Paul Heckingbottom does not have history on his side when Sheffield United host Cardiff City on Saturday, with the Bluebirds unbeaten on their visits to Bramall Lane since 2004.
Saturday’s opponents have met on 14 occasions since the Blades last beat the Welsh side at home. Neil Warnock oversaw a 2-1 result in a Championship clash in December 2004, with Andy Liddell coming off the bench to equalise before Andy Gray scored the winner.
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Neil Harris put the Bluebirds ahead on 41 minutes, but Cardiff were unable to hold on after Andre Marriner sent Graham Kavanagh off. The referee reached for his red card within a minute of Harris’ goal after Kavanagh attempted a wild lunge for possession on Jon Harley.
Sheffield United rallied after the break with a man advantage and drew level as Liddell met Michael Tonge’s smart pass. Gray then snatched the Blades all three-points after pouncing on a loose ball inside the six-yard box, somewhat fortuitously having been lucky to stay on.
“We were very poor in the first-half,” Warnock explained to BBC Sport. “I thought the two forwards didn’t do anything right, and it was a toss-up between Andy Gray and Paul Shaw over who came off [at half-time]. But we were very positive in the second-half.”
Sheffield United with chance to end 18-year and 38-year waits vs Cardiff
Lady luck has rarely been with Sheffield United when they have faced Cardiff since 2004. In the following 14 meetings, the Blades have only won three times, while the Bluebirds have won five. Each of Sheffield United’s wins have also come in Cardiff, and lost twice at home.
Heckingbottom, then, will hope to follow in Warnock’s footsteps and win on Saturday. A victory would also see Sheffield United do the double over Cardiff for the first time since 1984, after coming from behind to beat a 10-man Bluebirds side 3-2 in Wales in December.
So, what happened to the last Sheffield United squad to beat Cardiff at Bramall Lane?
Ian Bennett (GK)
Ian Bennett only joined Sheffield United on loan from Birmingham the month the Blades last beat Cardiff at Bramall Lane. He signed a short-term deal in South Yorkshire, and later returned for another spell from 2006 to 2010. Yet the goalkeeper only reached 29 games.
He also enjoyed stints with Newcastle United, Peterborough, Coventry City, Leeds and last Huddersfield Town before retiring in 2014. The 50-year-old now works for Middlesbrough as their goalkeeping coach from 2020 after holding the role with Nottingham Forest U21s.
Leigh Bromby
Leigh Bromby moved between Sheffield sides in 2004, leaving Wednesday for United after honing his trade at Hillsborough. The right-back had two stints at Bramall Lane from 2004 to 2008 and briefly returning in 2009 before joining Leeds, where he would retire in 2013.
The 41-year-old made a total of 139 appearances for the Blades in all competitions, and is still in Yorkshire. He now works in West Yorkshire as Huddersfield Town’s head of football operations. He was previously their academy manager before switching roles in May 2020.
Danny Cullip
Danny Cullip only enjoyed a brief career at Sheffield United following his £400k move from Brighton & Hove Albion. He would play just 15 times for the Blades before joining Watford, while later playing for Nottingham Forest, QPR, Gillingham and Lewes and retiring in 2010.
Phil Jagielka
Warnock awarded Phil Jagielka his senior debut with Sheffield United aged 17-years, eight-months in May 2000. The centre-half remained at Bramall Lane until 2007 when he joined Everton, and would return to South Yorkshire in 2019 for two further seasons at the club.
Jagielka left the Blades for a second time in 2021 for Derby County, but only spent half a season at Pride Park. He now plays for Stoke City and has started a combined 37 second-tier games this term. His return to Bramall Lane saw Jagielka reach 301 Blades outings.
Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan began his career at Barnsley and enjoyed seven years with the Tykes before switching South Yorkshire sides in 2003. The defender played 195 games for Barnsley and 278 with Sheffield United, scoring 16 and creating eight goals, before retiring in 2012.
The 44-year-old moved into coaching after retiring as the Blades’ U23s manager after two spells as first-team caretaker boss. He also served as assistant coach to Danny Wilson with Chesterfield from 2015 to 2017 and briefly with Michael Brown at Port Vale during 2017.
Jon Harley
Harley had a nomadic career with stints at Chelsea, Wimbledon, Fulham, Sheffield United, West Ham, Burnley, Watford, Notts County, Rotherham, Portsmouth and Maidstone from 1998 to retiring in 2013. He has been the U23s assistant manager at Chelsea since 2019.
Derek Geary
Derek Geary spent all but a few months of a 13-year career in Sheffield between spells at Wednesday and United. He briefly played for Stockport before joining the Blades in 2004, and went on to amass 115 appearances for the Bramall Lane club and assisted eight goals.
The Irishman later joined Sheffield United’s youth set-up as the U18s manager in 2016 and was promoted to academy manager in January, as Heckingbottom became first-team boss.
Alan Quinn
Alan Quinn enjoyed a playing career that lasted from 1997 to 2015, after briefly returning at Handsworth after a three year pause. His initial career included stints at Cherry Orchard, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, the Blades and Ipswich Town and eight caps for Ireland.
The midfielder played for Sheffield United between 2004 and 2008, racking up 107 games, 11 goals and four assists. Of his outings, 18 came during the 2006/07 Premier League term.
Michael Tonge
Tonge was another Sheffield United product who broke through under Warnock and help secure Premier League football at Bramall Lane. His senior Blades career would last from 2001 to 2008 and included 298 appearances, 24 goals and 10 assists in all competitions.
The midfielder left for Stoke before spells with Preston North End, Derby County, Barnsley, Leeds, Millwall, Stevenage and Port Vale. He retired in 2019 after playing 545 career times.
Andy Gray
Gray had already enjoyed a nomadic career before joining Sheffield United in 2004 from Bradford. He began at Leeds in 1995, before playing for Bury, Nottingham Forest, Preston and Oldham Athletic. The Scot would go on to play 65 games with the Blades, scoring 28.
Sheffield United later sold Gray to Sunderland in 2005, before stints with Burnley, Charlton Athletic, Barnsley, Leeds again and Bradford again before hanging up his boots in 2014.
Paul Shaw
Shaw honed his trade in Arsenal’s academy before stints at Burnley, Cardiff, Peterborough, Millwall and Gillingham before joining Sheffield United. His Bramall Lane adventure lasted from 2004 to 2006 and included just 40 games with the striker scoring a mere eight goals.
The Blades let the Burnham-born forward leave for Rotherham, and Shaw later played for Chesterfield and Oxford City before Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros. He finished his career at FC New York in 2011 after a short stay across the pond after a short spell without a club.
Danny Cadamarteri (on for Shaw at h/t)
Danny Cadamarteri only enjoyed a brief playing career for Sheffield United between 2004 and 2005. Before the Blades, he played for his academy side Everton, Bradford and Leeds. He then returned to Bradford after making just 22 appearances in total at Bramall Lane.
The forward’s career would then later take him to Grays Athletic, Leicester City, Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield, Dundee United and finally Carlisle United before retiring in 2014. He moved into coaching with Sheffield Wednesday and has worked for Burnley and Oldham.
Sheffield United later hired Cadamarteri as a coach in their U18s set-up in November 2020.
Andy Liddell (on for Geary at h/t)
Leeds-born Liddell started his career with Barnsley and played for Wigan Athletic before a short stay at Sheffield United. The attacker only spent the 2004/05 season at Bramall Lane and scored six and assisted 11 goals across 39 appearances in all competitions that term.
His efforts led to joining Oldham for four years up to joining Rotherham in 2009. The 12-time Scotland U21 international would hang up his playing boots after one season there, before becoming caretaker boss in 2011. He was then a fitness coach at Ipswich to 2018.
Paul Thirlwell (on for Quinn on 88’)
Paul Thirlwell only played a brief role in Sheffield United’s last home victory over Cardiff back in 2004. His Blades career was also short, with the midfielder playing 36 games in his sole year there, after spells with academy side Sunderland and a loan with Swindon Town.
Sheffield United let Thirlwell leave in 2005 to join Derby for a season before moving on to Carlisle in 2006. He found a home with the Cumbrians for nine years before a single season at Harrogate Town and retiring in 2016. He is the assistant coach at Harrogate since 2017.
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