SHEFFIELD UNITED’S 2025-26 Championship campaign was always going to be tough – given the way the previous season had ended with defeat in the play-off final to Sunderland at Wembley.

But nobody could have predicted how bad.

Okay, so the Blades didn’t suffer relegation like their Steel City neighbours Sheffield Wednesday, but they did shoot themselves massively in the foot during the summer after their Wembley heartache against the Black Cats.

Firstly, there was the decision to sack Chris Wilder and replace him with Ruben Selles, who himself had been sacked despite keeping Hull City up on the final day of the season.

NOT ENOUGH: Sheffield United's Callum O'Hare scores against Ipswich at Bramall Lane in January. Picture: Bruce Rollinson/PA.

placeholder image — NOT ENOUGH: Sheffield United's Callum O'Hare scores against Ipswich at Bramall Lane in January. Picture: Bruce Rollinson/PA.

Just a handful of winless games had passed before Selles himself was sacked and replaced by Wilder.

But the damage of the recruitment carried out at the whim of data analysts in the summer had been done and it was too much for Chris Wilder to turn around. The play-offs were briefly possible but, in the end, a mid-table obscurity finish (13th) was the best they could have hoped for.

A summer of squad rebuilding beckons for Wilder and the Blades and, for the first time, without Premier League parachute payments. One thing is for sure, though – Wilder will have a squad made up of players he wants at Bramall Lane.

Here, The YP’s chief football writer, Stuart Rayner, looks back at the Blades 2025-26 campaign and what they need to do during the summer months to try and ensure a better 2026-27 campaign.

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