Sheffield United boost as Chris Wilder extends contract
Sheffield United have received a welcome boost in a difficult summer with the news that manager Chris Wilder has extended his contract until 2028.
The Sheffield-born former Blades player is in his third spell managing the club he supported as a boy, having replaced Ruben Selles last September. At the time he signed a contract which was due to expire next summer, but he has now extended it by a further 12 months.
Wilder's return last season, having been sacked after defeat in the 2025 Championship play-off final, saved the club from the threat of Championship relegation but came too late to make them serious promotion contenders.
By missing out on that, the Blades are now heading into their first season since 2019-20 without either being in the Premier League, or receiving post-relegation parachute payments.
In that environment, they lost last season's player of the year Andre Brooks to Norwich City for an undisclosed fee.
With senior players Tom Davis, Danny Ings and Ben Mee also released, to date their only addition for the coming campaign has been Romelle Donovan, who is on loan from Brentford.
The club has also had issues off the field, with previous owner Prince Abdullah bin Musaed Al Saud this month issuing a winding-up order to COH Sports, the company which bought the club off him for around £105m in December 2024. Ownership of the club has since passed to 1919 Partnership, which has a pretty similar leadership. It has been described as a better vehicle to attract new investment.
The winding-up order has raised questions about whether the Blades might be found in breach of Football League rules.
Supporter concerns prompted vice-chairman Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy to issue a rare public statement reiterating "our commitment to Sheffield United has not changed and it is not going to."
They added: "On the football side, nothing about the current legal matter touches what happens at Bramall Lane or at the training ground day to day."
Adding to the disruption, Wilder has reshuffled his coaching staff, dispensing with long-time assistant Alan Knill and adding former Manchester United defender Phil Jones to the first-team coaching staff, whilst promoting Michael Collins from the academy.
Rosen and Eltoukhy were quick to acknowledge and correct their mistake in replacing Wilder with Selles, and the 58-year-old's decision to commit to a contract extension is a much-needed vote of confidence in them, and hopefully a sign that it is well and truly in the past.
As the manager who took the Blades from League One to ninth in the Premier League during his first spell in charge, not to mention his deeper emotional connections with the club, like any manager Wilder is not without his critics but the news will be broadly welcomed by the fanbase.
Wilder started his managerial career with Alfreton Town and Halifax Town in non-league football, before progressing to Oxford United and Northampton Town, then landing his dream job.
He was named League Managers' Association manager of the year after taking the club into the Premier League in 2019.
With the club heading for relegation in a difficult second season in the top flight in 2021, he had brief spells managing Middlesbrough and Watford.
But he has always found Bramall Lane hard to resist as a manager, and with the club on course for another Premier League relegation in December 2023, he returned again. Although he could not avoid relegation, he took the club to the Championship play-off final the following season before narrowly losing to Sunderland.
The Blades' season starts with a League Cup first-round tie at Mansfield Town on August 9, and a Championship match at home to Birmingham City six days later.
They have until 11pm on September 1 to add to their squad for the first half of the campaign.