Sheffield United F.C.
2008–09 season
ManagerKevin Blackwell
StadiumBramall Lane
Championship3rd (qualified for play-offs)
PlayoffsRunners-up
FA CupFifth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: James Beattie (12)
All: James Beattie (12)[1]
Highest home attendance30,786 (vs. Sheffield Wednesday, 7 February 2009)
Lowest home attendance23,045 (vs. Crystal Palace, 20 December 2008)
Average home league attendance26,023[1]

During the 2008–09 English football season, Sheffield United F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.

Season summary

Despite the sale of the previous season's top scorer, James Beattie, to Premier League newcomers Stoke City during the season, Sheffield United improved on the previous season's unsatisfactory form and were unlucky to finish the season in third place, three points behind Birmingham City. With this third-place finish came qualification for the playoffs: after narrowly defeating Preston North End 2–1 over two legs in the semi-final, United reached the playoff final, against Burnley, at Wembley. United lost 1–0, to a 13th-minute strike from Wade Elliott, which saw United consigned to a third consecutive season in the Championship.

Kit

Sheffield United continued their kit manufacturing agreement with French company Le Coq Sportif, who produced a new kit for the season, designed by United season ticket holder Ben Frost. A black away kit with silver trim, chosen by the club's players, was also introduced. The previous season's black and fluorescent green away kit was retained as the third kit.

The club ended their kit sponsorship agreement with American bank Capital One at the end of the previous season. The new kit sponsor for the season was visit Malta.com.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Republic of Ireland IRL Paddy Kenny[notes 1]
2 DF England ENG Greg Halford (on loan from Sunderland)
3 DF Scotland SCO Gary Naysmith
4 MF Wales WAL David Cotterill
5 DF England ENG Chris Morgan
6 DF England ENG Matthew Kilgallon
7 FW England ENG Darius Henderson
9 FW Italy ITA Arturo Lupoli (on loan from Fiorentina)
10 FW England ENG Danny Webber
11 MF England ENG Lee Hendrie
12 DF China CHN Sun Jihai
13 GK England ENG Ian Bennett
15 MF Wales WAL Gary Speed
17 MF Scotland SCO Nick Montgomery[notes 2]
18 MF Northern Ireland NIR Jamie Ward[notes 3]
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Scotland SCO Craig Beattie (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
20 MF England ENG Brian Howard
21 MF Republic of Ireland IRL John-Joe O'Toole[notes 4] (on loan from Watford)
22 GK Malta MLT Justin Haber
24 FW England ENG Billy Sharp
25 MF Algeria ALG Aymen Tahar
26 DF England ENG Derek Geary
27 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Keith Quinn
28 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Stephen Quinn
30 DF England ENG Kyle Naughton
31 MF Poland POL Ben Starosta[notes 5]
32 DF England ENG Leigh Bromby (on loan from Watford)
33 DF England ENG Ugo Ehiogu
34 DF England ENG Kyle Walker

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF Australia AUS David Carney (on loan at Norwich City)
No. Pos. Nation Player
29 FW England ENG Jordan Robertson (on loan to Ferencváros)

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
8 FW England ENG Jon Stead (to Ipswich Town)
8 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Anthony Stokes (on loan from Sunderland)
9 FW England ENG James Beattie (to Stoke City)
18 MF England ENG Michael Tonge (to Stoke City)
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 FW England ENG Nathan Dyer (on loan from Southampton)
19 MF Northern Ireland NIR Keith Gillespie (released)
20 DF Scotland SCO Chris Armstrong[notes 6] (to Reading)
25 MF England ENG Matthew Spring (on loan from Luton Town)

Transfers

In

Date Position Name Club From Fee Reference
2 July 2008 DF Sun Jihai Manchester City Free [2]
23 July 2008 FW Darius Henderson Watford £2,000,000 [3]
31 July 2008 MF David Cotterill Wigan Athletic Undisclosed [4]
31 July 2008 GK Justin Haber Haidari F.C. Free [4]
19 January 2009 MF Jamie Ward Chesterfield £400,000 [5]

Out

Date Position Name Club To Fee Reference
4 July 2008 DF Chris Lucketti Huddersfield Town Free [6]
21 July 2008 FW Rob Hulse Derby County £1,750,000 [7]
24 July 2008 FW Luton Shelton Valerenga £1,000,000 [8]
2 September 2008 MF Michael Tonge Stoke City £2,000,000 [9]
15 September 2008 FW Jon Stead Ipswich Town Undisclosed [10]
12 January 2009 FW James Beattie Stoke City £3,500,000 [11]
30 January 2009 MF Keith Gillespie None Released [12]

Loan In

Date Position Name Club From Length Reference
2 July 2008 DF Greg Halford Sunderland Full-Season [2]
31 July 2008 MF Matthew Spring Luton Town Full-Season (ended 9 January) [4]
2 February 2009 FW Arturo Lupoli Fiorentina Until end of season [13]

Loan Out

Date Position Name Club To Length Reference
23 July 2008 DF Ben Starosta Aldershot Town One Month [14]
1 September 2008 FW Jon Stead Ipswich Town Six Months (made permanent 15 September) [15]
2 September 2008 DF Ben Starosta Lechia Gdansk Six Months [16]
28 January 2009 MF David Carney Norwich City Until end of season [17]

References

  1. 1 2 FC, Sheffield United. "Sheffield United FC". Sheffield United FC.
  2. 1 2 "Blades swoop for Premiership pair". BBC Sport. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Henderson makes switch to Blades". BBC Sport. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Blades on verge of triple swoop". BBC Sport. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Striker Ward seals Blades switch". BBC Sport. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Lucketti makes Huddersfield move". BBC Sport. 5 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Derby complete £1.75m Hulse deal". BBC Sport. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Shelton leaves Blades for Norway". BBC Sport. 24 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Stoke make triple transfer swoop". BBC Sport. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "Ipswich make Stead deal permanent". BBC Sport. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Stoke snap up Beattie". Eurosport. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Blades allow Gillespie to leave". BBC Sport. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Lupoli makes loan move to Blades". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Aldershot sign Starosta & Davies". BBC Sport. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Stead signs for Ipswich on loan". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Burton, Chris (2 September 2008). "Starosta in Polish switch". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Carney completes Norwich switch". BBC Sport. 28 January 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2023.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kenny was born in Halifax, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in June 2004.
  2. ↑ Montgomery was born in Leeds, England, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally and represented them at U-21 level.
  3. ↑ Ward was born in Birmingham, England, but also qualified to represent Northern Ireland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-18 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Northern Ireland in August 2011.
  4. ↑ O'Toole was born in Harrow, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandparents and represented them at U-21 level.
  5. ↑ Starosta was born in Sheffield, England, but also qualified to represent Poland internationally through his grandfather and represented them at U-20 level.
  6. ↑ Armstrong was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and represented England at U-20 level, but also qualified to represent Scotland internationally through his grandmother and represented them at B level.
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