SHEFFIELD UNITED

Emirates FA Cup 3rd Round

Sunday 6th January 2019

Kick Off: 2.00 pm

Stadium: Bramall Lane, Sheffield, S2 4SU

Telephone: 0114 253 7200

Club Colours: Red & White stripes with Black shorts

Nickname: The Blades

Key Personnel:

Chris Wilder is the current Gaffer at Bramall Lane. A defender who started at Southampton and made nearly 500 professional appearance for amongst others Sheffield United, Rotherham United, Halifax Town, Notts County and Bradford City. His management career began at Alfreton Town, he moved on to Halifax Town, Oxford United, Northampton Town and joined the Blades in May 2016.

Brief Directions by Road:

Allow at least 3-4 hours for the journey from Barnet. Leave the M1 at Junction its junction 33 and follow the A630 (Sheffield Parkway) into Sheffield City Centre. Follow signs for A621 Bakewell, where the ground is well signposted. My preferred route is more scenic via the A1 – this road has always been my fiend – junction 35 and onto the M18 and then onto the M1 for its junction 33 as above.

Car Parking:

Street parking is fairly unrestricted but arriving late will involve a bit of a walk.

There is also the option of renting a private driveway near Bramall Lane via YourParkingSpace.co.uk.

The club recommend:

APCOA Car Parking,
Eyre Street,
The Moor MSPC,
Eyre Street,
Sheffield,
S1 4QW

Show your match ticket and park all day for just £3.50.

Directions by Train:

Sheffield Station is only about a mile away from the stadium. A 15 walk via St Mary’s Road is your route. An east Midlands train from St Pancras will take around 3 hours.

Coach Travel:

Coaches A & C depart Barnet Everyman at 08:30 prompt.

Coaches B & D depart The Hive London at 08:30 prompt.

Eating and Drinking Locally:

The pubs very close to the ground ‘Sheaf House’, ‘Railway Hotel’, the ‘Golden Lion’ and

‘The Cricketers’ are for home fans only. On Eccleshall Road,about 10 minutes walk, is the Wetherspoons Sheaf Island. The Beer Engine on Cemetery Road comes recommended by the club. Close to the station are the Globe or my choice the Rutland Arms on Brown Street. Alcohol is available in the ground where the normal array of food is also on offer.

Ground Description:

The ground has a marvellous history and today boasts a capacity of 32,000. It is possibly the oldest stadium in the world still hosting professional football being built in 1955 as a cricket ground but started to stage football in 1862. (Mansfield Town argue otherwise but they did drop out of the professional league for a spell). The first ever floodlit match was held here in 1878. The ground was three sided until 1975 when the GAC cantilevered stand and car park swamped the old cricket outfield

This stand which with its large single tier and the Redbrik Estate with two tiers now meet in the corner. The John Street Stand has a line of executive boxes while the home fans stronghold is the Kop stand -the old terrace now converted to seating. A couple of pillars can obscure your view.

Rivals:

A team in blue and white with a silly name on the other side of the city.

Admission Prices:

Adults £10.00 Concessions £5.00 to be purchased from the Hive in normal office hours or after the Wood game on January 1st. Tickets will be available on the turnstile at Bramall Lane for an additional £2.00

We will be allocated the upper section of the Redbrik Estate stand

Overnight Stay Factor:

Had this been a Saturday kick off at 3pm an overnighter in the Steel City would have been a 7/10 but I’ve got to go to work next morning! #beeinbonnet

Celebrity Watch:

Autograph books and selfie stick at the ready everyone! Sean Bean, actor, Dave Berry singer, “Crying Game” 1964, in my top 10 singles of all time, Two Cockers Jarvis and Joe, Brian Glover, actor “I read a book once – green it was!”, a couple of Artic Monkeys, Eddie Izzard, a sort of comedian, Patrick “The Prisoner” McGoohan, actor, Michael Palin, outstanding personality, Donald “pick that pin up” Pleasance, actor, Gordon Banks, 1966 hero, Lord Coe, Jogger, Trevor Francis, Joe Root………..enough now?

 

Tony ‘Reckless’ Hammond