Roy Remembers: THE BRIAN DEANE STORY

Part Two of our series about the history of the Blades on the box.

Andrew Hague

Welcome back to Roy Remembers, a series of articles where I look back at United-related media from the past. Today in part two of four, I focus on “The Brian Deane Story”. You can watch the video in the link below:

Brian Deane is undoubtedly one of the most revered Blades players of all time. The last United player to be capped by England whilst still at the club, Deane scored 93 goals in 223 games during his 3 spells at The Lane and was arguably the sole reason why we stayed in the top flight for 4 seasons between 1990-1994. 

“The Brian Deane Story” was released in December 1992 during the first-ever Premier League season when United were struggling at the wrong end of the table.  The Blades would eventually survive relegation, largely thanks to Deane’s goals, but in June 1993 he was sold to Leeds United in a deal worth £3m. The following season saw The Blades relegated back to the second tier and they would have to wait 12 years for a return. 

The documentary begins with Deane’s former teacher Mike Swift (looking like a cooler Mick Fleetwood) reminiscing about the young Brian. There are some great nuggets in there. Early career expectations about Deane saw a trajectory towards the Navy thanks to his athletic prowess. Deane himself at one point admits that his concentration levels were not always at their best. “I was distracted by girls at school. Not in a way that…..you know” he says, in a sentence that hangs in the air and leaves your imagination running wild. 

                                Mention Sam Fox again and I’ll strike you

Mr. Fleetwood says the young Brian Deane was a “sickly child” at school before we are shown footage of the striker nutmegging Chris Woods in the 1991 Steel City Derby. This goal was, of course, the clincher in The Blades’ 2-0 win at Bramall Lane over Wednesday and was the first part of a famous “derby double” that saw United overcome the odds to take 6 points off Wednesday’s best side in a generation. 

                                               Where’s the white ball going?

Deane’s most famous goals are shown throughout the video and his lobbed finish against Liverpool at the Lane in 1992 is used as the backdrop to the story of his unsuccessful trial at future club Leeds as a 13-year-old. This rejection hit Deane hard, and we hear how he wrote to his brother immediately following the trials, simply telling him “I’m finished”.

Thankfully, his brother convinced him to continue and it’s here where it starts to become clear just how much the striker’s upbringing helped nurture his career. Deane speaks touchingly about his early days, mentioning how he was never pressured by anyone in his family when trying to make his way into professional football.  

With the encouragement of his brother, Deane put the disappointment of the Leeds rejection behind him and went on to try out for fellow Yorkshire club Doncaster Rovers. Deane impressed and the then 17-year-old was offered a pro contract at Belle Vue, soon finding himself in the starting lineup for the fourth-tier side. On his Rovers debut, Deane speaks of how he was so nervous that he felt like he was going to collapse after 10 minutes. The Donny manager at the time, Dave Cussack, is interviewed and reveals how he had to toughen up the timid Deane. This led to the young striker elbowing his manager in the face during a particularly intense training session, leaving Cussack on the floor covered in blood.

Cussack says he saw Deane as a better version of John “Fash The Bash” Fashanu but without the aggression. It’s here that we learn that Sheffield Wednesday were interested in the young Deane at Doncaster before he was eventually signed by United at just 19 years old. Then Blades manager Dave Bassett is featured for the first time and tries to explain what he initially saw in the young striker signing. As usual though, he talks way too fast and is impossible to understand. 

Deane explains how he felt when he first drove up to the car park at United after signing, saying he was amazed by what he saw. We are then shown this picture to illustrate the glamour of Bramall Lane at the time:

                                                             “Amazed”

Bassett is then back on, bizarrely saying “Bramall Lane is an impressive club”, before talking about how delighted he was that Deano chose the Blades over other offers. Thinking back to Deane’s United debut against Reading at the Lane on the opening day of the 1988/89 season, “Harry” admits he was concerned about putting him up front alongside fellow new signing Francis Joseph.

Perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in Blades history wasn’t Deane getting his first goal in that game, but Jospeh getting injured and being replaced by Tony Agana. Deane and Agana hit it off and are still probably the most notorious striking duo in living memory.

We see clips of Deane and Agana linking up in the third and second divisions as the Blades achieve double promotions to get back to the top flight. Deane talks about how happy he was to play in England's top tier before a montage of the 13 goals he scored in United’s first season back in the old first division. 

We then hear from Deane’s mother who reveals she can’t even listen to her son play on the radio, saying that when she tunes into Radio Sheffield’s “Praise or Grumble” show, she feels like phoning up herself.

Deane says when the fans chant his name it “feels like an almost, you know, appreciation” and lauds the United faithful for having such good humour even when things aren't going well. After this, we get another video of him megging Woods and rightly so.

                                                       Close your legs

The documentary ends with Deane insisting he couldn't ask for a better manager than Bassett. He talks about how he is linked with other clubs and how he has been loyal to the Blades despite the interest elsewhere. The pride about his England debut in 1991 against New Zealand is also clear to see. There’s no doubt that Deane was one of the best strikers in the country at the time and the video ends with him scoring the first ever Premier League goal.

It’s interesting here to note that this feat isn’t even mentioned, instead, it is spoken about like it was just another Brian Deane goal for Sheffield United. It seems like nobody at the time knew just how important this goal would go on to be seen in the history of English football.

As for my own views, I have to admit that I wouldn’t recommend this video for most Sheffield United fans. Deane does come across as a genuinely humble person and the best parts are definitely seeing how proud his family are of what he has achieved to this point. However, at a whole hour long, it’s a bit of a slog for a player who at that point is still really just starting out in football. Deane would go on to play for a further 14 years and this video doesn’t even tell half the story of his career. His goals are always great to see but you can find them elsewhere on various other end-of-season review videos. 

That said, it’s a great document of how good Deane was at United and a nice tribute to our last full England international. It’s a testament to just how much of a hero Deane was to Blades fans of all ages that this documentary was made at all. He was by far the most popular United player of the era and Deane’s name alone was probably enough to see this video end up in stockings up and down Sheffield on Christmas Day. 

For those of us who grew up watching Deane in United colours, he will always be held up as the standard that other Blades strikers should aim to emulate. 

                                                    “DEANO DEANO DEANO”