WHO Poll
Q: 2023/24 Hopes & aspirations for this season
a. As Champions of Europe there's no reason we shouldn't be pushing for a top 7 spot & a run in the Cups
24%
  
b. Last season was a trophy winning one and there's only one way to go after that, I expect a dull mid table bore fest of a season
17%
  
c. Buy some f***ing players or we're in a battle to stay up & that's as good as it gets
18%
  
d. Moyes out
37%
  
e. New season you say, woohoo time to get the new kit and wear it it to the pub for all the big games, the wags down there call me Mr West Ham
3%
  



Alan 1:19 Sun Feb 14
Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Yorkshire Live

Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged

It's perhaps one of football's most surprising rivalries but Monday's fixture between the two sides has become something of a grudge match in recent years

By Nathan Hemmingham Sheffield United reporter

When Sheffield United arrive at the London Stadium on Monday, the clash against West Ham will inevitably evoke memories of the Carlos Tevez affair in 2007 and the bitter fall out that followed.

Not many rivalries exist like this one, with so much motorway between them.

Normally based on geography, the distance between these two sides means it's somewhat of a surprise.

It may not carry the weight or intensity of the one that exists between United and Wednesday, or West Ham and Millwall, for that matter, but it's one that has certainly provided plenty of headlines over the years.

There will be many people who may think the controversy surrounding United's relegation in 2007 is where it all began.

But it actually kicked off, quite literally, 20 years earlier at an FA Cup match at Upton Park.

Some 200 members of United's Blades Business Crew took over Green Street and left the Hammers shell-shocked.

Fierce clashes between both sets of supporters then followed in the ensuing years as West Ham sought payback.

What began as running battles on the streets in the Eighties, eventually spilled over on to the pitch two decades later and has never really gone away.

"I was only on the phone to Cass Pennant (leader of West Ham's Inner City Firm) believe it or not the other day," said Steve Cowens, author of Blades Business Crew.

"I am really good friends with him and we were having a catch up. He was saying you are getting your payback now, it's karma for Tevez. We had a bit of banter over it, I'm calling them cheats and saying we got £25m, which is what we deserved.

"It started on February 9, 1987. I took four coaches down to West Ham for an evening game.

"It was really well organised. We got off two stops before and all met up away from the ground before going in on the tube to avoid police. There were 200 of us and the lot went. They were coming from everywhere, but there was just too many of us.

"Cass has always said we are the best northern firm that has ever tipped up on Green Street. He said no one has ever done to West Ham what we did to them that night.

"We had numbers. We've hit the road 200 strong and they are pouring out of pubs but by this time we are just going through them. By the time they had got everyone together and had regrouped, we had done the job and the police had arrived.

"It continued all the way to the ground, they were trying to fight us through the police. It was mad.

"Because of that, the season after they came up to Bramall Lane and there was a lot of fighting.

"At that time, they were the premier firm in the country, but we were taking on all-comers wanting to make a name for ourselves and we were doing that quite successfully.

"For a good three or four years there was a right lot of trouble in Sheffield, but we lost touch because we went in different divisions.

"It picked back up again in 2007 in the Premier League when they came to Bramall Lane. They got battered that day, to be fair they only had 40 or 50, but 20 years later it was still there."

On that particular occasion in April, when United won 3-0 to open up a five-point gap on Alan Curbishley's side, the Tevez affair had not really kicked in.

It was only with three games to go, when West Ham were fined £5.5m for breaching third-party ownership rules over the striker and his Argentinian team-mate Javier Mascherano, did the enormity of what was about to happen start to sink in.

West Ham continued to play Tevez, despite not owning him outright and contrary to what was stipulated as part of their punishment, and they escaped a points deduction much to everyone's amazement.

When it became clear what had happened, with Tevez scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford to send United down, an injustice was felt in S2 that still rankles with a lot of their fans to this day.

"The whole thing stunk," wrote Paddy Kenny in his autobiography The Gloves Are Off.

"Tevez scored seven goals in his last 10 games of that season and West Ham won seven of their last nine to stay up.

"There was some bull**** from the panel that a points deduction would have hurt West Ham's supporters.

"What about the fans of the other teams all scrapping to stay up and playing by the rules?
"At the end of the Wigan game on the last day of the season, news filtered through that West Ham had won and Tevez had scored.

"I remember sitting on the pitch for what seemed like an eternity. How the **** has that happened?"

West Ham may have had the last laugh on the pitch, but United had their day in court. Former owner Kevin McCabe took the Hammers to the cleaners to the tune of £25m.

"I was not a fan of McCabe," Cowens added.

"But fair play to him, he did not let that go. It was a disgrace and if it was the other way round we would have been relegated, without a doubt.

"It was a bitter pill to swallow and an injustice, no doubt about it.

"To be fair, there were other contributing factors to us going down that year.

"McCabe did not invest in the squad; Rob Hulse was playing out of his skin and got injured and I do blame Warnock because of the way he set up away from home.

"I was fuming at Aston Villa. Played one up front, we lost 3-0 and we went down by one goal. I thought he bottled it that night."

That relegation was the start of a fall from grace that would eventually take them down to League One for six years and lead them to their current manager, Chris Wilder, who began the ascent back up to the top in 2016.

"It has become a bit of a grudge match," Wilder says as he prepares his team for Monday's clash.

"I always loved going to Upton Park to play. I have been on the receiving end of many a doing at Upton Park. Dave Basset keeps reminding me of the day I got Stuart Slater into the England squad for his performance against me in a 5-0 win in 1990 - they battered us.

"One small period and it escalates from there, new rivalries and bitterness. From our club's point of view if you do get relegated I believe you have to look at yourself without having to stick it on someone else's toes.

"If that happens to us this year we have to look at ourselves and not what happens from an administration point of view. It's a new rivalry, but there's a lot of similarities too with working class roots."

Seven years would pass before the two sides would meet again, this time in the League Cup, again at Upton Park, under then manager Nigel Clough.

After a 1-1 draw, United won on penalties in front of a jubilant away end and United would exact some form of revenge.

Michael Doyle was the highlight of that shoot-out, not for scoring the winner but for the way he mocked the home side by celebrating in front of the travelling support with a Cockney walk.

"Bit embarrassing to be fair," Doyle told SUTV after Sean Bean had sent a video of himself doing Doyle's walk at the 125th anniversary dinner.

"That walk seems to be following me everywhere I go. It was probably a little bit of a mistake."

Cowens was one of those fans celebrating Doyle's winner that night.

"When we won there in the cup and Michael Doyle did his Cockney walk, we went in a pub round the corner from the ground," he said.

"They all had Tevez masks on, like ******* idiots, and were putting all these threats out that if any Blades fans come down they are going to get hammered and we wouldn't get out the ground alive.

"But I have since met up with a few of their lads from my day and I am always welcome by Cass to have a pint in their pub with him.

"Last thing we want to do now at our age is start rolling about. We've done all that when it was worth doing.

"There's not so much of that now, because the police are on top of it. It's died down the rivalry in that sense because it's just a mug's game now, but it still exists and me and Cass always talk about it."

Monday's match may be in a very different environment to what they have been in recent years.

Steve will not be meeting up with Cass for a pint and there won't be one Tevez mask in sight.

And although the rivalry will not be apparent in the empty stands, both sets of players will be going toe-to-toe on the pitch just like that day in 1987 in Green Street, desperate for a win, but for very different reasons.

----------------------------------------------

Have at it, chaps.

Replies - Newest Posts First (Show In Chronological Order)

normannomates 11:39 Wed Feb 17
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Leeds Utd and the taffs ALWAYS hard work.
TAFF'S? . had it with these strange cunts a fair few times in a short period of time..in cup and league.. The away at theirs was old school for sure.. fair fucks to the taffs.. they were VERY good at ours

LEEDS UTD..? EARLY 90S WERE DIFFERENT GRAVY.. BEST AWAY MOB I'VE SEEN AT OURS.

MANCS?.. THE 'MEN IN BLACK' 🤡
Blaney(collyhurst).absolute grade A fist that geezer
ALMOST as bad O'neil and Bob..


FUCK EM ALL

normannomates 11:02 Wed Feb 17
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Last season at their gaff.. when it came to the metal meeting the meat they folded.. Just like the Geordies in Dusseldorf... its quite amusing really

normannomates 10:46 Wed Feb 17
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
I recall attending CHUBBYs (CFC) funeral.
The CFC lads I expected to be twats were class to be honest..
. Always had a grudging respect for them since.. Same for Wall..
You can meet proper lads from all clubs as you get older and its all good..
eye opener sometimes

normannomates 9:43 Wed Feb 17
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Cass said..
'best firm to tip up at Upton Park'...

CASS TELLS YOU THIS..
CASS TELLS YOU THAT.

IN OUT.. IN OUT..
SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED.



earning a coin off of mugs.

each to their own.. I think its muggy.. at best

normannomates 2:45 Wed Feb 17
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged

Ironically.. Shaw is the spit of 'Terror ' from the classic cult film 'the Wanderers'..

But he didnt growl like Terror did..
In fact Gilly was/is a bit of a fat mess.. and that was in his prime..

Fuckin Wolves.. Proper bully up snide coward cunts.

Far Cough 7:50 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
peroni, Rick Allen is still a fine drummer even with one arm

Swiss. 7:32 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Def Leppard ..what shit

Best thing from Sheffield is Human League and Heaven 17

geoffpikey 7:14 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
What's got 4 cunts, 9 arms, and an asshole at the front?

peroni 6:34 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
I stopped reading at Def Leppard.... you need to stick to ballads if your drummer's got one arm.

Far Cough 6:05 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
The dead giveaway that this is bollocks was the"Innercity Firm"

Laughable

Charoo 6:00 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Written by a numpty called Nathan. I stopped reading the fiction at that point.

Far Cough 5:42 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Of course

Northern Sold 5:39 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Do you wear leather studded wrist bands Cough son??

Far Cough 5:29 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
hit you*

Far Cough 5:27 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Turn it in pikey, you wouldn't know good music if it it you upside the head

geoffpikey 5:03 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
A good, sane reply.

The original article is utter bullshit.

Def Leppard? About as good as Sean Bean's "acting", hahahahah. Stonewashed mulletcunts.

Gloucester Iron 4:24 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Had a look at the article on Yorkshire Live at lunchtime today, and there's an interesting reply from a Hammer on there...

simon.s 3:27 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
FC - Yes mate, he did some scouting for them. Also good for getting tickets for Wednesday games, and sorted me out for some at UP.

Far Cough 3:23 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Yeah, Joe Elliot is good as are the rest of the band especially Phil Collen and the one armed drummer


Your connection was the Peter Eustace one if I remember rightly?

Far Cough 3:21 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Simon, him? You mean them, right??

Yeah I prefer Wednesday to the Blades but Sheff U did have a great player in Tony Currie back in the day

simon.s 3:20 Mon Feb 15
Re: Tevez, Cockney walk and a Green Street hiding: How Sheffield United and West Ham rivalry emerged
Joe Elliot I meant to say.

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