The history of Sheffield United Football Club, an English football club based in Sheffield, dates back to the club's formation in 1889.
Early years
Sheffield United Football Club was formed at Bramall Lane on 22 March 1889 by the Sheffield United Cricket Club at the suggestion of its president, Sir Charles Clegg. Clegg was a famous local sportsman, Chairman of the Sheffield FA and also chairman of Sheffield Wednesday, who had been the tenants at Bramall Lane from 1881 to 1887 but had vacated after a dispute over rent. Due to the lost revenue the decision was taken to form a football branch of the Cricket club thus United were established.
The Sheffield United cricket club itself had been going at Bramall Lane since 1854 and was the first English sports club to use United in its name after a number of local clubs were unable to self-sustain and merged. It has been suggested that some of The Blades original players came from an earlier amateur side called Norfolk F.C., who played in the Youdan Cup.
The team was formed six days after a crowd of 22,688 paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final played at Bramall Lane between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion, with gate receipts of £574. Charles Stokes, a member of the Ground Committee saw the financial possibilities of a permanent football team and they were a professional club almost from the start. They played their first game against Notts Rangers of the Midland Counties League on 7 September 1889 losing 4–1 at Meadow Lane. Their first game at Bramall Lane did not come until 28 September 1889 against Birmingham St George's of the Football Alliance which they also lost 4–0.
United's first season was composed of friendlies and local cup matches, but notable for them reaching the second round of the FA Cup at their first attempt by beating Football League side Burnley 2–1 at home. However, the next cup game against Bolton Wanderers gave United their record defeat 13–0 and persuaded the committee that regular competitive league games were required.
They joined the Midland Counties League for the 1890–91 season, finishing fifth. This season was the first time that the club introduced a red stripe to their shirts, having played their first season in all-white shirts. Unhappy at being overlooked for the Football Alliance and no longer satisfied with the Midland, they then competed the following season in the Northern League finishing third. At the end of the season they applied to join the Football League First Division, which was expanding from 14 to 16 clubs for the 1892 season, but polled only 5 votes and were instead admitted as one of the twelve founder members of the Second Division with the Alliance clubs, replacing Birmingham St George's which had folded.
Glory years
United made waves straight away by securing promotion to the First Division in 1892–93, after finishing second to Small Heath and beating Accrington 1–0 in the Test Match on 22 April.
United enjoyed an unbroken 37-season spell in the top flight (which remains a record for a newly promoted team) winning the League Championship in 1897–98 and were runners up in 1896–97 and 1899–1900. After the League Championship, United played and won an unofficial two-legged "Champions of Great Britain" title against Celtic, who had won that year's Scottish League Championship. Despite this, the 1898–99 season was one of struggle, when United finished 16th out of 18, just one place above the (at the time) two relegation places – the first poor title defence in English League history.
They won their first FA Cup Final on 15 April 1899, beating Derby County 4–1 at Crystal Palace, returning to the London venue to play Tottenham Hotspur on 20 April 1901. Despite Spurs being a Southern League club, they took The Blades to a replay with a 1–1 draw. Seven days later, at Burnden Park in Bolton, the London side won 3–1 in the replay.
United returned to Crystal Palace the following year on 19 April 1902, and were again taken to a replay. This time Southampton (also from the Southern League) drew 1–1 but the replay exactly a week later, on the same ground was won 2–1 by the Blades.
The next final appearance came on 24 April 1915 at Old Trafford when United beat Chelsea 3–0 to win "The Khaki Cup final", the last game before the Football League and FA Cup competition was suspended until the end of the First World War.
The fourth and final win came with their first Wembley Cup Final, beating Cardiff City 1–0 on 25 April 1925. Their last appearance in a final came on 25 April 1936, losing 1–0 to Arsenal.