their way. This club knows better than anyone not to listen to anyone else. You’ve only got to look into our history.”

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