Through a stranger's eyes

Justin Walley reminisces about his three very different experiences of Sheffield United over the course of 30 years as an away fan and as a visiting coach.

Words: Justin Walley

Through all the highs and lows, we remain loyal to the football team we support. Our love is unconditional. We create an image and personality around our club that only we and our fellow fans feel and understand. But what do outsiders think of our football club – those who have visited our beloved stadium, drank in our local pubs on match day, been 'visitors' in our city?

Becoming a man

20th September, 1988

I'm not sure if you become a man when you turn 16. Or when you leave home. For me, I think, the first time I felt like a real grown-up was making my debut in men's football in 1988, aged seventeen. Or it might have been earlier the same month when, not more than a week after passing my driving test, I set off on my first ever long-distance road trip: Sheffield United vs Northampton Town, away at Bramall Lane. 

I support Northampton Town. I love my football club. It's been mostly lows rather than highs during the forty-plus years I have followed the club – much of that, you could say, is my late grandfather's fault. He's the one who first took me to watch them play when I was six years old, and is the reason I saw us narrowly lose to then-European-Champions Aston Villa thanks to that goal by Mark Walters in the FA Cup in 1982. He was the one that drove us to the County Ground when a pathetic 942 souls braved the 1984/85 season and the club was seemingly hurtling towards extinction. He was also the one who used to take me almost every week in 1986 when we experienced an epic transformation from terrible to brilliant, couldn't stop scoring goals – 103 of them – and ran away with the fourth division title. And Jack, my grandfather, was the one who sat in the passenger seat of my silver Ford Capri as we set off from my parents' house in Leicestershire on a Tuesday afternoon bound for Sheffield in September 1988.

M69, M1, 65 mph all the way to Sheffield. As first big road trips go, it was easy. Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N' Roses was number one that week. We almost certainly heard it at least three times on Radio 1 on the journey up. We parked up on a terraced street.

From the very first moment we set off to find a local pub I remember thinking this place feels very real – mostly in a good way. Football pubs were much rougher than they are today, but whichever pub we ended up in – I don’t remember the name – it was friendly and down to earth. Cigarette smoke, dated decor, excited chatter and pints of real ale. 

I guess Sheffield was dying at that time. The deindustrialisation of a working-class city made economic decline feel more pronounced in somewhere like Sheffield. It was downtrodden, melancholic. But I also recall an authenticity, a community feel to Sheffield which by then was lost in other towns and cities. The city felt huge in comparison to Northampton and the nearby Leicestershire town I came from and yet it seemed like a village within a city. There was a pleasant sense of contradiction in that. Through this stranger's eyes, it felt huge and tiny at the same time. I'm not sure if anyone reading will appreciate this, but Sheffield that night reminded me of a Lowry painting. 

There was a certain aura around Sheffield United Football Club for me. I knew it was one of the oldest clubs on earth, with Bramall Lane more than a century old. Our tickets were in a double-decker stand behind the goal. Giant Subbuteo floodlights were still commonplace in those days and I loved stadiums all the more for them. A certain Chris Wilder was among the Sheffield United squad, as was the legendary Peter Withe! And the charismatic Dave Bassett was manager. Fortuitously, we had the brilliant Tony Adcock, whose twenty-goal haul was a big reason why we narrowly avoided relegation that season. Sheffield United, of course, were to finish the season as runners-up to Wolves.

The Blades hammered us. It ended up being 4-0 thanks to goals from Agana, Bryson (2), and Deane. I recall a huge roar from the home fans with each goal. There were 12,000 there. It might not sound like much these days but it was three times the average home crowd we had that season, and this was Division 3 on a Tuesday night.

As the game drew to a close, it was the first time I remember experiencing that sinking feeling of we are being thrashed and I've got to drive all the way home after. It might be a false memory, but I'm sure I remember Bobby McFerrin's Don't worry be happy playing on the tannoy as we left.

Despite the disappointment of a heavy defeat, there was that sense of accomplishment on the drive home, of completing my first big road trip as a driver. I think I also left Sheffield with positive emotions around the people of the city and of having had a small adventure somewhere that was a bit 'different' to where I was from. 

Class is timeless

30th December, 2016

The new year is around the corner and I've promised to take my girlfriend away for a night to a decent hotel. I guess she wasn't expecting Sheffield. I've never stayed in a football hotel before and have decided now is the perfect time: Sheffield United away. It's a fantastic feeling parking up outside the stadium and knowing I don't need to worry about the car until we leave 24 hours or so later. 

The Copthorne Hotel is clearly decent but the heating doesn't work in our room. I have to remind the front desk three times of our predicament and waste an hour being messed about. We end up with a portable blow heater in the room. On the (very) positive side though, we are compensated for our bad experience with the offer of a free meal in the hotel restaurant, which is a big improvement on the bag of chips we had planned on having for dinner. 

My Russian girlfriend is beautiful and she turns some heads as we glide across reception to the restaurant. Perhaps it wasn't Katya that prompted him to glance over, but I've spotted a very familiar face. It's Chris Wilder having a beer with friends ahead of the game. Nine times out of ten when I see someone 'famous' I don't bother them, but I make a beeline for Chris. 

I'm sorry to disturb you Chris, but I really want to thank you for everything you did at my football club. You helped save the club when we were close to going out of business and you won the league playing brilliant football. 

A smiling Chris appreciates my recognition and sentiment and we speak briefly about his time at the Cobblers and about the game tomorrow. He offers us to join him, which I'd love to, but I suspect he's just being a gentleman. I don't want to impose upon him, especially as he’s with friends and has the game tomorrow. We give each other a firm handshake and I stride off to our complimentary dinner, buzzing from meeting Chris. 

After dinner, we go for a stroll and a pint. There's been obvious regeneration since I was last here twenty-eight years ago, but in some ways the city feels emptier, perhaps slightly soulless; less authentic in comparison to the past. 

31st December, 2016

What a brilliant feeling waking up practically on the pitch at the stadium. There's time for breakfast and a pre-match pint. United is now a modern club. I sense it's not lost its spirit but it is clearly a club that's headed very much in the right direction. 

There's a big crowd in for this. 24,194 is double the attendance of my last game here three decades ago. We've brought almost 2,000 ourselves and we sing our hearts out all afternoon. Kieron Freeman scores what proves to be the winner. I sense the noise of goal celebration isn't twice as loud as it was in the 80s, mind you. The Blades go top of the league and with Chris in charge of players such as Fleck and Sharp, the club and the city look destined for better and more prosperous times.

A proper club

November 2017

It's a very long story but I'm now the national team manager of Matabeleland, and am living at the bottom of the world in Zimbabwe. Next year, my team of lads from the impoverished streets of Bulawayo will play at the CONIFA World Cup in London. I want to improve as a coach and learn from the best, and in my humble opinion, Chris Wilder and Alan Knill are the finest in the business. I write a letter to Sheffield United and to Chris Wilder asking whether I can spend half a day at the club next year, when I am back in Europe, in order to observe training. It's a bit of a shot in the dark. Don't ask, don't get. It's worth a try. 

March 12, 2018

If you ever wanted proof that you can realise your dreams in life, here it is. Not only am I, against all odds, an international football manager, but I'm now sitting in the office of my favourite coach on the planet. 

It says an awful lot about both Sheffield United Football Club and Chris Wilder that I'm here at all. What an honour it was to receive that letter saying Chris and the club would be happy to host me at the training ground. Mr Wilder and I sit for thirty minutes discussing his football philosophy and tips on how I might improve Matabeleland football team. 

He clearly loves Sheffield United. It's part of his DNA. I tell him he will get promoted to the Premier League. He tells me lots of very honest things about his time at Northampton and United. One line in particular sticks in my memory:

Treat your players and staff the way you would wish to be treated yourself. 

I briefly meet the brilliantly-talented Alan Knill and spend time with the data analysts learning how they do things. I love the atmosphere at the training ground. It's very old school in certain senses: you wouldn't imagine this is a big Championship club knocking on the door of the Premier League. The players drink tea and exchange banter ahead of training, which I experience almost as if I'm a fly on the wall. My favourite lower-league player, Ricky Holmes, who Sheffield United signed from Northampton Town is here, but I resist the temptation to bother him while he's joking with his teammates. It's enjoyable to observe the players chatting and laughing, as is training, although the non-stop torrential rain is a bane. As a coach, it's invaluable to see how things are done at a place like this, both on and off the pitch. 

It's my third time visiting Sheffield United and my third positive experience. The way Chris Wilder, Alan Knill and the backroom staff welcomed me with open arms to observe training and what goes on behind the scenes perfectly sums up much about the identity of both the club and Sheffield: the football club and the city have both moved forwards since I was last here, and while much has changed, some things have remained constant: the genuine hospitality, friendliness and openness.

I like this city and its people. And I find myself feeling some kind of affinity towards this football club. When they eventually get promoted to the Premier League, I will support them and try to watch as many of their games as possible on TV. And when they inevitably fall into some kind of decline I will still always look out for their results and hope for the best for the club. A proper club. 

Justin Walley is a football coach, football administrator and journalist currently based in Latvia. You can follow him on Twitter at @justinwalley10.

If you want to read about his experiences coaching Matabeleland and taking them to the CONIFA World Cup (which includes a more detailed description of his day spent at Sheffield United in 2018) you can do so in his book 'One Football, No Nets', which is available on Amazon.