Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United based in Sheffield City Centre, South Yorkshire and play their trade in the Championship. Nicknamed the “Blades” after the City’s history of Steel making. So many times I have been to this ground with the last visit being a 1-0 loss to Liverpool back in 2019. Two years later and I am back to the Lane in the Kop being true to form! Bristol City are the visitors today with both teams level on points in the bottom half of the table which should hopefully make for a good game!!
The closest ground for me currently and has been for a number of years and with 30 minutes to go until kick off, it’s time to head to the Lane! £26 to get in here! I’m glad to be back! Ben the Blade is here in the Family Stand! Paul Heckingbottom’s first game in charge if the Blades today, will it be a good start? The players are out and Annie’s Song rings around the ground… “YOU FILL UP MY SENSES!”
Kick Off! “U-N-I-T-E-D! Sheff United FC!” 2 minutes in and Morgan Gibbs-White is through on the right hand side of the box, he plays it across… Rhian Brewster can’t get there, United still have it and win a corner, in it comes… Keeper collects. “ALLY ALLY ALLY OH! SUFC! And we hate Wednesday!” Blades fans going for it so far!!
6th minute and Gibbs-White has it for United, he gets to the edge of the box, he beats his man and goes for goal… Over! “Hark now here! United sing! The Wednesday run away! And we will fight forever more because of Boxing Day!” 16 minutes now and Morgan Gibbs-White plays a long ball to the left side for McGoldrick to run onto, he crosses, Jayden Bogle is there… He heads wide!
21 minutes on the clock and Bristol have a corner, in it comes… A free header for Chris Martin… Great save by Foderingham! United hit it away on the left, throw in for Bristol, it’s a long throw-in, Bristol get it down but concede a free kick to United.
“UNITED! UNITED!” 28 minutes now and United have a throw in on the right, it’s played in, United work it across to Conor Hourihane on the edge of the box and he shoots… Keeper saves! The snow is coming down here in Sheffield now!! 33rd minute and United work it across the Bristol box, it’s on the right and crossed in, it comes to Enda Stevens on the edge of the box for the volley… Over!
40th minute and United are starting to take the game to Bristol now! The ball is played to Rhian Brewster in the box, he turns and shoots… AND HE FINDS THE NET!!!!! 1-0!!! The Blades lead!! “Rhian Brewster baby!! Rhian Brewster OHHHH!” At half time the score remained 1-0.
Second half, here comes Greasy Chip Butty again! A collision in the air sees Bristol’s Nathan Baker on the receiving end and it’s a bad one… A substantial amount of time later and he is stretched off, hope he recovers soon! Could be a lot of added time here now…
65th minute and United come forward down the right again, crossed in again, Rhian Brewster is there with the header… Blocked… And Bristol clear their lines. 3 minutes later and Bristol break forward with Andreas Weimann, he gets into the box and plays it back to Tyreeq Bakinson to shoot on the edge of the box… Straight at the keeper!
71 minutes played and United come down the right flank again, played into the box and played through to Gibbs-White to shoot… Straight at the keeper! Bristol clear! “Ally Ally Ally Oh! SUFC! And we hate Wednesday!” The Blades fans are cheering their team home now!
80 minutes now and United have a corner, in it comes… Cleared but only to United who cross again towards John Egan… He heads wide! 1 minute later and United have it on the right again, crossed in again towards Billy Sharp on the volley… Tipped over by the keeper! Corner again, whipped in… Keeper collects. 1 minute after that and Bristol play forward now, it’s played out to the left for Callum O’Dowda, look at the space… He plays it across the middle low… Deflected… Foderingham collects!
88th minute and United play it out wide to the right once again, crossed in and here’s Billy Sharp!! BILLY SHARP FOR THE BLADES!!! He scores yet again!! And that should seal the points for the Blades! 2-0!! “We’ve got Billy Sharp! Billy Sharp! We’ve got Billy Sharp!” 13 minutes of added time here…
“You fill up my senses!” Echoing around the ground now! About 3 minutes into stoppage time and United play the ball from the right wing into David McGoldrick who plays it through to Morgan Gibbs-White who gets into the box, this to finish it!!! No! He’s put it wide!! The snow is starting to settle on the pitch but the game hasn’t been affected and the Referee blows for full time after a lengthy period of injury time!! Perfect start for Heckingbottom!
And here is a few photos from Ben:
FT: Sheffield United 2-0 Bristol City
Ratings
- Atmosphere: 9/10 – The Blades fans did themselves proud today! Love teams that have their own anthems at the start of games!! They drowned out any noise from the Bristol City fans and are a very very passionate fan base to say the least!!
- The Ground: 10/10 – I was harsh last time! This is one of the most iconic grounds in the UK in my opinion! A proper football ground with bags of character and a lot of history! Very close to the pitch as well!! Bramall Lane is a gem!
- Expense: 7/10 – £26 is a bit much in my opinion but it wasn’t too bad a game! It did lack a bit of action at times in both halves but there were goals at least!
- Overall Experience: 9/10 – Great to be back at the Lane after 2 years!! A great club! And delighted to see them win!!
35/40
To see my write up of the game against Scunthorpe in 2017, click here