retired_w0lfpack1

Wednesday, 16th May, 2007. League One Playoff - Semi-Final Second Leg, vs Sheffield Wednesday.

Was it an ill omen to face Wednesday on their namesake date?

It was a brave group on the verge of collapse which lined up for the second leg. Allan McGregor passed a pre-match fitness test, and started in goal despite the strained oblique which limited his range of motion. The defense was Rory Beanes, Steve Foster, Hayden Fox, and in his 54th start of the season, iron man Eric Deloumeaux. Alan Quinn, Paul Thirlwell, Jack Lester, and Chris Sedgwick all needed a rest, but they would be my midfield. Up front, Dene Cropper partnered with Billy Sharp, despite Peter Weatherson's protestations that he was ready to start - I'd hold him on the bench for the second half.

The teams came out of the tunnel, and our Kop greeted the enemy with
Hello, Hello, we are the Shoreham boys
Hello, Hello, we are the Shoreham boys
And if you are Wednesday-ite
Surrender or you'll die
We all follow United!

We entered the match trailing 1-2 thanks to the result from the first leg. It took us merely three minutes to correct that.

Rory Beanes took control of a loose ball in midfield, and knocked a forty-yard back-pass to Allan McGregor. His blasted long clearance bypassed everybody. Dene Cropper burst free past a defense as exhausted as ours was, raced into the area, and slotted it home to the bottom-left corner. The sold-out crowd of 30,870 were all on their feet, and the noise was incredible!! We led 1-0, and with a 2-2 aggregate, we were ahead on away goals!

It was a tense, hard-fought game, and in the 15th minute a slide tackle by Beanes proved to be crucial, as he took away the legs of Wednesday's leading scorer Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu. It took a long visit from the physios to get the Congo forward back on his feet, and he never looked the same.

In the 17th minute, Alan Quinn's cross found Dene Cropper in the box. The big man is best with his head, and his powerful header would have beaten most goalkeepers, but was brilliantly held by Lee Grant.

The game was living up to its billing, chances at both ends, but Ndumbu-Nsungu was clearly struggling, and at 30 minutes he became the first substitution, replaced with Lee Peacock. Dene Cropper earned a yellow card in the 42nd minute, and remembering his red-card double booking against Brentford, I made a mental note to bring him off. We still led 1-0 at halftime, and nerves were getting taut on both sides.

Nobody who is familiar with the rivalry will be surprised that the match got very intense in the second half. Both sides were playing good tight defense - Wednesday were in a 5-3-2 - and fine tackles were flying around the place. I brought Cropper off for Peter Weatherson on the hour; Wednesday had made all of their changes by the 61st minute.

The players were visibly tiring, and as the match grew in intensity, referee Rob Martin began handing out fouls and yellow cards. Paul Thirlwell drew a yellow for tripping Peacock in the 61st. A foul by Eric Delomeaux gave away a dangerous free kick in the 68th, and when it deflected off the wall, my heart stopped momentarily, but Allan McGregor recovered, diving to his right to make the save. He got up wincing - what a gritty performance!

Fifteen minutes to play, now ten.. could we hold on?

In the 83rd minute, I made my final throw of the dice. Four yellow cards had been handed out in the last twenty minutes, extra time loomed, and my two central midfielders, Paul Thirlwell and Jack Lester, were exhausted and both carrying a card already. I didn't want to take a chance on a tired mistake, but I had nobody of quality left on the bench. Nonetheless, I made the change, and my new central midfield was youngsters Ian Ross and Stephen Pearson, with orders to run, run, run.

In injury time, we earned a corner kick. Chris Sedgwick played it out to Ross, unmarked on the 18 across from the near post. The youngster took a shot into a forest of bodies, but Luke Foster blocked it, and it went out for another corner. This time, Wednesday defender Mikele Leigertwood was given orders to mark him tightly. Again, Sedgwick played it to the youngster. His first touch was atrocious, fairly uncontrolled, but he set out after it with a burst of speed. Leigertwood, too exhausted to stay with the youngster, stuck out his foot. Ross fell to the turf, and the whistle blew. I could hardly believe it, despite the roar of approval from the crowd: Martin was pointing to the spot!

Utter silence reigned as Chris Sedgwick stepped up to take the most important United penalty since Don Giverns's chance to save the Blades from relegation at the end of the 1980/81 season. That famous miss was surely present in the minds of United fans as Sedgwick began his run-up...

GOAL!!!

He buried it to the keeper's left!! The crowd erupted in joyous celebration. A 2-0 lead, a 3-2 aggregate, and surely the referee would blow full time right as Wednesday kicked off - which he did!

Sheffield United 2, Sheffield Wednesday 0
Cropper 3, Sedgwick pen 90; ----
MoM: Sedgwick
Sheffield United 3, Sheffield Wednesday 2 (aggregate)

What a game!

What a rivalry!

Our delighted supporters cheered us off the pitch:

The Blades are going up
The Blades are going up
And now you'd better believe it
And now you'd better believe it
And now you'd better - believe - it
The BLADES ARE GOING UP!

Chris Sedgwick, the man who converted that nerve-wracking penalty, was Man of the Match, and the celebration lasted well into the night. We were now a single match from promotion to the Championship, a goal I had privately set for next season rather than this!

retired_brittni10

Excellent

Good Luck in the Final!

retired_brookelynn136

Brilliant stuff.

Spent the last few days reading the whole thing start to finish, and I'd say it's one of the top 3 CM/FM stories I've ever read.

I just wish I didn't have to wait for updates!

Best of luck in the final.

retired_ashton0615

I can't wait to see how Ian Richards will break Rupert Wormwoods poisoned pen by guiding Sheffield United to a new glorious age.

I love this story Amaroq! It is one thing to make up a story by just playing the game. But this one has so much added flavour because of all of the little sidelines you have put in and that is why check the adventures of the legendary Ian Richards every day. Well done!

retired_iva terry

Congrats...now for the final

retired_richcoble

This is a fantastic story that has left me completely engrossed in your progression from the conference north to league one and possibly the championship. A cracking read.

retired_wrkhudur

yes, it is a great story... not happy about you beating the might sheffield wednesday though!!

retired_w0lfpack1

Thank you all so very much! It means the world to me that you are enjoying this so much - really justifies the time put into it.

Joel - yes, that's always the danger in getting caught up

Doolev - "poisoned pen", that's a great turn of phrase! I'm glad you appreciate all of the extras; I was worried it might get 'too wordy' at times.

rlipscombe - oops! I knew I'd be upsetting at least one Wednesday supporter!

retired_w0lfpack1

Thursday, 17th May, 2007.

"There are some matches you just don't lose," my friend Ope had once told me, trying to explain the British passion for football to an uninitiated American, "without handing in your resignation the next day."

Apparently, for Wednesday fans, this match was one of them: Sheffield Wednesday manager Chris Waddle handed in his resignation that same evening.

Of course, the morning press were full of nothing but the match. I was being acclaimed a genius for bringing on Ross when I did, "when nobody else would have trusted him," and it was written frequently that I had outmanaged Waddle. Rupert Wormwood was strangely silent on that matter, instead devoting his razor wit to belittling Wednesday for 'throwing away' the first-leg lead.

Of course, United chairman Derek Dooley could not hide his delight with our win over our arch rivals, and the letters to the sports editor were entirely convinced that I'd been the right hire. Overall, it had been a real crash course in just how important the United-Wednesday rivalry is in the Steel City.

retired_w0lfpack1

Friday, 18th May, 2007.

Even as anticipation began to build for the Final, a week away yet, I continued to work on assembling next season's squad. I was very excited that 17-year-old Burnley attacking midfielder Joe Newell has agreed to join the Blades over summer. He's young and very talented already, so I hope he'll become a key part of the squad down the line, justifying the £650,000 I was investing in him.

We also added 17-year-old striker Chris Gray, of Workington, for £30,000, a move entirely based on his potential down the line rather than any belief that he might help the squad in the short-term.

On the other side of the ledger, the day after his crucial play earned the game-winning penalty, Ian Ross agreed to terms with Kidderminster. It may have been a shock to the fans that the youngster was leaving, especially given his hero status, but anybody who knows my style and was paying attention to the signings I'd made so far was unsurprised. Ross would fetch £50,000. Less notable were three other deals, primarily aimed at clearing out the deadwood: Paul Cooke has agreed a transfer to Ashton United for £3,000, and John Talbot signed with Moor Green for £1,000. 16-year-old Stephen Pearson has agreed terms to join Rushall on a free transfer.

My search for my own staff brought us a third new scout, Nick Andrews. That leaves us five, total, on the payroll, which is more than I want to carry. He's not as good a judge of talent as Dave or Spencer, but he's much more capable than either of the scouts I inherited. For now, I'll use Kevin Randall to scout the next opposition, and leave Wayne Broughton unassigned, scouting whichever targets of opportunity I might ask him to investigate.

In other news, the UEFA Cup Final was Wednesday night, and Borussia Dortmund defeated Manchester United, 2-0, limiting the Red Devils to a mere three shots on goal, and completely dominating the match. It was an inglorious end to the European campaign of all English club sides, and England was actually in danger of losing a Champions League berth as a result.

Thursday night was the second leg of the other playoff semi-final, and Barnsley, after a solid 4-1 victory in the first game, were content with a 1-2 defeat that saw them through on aggregate, 5-3. They would be our opponent in the playoff Final, the last obstacle between United and a berth in the Championship. The match was to be a week from today, at Wembley.

Paying attention to the fatigue which my players were exhibiting, I took my top sixteen players and placed them on an alternate training schedule which I devised for just this purpose. I eschewed physical exercise and strenuous workouts, and instead placed them on a regime which focused on the mental aspect of the game: videos, shadow play, chalkboard sessions. In particular, on the chance that the match would go to a shootout, I had them practice penalty-taking every day.