Flashback: The day Sheffield descended on Wembley

It is 25 years to the day that virtually the whole of Sheffield draped their red and white or blue and white scarves around their shoulders and traveled 160 miles down the M1 to Wembley to watch the most important Steel City derby in history.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Apr 2018, 15:43 BST
Updated 3rd Apr 2018, 19:06 BST
Winner: Owls players celebrate the winning goal from Mark Bright.Winner: Owls players celebrate the winning goal from Mark Bright.
Winner: Owls players celebrate the winning goal from Mark Bright.

Sheffield United and Wednesday met in the 1993 FA cup semi-final for the right to play Arsenal and 75,364 packed Wembley Stadium to watch their teams battle it out.

Wednesday were favorites and their team boasted stars such as Chris Waddle, Mark Bright and Carlton Palmer, but the Blades were known for their team spirit and had managed to beat Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United 2-1 in the quarter-final.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Wednesday started well and opened the scoring through Waddle, whose curled free-kick found the top right-hand corner of Alan Kelly’s net.

SHeroes: Owls scorers Mark Bright, left, and Chris Waddle.SHeroes: Owls scorers Mark Bright, left, and Chris Waddle.
SHeroes: Owls scorers Mark Bright, left, and Chris Waddle.

Undeterred by the setback, United stayed in the game and managed to equalise through Alan Cork to take the match into extra-time.

As the match drew to a close and the prospect of a replay came into view, Mark Bright nodded in a corner to send the blue and white side of Sheffield into ecstasy.

The Owls took the final to a replay but eventually lost 2-1 against Arsenal with Andy Linighan scoring the winner in the 118th minute.

Despite the lack of silverware for either side of the city, the lasting memory of the semi-final will be when a small part of the north-west of London was turned into the Steel City for a day.

Related topics:Sheffield UnitedWembleyArsenalSheffieldBlades