Chris Wilder's selfless Sheffield United made of the Wright stuff

It is arguably the perfect metaphor for Sheffield United, currently basking in the glow of a dream League One title-winning campaign, which they could have scarcely envisaged 12 months ago.

Among the Blades’ contingent who were feted by thousands of Unitedites during their open-top bus parade from Bramall Lane to the town hall last night, which was followed by a lavish reception, there were plenty of compelling individual stories.

Such as those of defender Jake Wright and manager Chris Wilder, for whom there was the completion of a journey together.

Keighley-born Wright is one of those ultra-dependable foot soldiers around whom all successful promotion crusades are built.

And when Wilder wanted an experienced, trustworthy senior option to add to his central defensive department after heading to Bramall Lane, he did not have far to look.

Wright had never let Wilder down during their times together at Halifax and Oxford and it was something that the new Blades chief clearly remembered.

The pair’s association goes back to some fraught times at The Shay just under a decade ago when the club were fighting financial fires off the pitch, but still managed to hold their own on it and drew collective strength from considerable adversity.

During brief lulls between the partying this week, the duo may well recollect those tough times too.

Wright, a consistent force during a sterling 2016-17 campaign with the Blades – with the 31-year-old yet to be on a losing United side – said: “I remember we had the lowest budget in the league at Halifax and got to the (Conference) play-off final and lost in extra-time. In that (2005-06) season, we would have just been happy to stay up, but we got to the final.

“You remember those times and it was credit to the gaffer and his staff at the time and that is what he does with teams. It was hard times, so where I am now, I am really happy.

“You have seasons in football where you don’t really enjoy the group you are with or like half of them. But here, everyone is together and we do everything together. In training, we have a laugh together. If we are going out for a beer, we all go together.

“The gaffer has always done that, right back in the day from Halifax. He made sure we always had a beer together; he also did that at Oxford and at Northampton last year and does that here.

“It works and is brilliant and gets you through sticky situations, like in the first four or five games of this season when we weren’t playing well.

“We stuck together and did not split off and that has carried us through the season.”

Allied to their obvious footballing acumen, which has enabled the Blades to join that exclusive bracket of clubs to register a century of points in a season, a collective old-school ‘all-for-one’ approach fostered by Wilder has clearly played its part too.

For seasoned Blades followers, that innate sense of togetherness and unquenchable spirit has drawn parallels with similarly memorable times under the likes of Dave Bassett, someone who Wilder knows well.

It is a comparison that would sit well with the Blades manager, who played under Bassett in his formative years.

Wilder said: “There are no egos at our football club – whether it is the players or staff. We are all together on and off the pitch.

“It is a powerful club when we get it going in the right direction.

“I am delighted we have got our club back. Here, you are in or you are out.

“There are no grey areas. You are on the ‘open-top bus’ or you are not and that is it.

“About a month ago, we had a couple of ‘do’s’ and there were a couple of murmurs saying,‘I can’t be doing this or that’. I said, ‘You either come and be involved or you are out.

“Players have to make that commitment, regardless of if it is an appearance at a local school or player of the year ‘do’. It is either everything in or you are not.

“That is the way I have always run it and will run it right the way through here.”

When Wilder has not hammered home that message, it has been reinforced by his on-pitch leader in Billy Sharp, whose input both in terms of goals and captaincy has been inestimable.

Special applause was reserved for boyhood Blade Sharp at last night’s celebrations and you sense that Wilder will have led the acclaim.

On his 30-goal striker, Wilder added: “I looked at him (last summer) and thought, ‘He wants to drive this club forward and has unfinished business’.

“The time was right for Billy in his career to lead a club.

“He has led the club properly on the pitch and in the changing room.

“The biggest compliment I would give Billy is that I would go out for a beer with him as he is such a good kid.”