The Steel City derby, or the Sheffield derby is a local derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams in the city of Sheffield, England.
the teams have met 148 times in competitive games, with United winning 53 and Wednesday 48.
The derby returned for the 2024âÂÂ25 and 2025âÂÂ26 seasons following United's relegation from the Premier League, however Wednesday's relegation from The Championship in 2025âÂÂ26 means that the date of the next meeting between the sides is unclear.
United currently hold an eight game unbeaten run in the fixture, including four wins in the last four derby matches.
The teams first met on 15 December 1890 at Wednesday's Olive Grove ground, with The Wednesday playing a friendly match against the newly formed Sheffield United that the home team won 2âÂÂ1.
The first competitive Steel City Derby fixture took place on 16 October 1893 during the 1893âÂÂ94 English First Division season (following United's promotion to the First Division the previous season), it ended 1âÂÂ1.
Most Steel City derbies have taken place in the top two tiers of English football, with only two seasons (1979âÂÂ80 and 2011âÂÂ12) featuring both teams in the third tier.
Alan Quinn became the first player to score a goal for both clubs in a Steel City derby match. He scored for Sheffield Wednesday in their 3âÂÂ1 defeat to United at Bramall Lane in February 2003. He signed to United from Wednesday in 2004 and scored the winning goal for Sheffield United in a 1âÂÂ0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane on 4 December 2005.
The most famous match at Bramall Lane was on 8 September 1951, an encounter United won 7âÂÂ3 in front of a crowd of 51,075. Wednesday scored after just ninety seconds through Thomas, but goals from Derek Hawksworth and Harold Brook gave United a 2âÂÂ1 interval lead which would have been greater if McIntosh in the Wednesday goal had not saved a Fred Furniss penalty. Dennis Woodhead equalised for Wednesday after sixty minutes, but in rapid succession, Alf Ringstead, Hawksworth and Ringstead again, and Fred Smith scored for United, Woodhead pulled one back for Wednesday before Brook made the score 7âÂÂ3.
In February 1967, broadcasting history was made when the derby at Bramall Lane was shown live on Pay-TV. UnitedâÂÂs Bill Punton scored the only goal in the first pay-per-view League game on British television, and only the second to be televised live. The coverage was available to around 700 subscribers in the Sheffield area, who had to pay ten shillings (50p) for the privilege of watching.
The "Boxing Day Massacre" was a match played on 26 December 1979. Sheffield Wednesday won 4âÂÂ0, with goals from Ian Mellor, Terry Curran, Mark Smith and Jeff King. The United side at the time were top of the league, while Wednesday were 4th in the table. Sheffield Wednesday were promoted at the end of the season.
The two teams met in the 1992âÂÂ93 FA Cup semi-finals. The game was scheduled to be played at Elland Road while the other semi-final between North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur was to be played at Wembley. However The Football Association was forced to move the Steel City derby to Wembley due to extreme pressure from the fans of both teams. The match itself proved to be a classic, with Wednesday winning 2âÂÂ1 after extra time. Chris Waddle and Mark Bright scoring for Wednesday, and Alan Cork scoring for United. The match was watched by 75,364 spectators.
The match at Hillsborough on 24 September 2017, saw United claim their then biggest win at Hillsborough with a 4âÂÂ2 victory in front of a crowd of 32,839. Goals for United came from John Fleck in the 3rd minute, Mark Duffy in the 67th minute, and two (in the 15th and 77th minute respectively) from Leon Clarke against his former side, with Gary Hooper in the 47th minute (scored in the first half as two minutes were added on) and Lucas Joao (65') scoring for Wednesday. This game was nicknamed the 'Bouncing Day Massacre' by the United fans, due to a chant by the Wednesday fans following Joao's goal that ended abruptly as a result of Mark Duffy's goal shortly afterwards.
On 22 February 2026 Wednesday were condemned to the earliest relegation in EFL history following a 2âÂÂ1 derby win for United at Bramall Lane. Wednesday had a negative points tally with only a solitary win all season, having suffered a chaotic campaign which saw them put into administration by controversial owner Dejphon Chansiri and be deducted 18 points by the EFL. Goals from Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows sealed the Owls' fate, returning the club to League One after three seasons in the Championship.
After Sheffield Wednesday's relegation from the Premier League after the 1999âÂÂ2000 season both teams frequented the same league for seven of the next ten years. This caused the local rivalry between the two teams to increase and to cause an emergence of crowd trouble in 2003 2008 and 2019.
Before the 2000âÂÂ01 season both teams were only in the same league for six seasons between 1970âÂÂ71 and 1999âÂÂ00 (twenty-nine seasons), although this period did see one FA Cup semi-final meeting in 1993 and a Zenith Data Cup (Full Members Cup) meeting in 1989.
Supporters of the two Sheffield clubs have a fierce but healthy relationship. This goes right back to 1889 after Sheffield Wednesday, formed in 1867, had vacated Bramall Lane due to a dispute over rent. To compensate for the loss in revenue, the Cricket committee took the decision to form another football club, thus Sheffield United were established and Bramall Lane subsequently became their home.
The clubs themselves do appear to have an amicable relationship, and on 15 July 2011 both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday held a joint conference called "Supporting Sheffield" in which they announced a joint shirt sponsorship deal with two local Sheffield based companies for the 2011âÂÂ12 League One season. The two local sponsors were Westfield Health (a Not for Profit healthcare organisation), who were the home kit sponsor for the Blades and the away kit sponsor for the Owls, and the Gilder Group (a Volkswagen car dealer), who were the away kit sponsor for the Blades and the home kit sponsor for the Owls. United and Wednesday both made a six figure sum from the sponsorship deal. The deal was the first of its kind in English football with The Telegraph likening the deal to Glasgow rivals and neighbours Celtic and Rangers who have frequently shared shirt sponsors in the past.
Players to have played for both clubs:
Scored in the derby match for both clubs:
100+ appearances for both clubs:
Managed both clubs:
Played for Wednesday, managed United:
Played for one, coached the other:
Coached both teams:
Other connections: