Chris Wilder’s first Sheffield derby was in April 1980. He was at Bramall Lane as a 12-year-old to see his United draw 1-1 with Wednesday, Terry Curran curling a brilliant shot into the corner of the net after John MacPhail gave the Blades the lead. He didn’t go to the game earlier in the season at Hillsborough, which was probably just as well as Wednesday won that one 4-0.
On Sunday, 37 years on and the day after his 50th birthday, Wilder takes charge of his boyhood club in a derby for the first time. A United fan who succeeded where Danny Wilson, David Weir, Nigel Clough and Nigel Adkins failed in heaving them out of League One, it is tough to see how he could be more popular with his fellow Blades. A win against Wednesday might do it, of course.
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There’s no doubt what these games represent. It gives you the extra yard, to jump a bit higher, to run a bit quicker
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