Away Day Wiz Diaries #22 - Blades 2-0 Stoke... plus End of Season Awards

The final away day of the normal season, but Alan's going to be back for more.

Alan Pickard

So, just like that, the 24/25 season draws to a close... ish. Except this is Sheffield United. And there's at least one more trip to write up. *Maybe two.

We started in York way back in July. Since then, I've gone north, south, east and west, covering 2,265 miles with only Luton Town missing from my season. There have been some amazing days along the way, and I'm not wanting to sound self-critical here, but these write-ups do not do our days out justice. To do that, I'd need to sit at my dining table typing away for hours on end. I've tried to keep it short and sweet, and I hope those who have read about our days out have enjoyed my weird sense of humour! Thank you to anyone who's read my nonsense, and to Sam for giving me the opportunity to do this.

So, with 22/23 games done and dusted, only one question remained. Could we do it on a mild Friday night in Stoke? And, it turned out, we could indeed. I think there's far more importance to the Stoke and Blackburn fixtures than people are maybe thinking. For one, there are potentially three cup finals coming up — players want to play in those games. So now more than ever, they've got to prove they are worthy of getting a starting shirt. And secondly, momentum. We need a couple of wins to build that.

A late-ish set-off saw us leave Farm Road at 3:30pm to allow people to work, and we headed off down to Uttoxeter for a couple of hours for a few light refreshments. And as you can see, we were expecting a really warm welcome from Staffordshire’s finest. I've moaned about the way fans-only coaches get treated enough throughout the season, so I'll not bother boring you again... Anyway, Uttoxeter — lovely place. The three pubs we went in were traditional and welcoming. And you just got a sense that those who had travelled all seemed in really good spirits. And we'll need that spirit to continue beyond the Blackburn game.

The Britannia Stadium then... new build, 1996?? Ish... not that new then, actually. I remember my first visit here on Boxing Day of 1997, I think it was. 2–2 draw. I've been back pretty much every time we've played here too, and still I cannot get my head around the fact that they built the main stand in a different postcode to the rest of the ground? You could land a plane between it and the pitch. Maybe the stadium architect left extra space for Rory Delap’s run-up? Who knows. Away fans have been moved now into the latest part of the build, in the corner. I dunno why, but you always get a better atmosphere going in a corner. It's one of life’s mysteries.

A professional performance from a much-changed side. Sam McCallum with a very tidy header had us one-nil up at the break and Andre Brooks with a composed finish in the second half put the gloss on it. But the star of the show, as always, was Gus Hamer. Stood in the away end with his boy. He must have had a picture with 500 different people throughout the night! I've got a lot of time for footballers who remain down to earth.

Alternative MOTM — Mick Godber. Cheers for what you do for us, pal.

And with it being the last game of the regular season, here's my list of awards for no apparent reason (away games only).

Alan’s “Away Awards” of the season

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