Sheffield United enters the Championship play-off final against Sunderland as favourites for promotion, but they may have to overcome a curse to reach the Premier League.
The Blades have never won the play-offs in nine prior campaigns, and they have yet to score a goal in the four finals they have reached. In the second tier, Sheffield United lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the 1997 play-off final, then 3-0 to Wolves in 2003 and 1-0 to Burnley in 2009.
In 2012, the Yorkshire team lost the League One play-off final on penalties against Huddersfield after the game ended 0-0.
Former striker Billy Sharp, a lifelong Sheffield United fan and member of the previous two squads to reach the top division, will be cheering them on from the stands.
Sharp scored 116 goals for the club until leaving in 2023; the 39-year-old is now at Doncaster Rovers, where he helped them return to League One this season.
“I’m a Sheffield United fan through and through, I still follow every game, and I’ll have my shirt on for the final, wanting the club to get promoted,” he told FourFourTwo while attending an EFL media event to preview the match at Wembley Stadium.
“I’ve wanted that as a youngster, as a fan, as a player, and as a captain, and it’s the same as now. My two lads, especially the oldest, watch Sheffield United more than he comes to watch me!
“He is looking forward to going, and maybe he will be smiling and not have to go through what I did as a child. I still have those horrible memories from years ago.
“Hopefully, it will be a fantastic day, with Sheffield United finally scoring in a play-off final and being promoted back to the Premier League.
“They’ll go into the game as favourites, but everyone knows a one-off game at Wembley doesn’t go that way all the time – Sheffield United and Wembley don’t really go well together, so hopefully that can change.”
Southampton, who won the play-offs last season, have been relegated to the Championship after accumulating only 12 points in the top division this season, while Sheffield United were relegated a year ago with only 16 points and a Premier League record 104 goals conceded.
However, Blades manager Chris Wilder previously led the team to a ninth-place Premier League finish following promotion in 2019, and Sharp feels they will not be cannon fodder if they return to the top tier.
“It is getting harder for the teams that go up because the gap is getting bigger, as you’ve seen this year the three teams that went up came straight back down quite comfortably,” he said.
The Premier League is the world’s toughest and best league; getting there is difficult, but staying there is much more difficult. “But in our first season under Chris Wilder in the Premier League, we performed admirably, finishing ninth; no one anticipated us to finish so high.
“He’ll have learnt from his previous experience in the Premier League as manager, and he hopes to maintain Sheffield United there for many years. “Watching Premier League football at Bramall Lane every weekend is what the supporters want, my children want, and the city wants. Hopefully, they can get there, maintain it, and remain there for many years.”
Wimbledon’s Wembley hero
Charlton Athletic face Leyton Orient in Sunday’s League One play-off final, while AFC Wimbledon meet Walsall in the League Two final on Monday.
Dave Beasant, the legendary former Wimbledon custodian who saved a penalty in the club’s 1988 FA Cup final victory, attended this week’s EFL media event at Wembley Stadium and hopes the Dons can return to the third division. “The club means an awful lot to a lot of the players who were there at Wimbledon,” he told the Financial Times.
“I spent nine years of my career there, and while this isn’t the Wimbledon I played for, it is my Wimbledon, and my heart remains here. “They’ve done very well to get to Wembley.
They had a good season but faded in the end, but unless you win the title, there’s no better way to get promoted than winning at Wembley. They’re more than capable of delivering the results they require.”
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