Exclusive:Bloodied Sheffield Wednesday fan holds no malice for Sheffield United after being struck by object
A Sheffield Wednesday supporter who sustained a gruesome injury ahead of the weekend’s Steel City derby has made clear the incident is not indicative of the behaviour of the wider Sheffield United fanbase - or the city itself.
Thousands of football supporters descended on Bramall Lane on Sunday for the 148th competitive clash between the two teams, which United won 2-1 to officially consign the Owls to relegation. Five arrests were made on the day by a heavy police presence that saw hundreds of Wednesday supporters escorted towards the stadium, with flashpoints between supporters including the hurling of a traffic cone into a crowded area.
One fan who sustained an injury on the day was Gloucestershire-based Wednesdayite Steve Daff, who was pictured with blood pouring down his face having been hit by an unknown missile somewhere close to the Cricketers Arms pub just metres from the turn off from Bramall Lane towards the away end. The 54-year-old, who travels to home and away Owls matches all over the country, received medical treatment outside the stadium and was later treated at Northern General.
The festival director travelled up the night before and enjoyed a meet-up with friends on West Street before heading down to the stadium with his 16-year-old daughter, who burst into tears at the sight of her father covered in blood. It was the first time he had been part of a police escort on his way to a match.
Speaking to The Star, Steve said he was angry about his injury and had feared for the safety of his daughter, but had no feeling of malice towards the wider Blades fanbase.
He said: “I’ve been following Wednesday for years and I’ve never really seen any trouble, I’ve never got into any trouble at matches. Thinking about it, Wednesday have those idiots in the crowd as well, showing their phones to opposition supporters with messages and stuff and chanting nonsense. One idiot fan doesn’t make a fanbase. I’m not from Sheffield, I’ve never lived in Sheffield and I don’t know any Blades where I’m from. But I know Sheffield people and they’re sound as a pound. Every club has got their idiots.
“I had three cuts in my head, one deeper than the others so we don’t think it was a coin that was thrown. They couldn’t tell me what it was. But it must have been chucked with such force. Thankfully it hit me and not my daughter. I would have been fuming, absolutely fuming. But it doesn’t mean all Blades are bad. There were a few chucking things but it’s just a few idiots.”
Steve said he was still deciding his next course of action over whether to take the incident further and seek to press charges - hopeful that the level of police presence and CCTV footage around the ground could make it feasible should he choose to do so. He never made it into the ground due to the medical attention required and returned home with his daughter late into the evening with his head glued.
A Wednesdayite through birth who has family connections across the city, Steve reiterated that his issue sat only with the individual responsible - and that he had been shocked by the incident.
“My family’s from Sheffield; my dad is from Parson Cross, so was my Gran, my Auntie lived in Hillsborough,” he said. “The people there are nice, they’re great. There’s a good, natural, friendly nature about them. But when it comes to the derby it brings something out of some people. That’s not the Sheffield I know.
“I was thinking about the tragedies they’ve had with the young kids over the last couple of years and how the city comes together. It doesn’t matter which team you support or what part of town you live in, that’s the Sheffield I know. I’m sad this has happened to me. It’s just disappointing, to be honest.”
Some 350 police officers from forces across the north of England were present at the match. A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police told The Star: “Five people were arrested during the police operation around the fixture between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday (22 February). Four people were arrested for being drunk and disorderly while another person was arrested on suspicion of assault.”