Sheffield United FC were formed at No 10 Norfolk Row in what now is the City Centre on March 22nd 1889 and as a result of the record crowd that had gathered at the Bramall Lane ground to watch the first FA Cup semi-final played in the City a short while earlier.
The name ‘United’ is taken from the ‘Sheffield United Cricket Club’ and we are the oldest ‘United’ playing football at professional level in the game.
The club was formed to be a major force in the fast growing game of the time, and within a decade of its birth, Sheffield United had won the League Championship (1897/98), won the forerunner of the Charity Shield, then known as the ‘Sheriff’s Shield’ and the FA Cup in 1899 – an incredible number of major honours in a short space of time.
United’s early playing colours were white shirts along with blue shorts and socks. A thin red stripe appeared in 1892 and the more common ‘candy stripes’ for which we are famous were adopted in 1894. Black shorts were introduced in 1910 along with red and occasionally black socks.
In 1904 the club became the only one to this day in the top flight of the English game to field a starting 11 of full England international players. United would also go on to win the FA Cup on a further three occasions, playing in six finals. The Blades have also finished runners-up in the top flight on two other occasions and remain one of only a handful of clubs who have won every title in the League structure, culminating with lifting the League One trophy under Chris Wilder in 2017.
The nickname of The Blades is gleaned from the famous and bespoken cutlery and knife industry that Sheffield is famed for which thrived in the very shadow of our famous home, Bramall Lane.
We were founding members of both League Division Two (in 1892) and the Premier League (in 1992).
