Sheffield United

1992-1993 premierleague season

12 Wimbledon 54
13 Everton 53
14 SHEFFIELD UNITED 52
15 Coventry City 52
16 Ipswich Town 52

1993-1994 premierleague season

18 Southampton 43
19 Ipswich Town 43
20 Sheffield United 42 *RELEGATED
21 Oldham Athletic 40
22 Swindon Town 30

Founder members Sheffield United hold the unique honour of scoring the first-ever goal in the Premier League when, on August 15, 1992, Brian Deane found the net after only five minutes in a 2-1 victory over eventual champions Manchester United at Bramall Lane. It proved to be a season of incredibly mixed fortunes for United as, bottom of the table by February 6 after a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, they then displayed title-winning form, which included a 6-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur, to comfortably escape relegation. Dave Bassett’s side also reached the FA Cup semi-final during the 1992/93 season but were beaten 2-1 by local rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The following campaign again proved a test and the Blades were in the bottom three towards the end of February. However, a run of one defeat in 12 games seemed to have provided the late surge to secure Premier League survival. But a last-gasp Chelsea goal in a 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge, coupled with Everton’s dramatic comeback home win over Wimbledon, sent the Blades down to Division One, from which they did not return until the 2005/06 season. The years in between saw Howard Kendall, Nigel Spackman, Steve Bruce and Adrian Heath all take spells in the manager’s chair. But it was not until lifelong Blades fan Neil Warnock took the helm in December 1999 that the side was moulded into its current incarnation. A play-off final loss in 2003 to Wolverhampton Wanderers was coupled with FA Cup semi-final heartbreak to Arsenal and a League Cup semi-final defeat by Liverpool in the same year. But the ever-colourful and charismatic Warnock was not to be denied and he led the Blades into the Barclays Premiership as Championship runners-up.

Dave Bassett resigned as manager in November 1995 to be replaced by Howard Kendall, who was at the helm for 18 months before being lured back to Everton for his third spell as manager at the end of the 1996-97 season, just a few weeks after Sheffield United blew the chance of a return to the Premiership by losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the Division One Play-Off Final.

Over the next two-and-a-half years, Sheffield United had three unsuccessful managers - Nigel Spackman, Steve Bruce and Adrian Heath - although they reached the FA Cup semi final again in 1998. In December 1999 the club turned to Neil Warnock in a bid to re-establish the club as promotion challengers. At this time the club was over £20m in debt and the priority was cutting costs, so Warnock’s first three seasons in charge ended in mid-table finishes in Division One.

2002-03 was a promising season for Sheffield United, when they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup & League Cup, losing both ties to Premiership clubs, Arsenal and Liverpool. They also reached the Division One playoff final, but were beaten 3-0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium.

In both 2003-04 and 2004-05, Sheffield United narrowly missed out on a place in the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League finishing 8th in both seasons.

The team celebrating promotion2005-06 was the team’s twelfth straight season at the second level of the English football pyramid - a period longer than any other team currently in the Championship, and their longest spell in any Division since 1934.

After beating Cardiff 1-0 on Good Friday, United required only one point from their final three games to secure their promotion. Results later that evening meant only Leeds United could in theory catch Sheffield United, but the following day, April 15, 2006, they failed to beat Reading at Elland Road. After many disappointments in the previous few seasons, Sheffield United were finally back in the Premiership.