The 2010s are the first decade in a very long time that no clubs from either West or South Yorkshire have been represented at the highest level of English football.
In fact, the new millennium has been a torrid time for Yorkshire’s three biggest clubs – Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United – all three of which were up there when the old First Division became the Premier League. Other nearby outfits have briefly tasted the giddy heights of Premier League football before taking a very hard fall, such as Bradford City and Barnsley. Much has been written about the football fortunes of other regions – the travails and tribulations of West Midlands clubs over the years, of the East Midlands, and of the historical teams of the North-west, although those have either been in the Premier League, or have come close to the competition during the last 15 years.
This season, fans of Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, and Sheffield United in League One, may all feel reason for cautious optimism. Financial matters aside, stability has been an alien phrase to all three in recent years, particularly at Leeds, whose saga last season could be told in a few books. Likewise, both Barnsley and Bradford City harbour expectations of being among the promotion chasers in League One, on the basis of their showings last season and the squads they currently possess. But to explain things in Yorkshire, a lesson in football history is required.
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Firstly, let us examine the contrasting fortunes of the two Sheffield clubs, between which is a fierce rivalry making the ‘Steel City’ derby one of the major rivalries in English football. In the 60s, both Sheffield clubs were in the First Division and frequently towards the upper end of the table. But the Blades were relegated in 1968 and the Owls followed two years later, although United gained promotion and enjoyed another flourish in the top flight. This contrasted with the bleak decade over at Hillsborough, which would include a five-year spell in the Third Division. However, by 1979 Sheffield United had plunged to the third tier themselves for the first time in history, and the long absence of derbies must have made the first meeting in eight years one of the most anticipated games of the season. As often when one or both of fierce rivals are in the doldrums, derbies can assume disproportionate yet defining significance.
49,000 turned out at Hillsborough on Boxing Day 1979 to see Sheffield Wednesday thrash a Sheffield United side featuring Alex Sabella (who coached Argentina to the 2014 World Cup Final) 4-0. It turned out to be a defining game for the two clubs in the next decade, as Wednesday ended their stay in the Third Division, while their neighbours would plunge even lower the following season. Within five years, Wednesday were back in the top flight, while United at least managed to return to the Second Division in the same period.
The 1980s were the time Leeds United, after 18 years in the First Division and two League Championships, were to spend eight years in the second tier, a period in which they nonetheless churned out some very talented young players who went on to bigger things, not least of which were John Sheridan and Denis Irwin.
1990 was the year Sheffield United and Leeds ended their exile from the First Division, both teams in the top two virtually all season yet only making sure of the fact on the last day of the season. The Whites won 1-0 at Bournemouth (who would take 23 years to return to the second level) while the Blades won 5-2 at Leicester. However, Sheffield Wednesday, under Ron Atkinson, were relegated on the same day, being beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest and giving rise to the headline “Blades Glory – Owls Down”. Yet the inkling feeling was that they were too good to go down, as the following season proved.
The early 1990s would turn out to be a high point for football in Yorkshire, at least for its three biggest clubs. With Sheffield Wednesday promoted and winning the League Cup, Steel City derby hostilities would resume in the League in 1991-92, the last season of the “old” First Division. It was the year in which Leeds won their third, and to date last League Championship, while Trevor Francis’ Wednesday side not only finished third, but were actually in the title race until the closing weeks of the season. David Bassett’s United side finished a very respectable ninth and were seen to have over-achieved with limited resources.
The fortunes of both Sheffield clubs took a hit during the 90s, with United’s relegation in 1994 and Wednesday’s relegation at the end of the decade. However, the Blades came close on a number of occasions to bouncing back and under the eight-year tenure Neil Warnock (an extraordinary long one by modern football standards), finally did manage one Premier League season in 2006-07. Over at Hillsborough, the beginning to the new millennium would be a tale of woe and false starts. Such were the fortunes of both Sheffield clubs, that by 2011-12 the Steel City derby resumed at the League One level, where Sheffield Wednesday would pip their fierce rivals to promotion, having been in the Championship ever since.
Leeds United, on the other hand would live the dream, reaching a Champions’ League semi-final with a team starring Harry Kewell, before a dramatic fall to one of the many cautionary tales in football – along with the likes Fiorentina, Parma and Rangers. This meant an unprecedented three-years at League One level, the last five of which have been mid-table Championship fare, that while anything but boring has not been stable or progressive for that matter.
So, how do Yorkshire’s three biggest clubs stack up in 2015 when all this is taken into account? That Leeds even managed a safe mid-table position under Neil Redfearn last season was something of a miracle, yet the emergence of an exciting crop of youngsters spearheaded by Alex Mowatt has been cause for optimism. While management issues are ongoing it will be interesting to see what Uwe Rösler will do with this lot, a 1-0 opening day win over Burnley suggests that a slight confidence may be taking shape.
Sheffield Wednesday have endured particularly torrid spells during the last 15 years, itself the result of some profligacy during their declining Premier League years. Since their return to the Championship they have been through three managerial changes and are under new ownership, which has at least given fans cause for optimism after a solid mid-table finish last season was taken as a measure of progress.
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On the other hand, United begin their fifth consecutive season in the third tier – their longest outside the top two divisions since the 1979-84 period. But under Nigel Adkins, they are rated favourites for promotion. They came unstuck on the opening day at Gillingham in a 4-0 defeat, but won on Saturday over Chesterfield. Questions are being asked over whether Adkins has paid sufficient attention to the defensive side of the game, while investing in attacking options.
Meanwhile, fellow Yorkshire clubs Barnsley and Bradford City are also hopeful of being in the mix given how competitive League One had been since last season. Bradford had fallen from Premier League to League Two in six-years, but recently have turned their fortunes around with promotion and have won back a good deal of respect with two memorable Cup runs. Conversely, Barnsley have had to regroup after an often precarious eight-year stay in the Championship. Both clubs have squads plenty good enough to be in the mix, as they could easily have been at times last season.
It has been a tough millennium for several Yorkshire clubs (while Huddersfield Town, not covered here, will at least mark four consecutive years of Championship football), but in 2015 there are at least some signs of the corner being turned, however, slowly.
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