Sheffield United fans are preparing for the trip to Wembley on Saturday, as they face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final, with a place in the Premier League at stake.
Supporters are hoping that the South Yorkshire team can end their terrible play-off history. The Blades will be playing in their home uniform in the capital after finishing third in the regular season.
But this season, Sunderland has proved formidable versus Sheffield United, and it appears that this matchup will be just as fiercely contested as those two encounters.
However, the Black Cats are powerless to alter one specific statistic that will work in favor of Chris Wilder’s team on Saturday.
Sheffield United supporters are in the East Stand at Wembley, Championship sides have a strong record at that end
Although there isn’t a home advantage, one side of the stadium has more winners than the other, and both teams have received slightly over 35,000 tickets for the match.
With the exception of Fulham in 2020 because the game was played behind closed doors, ten of the seventeen victors since the inaugural Championship play-off final was held at the new Wembley Stadium in 2007 have had their fans in the East Stand.
Four of the first five victors had their supporters on that side of the field when Derby County began this eighteen years ago, when they defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0.
Despite being one of the unfortunate seven teams to lose while seated in the East Stand, Sheffield United will be hoping to continue the trend on Saturday. Burnley defeated the Blades 1-0 in the 2009 play-off final, and Wade Elliott scored one of the team’s memorable goals.
However, with Southampton’s 1-0 victory over Leeds United last season, the West Stand was home to Southampton’s supporters, and Wilder has the chance to carry on the tradition of the previous eight winners switching between the two halves.
Blades supporters may feel outnumbered in London
Although in the stands it will be 50:50, Sunderland fans have demonstrated in the past exactly how dedicated and passionate their support is and London will be crowded with Black Cats supporters.
They have a history, alongside their rivals Newcastle United, of convening at Trafalgar Square the evening before kick-off, and the capital may feel like a lonely place to be a Blade.
Wembley will be a sea of red and white on Saturday afternoon, though, as Sheffield United also has a sizable fan base. Wilder will be looking to maintain his play-off record.
With more than 35,000 supporters, the Blades stand a good chance of returning to the Premier League alongside Leeds and Burnley, hoping to get revenge for their pathetic 2023–24 top tier campaign in which they finished last.
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