SHEFFIELD UNITED
Premier League, Bramall Lane, Sunday 21 January 2024, 2pm GMT
West Ham United head to South Yorkshire for the Club’s first away Premier League fixture of 2024, a full three weeks into the New Year thanks to the mid-season break.
Sheffield United returned for a fourth crack at the Premier League after finishing second in the EFL Championship last season.
However, the manager who led the Blades to promotion, Paul Heckingbottom, was removed at the start of December after a 5-0 defeat at Burnley left them bottom of the table.
Chris Wilder, who guided Sheffield United to the Premier League in 2018/19 and a ninth-place finish the following season before suffering relegation in 2020/21 - and had appointed Heckingbottom as U23s coach during his previous spell in charge - was brought in to replace him.
The former Blades right-back inspired his team to only a second win of the campaign in his second outing back in the dugout, against Brentford on 9 December, and he will be looking for a similar result here to help avoid an instant return to the second tier.
How to get there…
A 9.30am service runs direct from London St Pancras to Sheffield, while a number of trains from Kings Cross require a change in Doncaster. Sheffield railway station is situated a mile from Bramall Lane and is walkable.
Alternatively, from Sheffield city centre you could take a blue or purple line tram to Granville Road (Sheffield College) and it is a ten-minute walk from there, or a number of local bus services will take you to the vicinity of the stadium.
If you are driving up from London, take the M1 to Junction 29 and take the A617 towards Chesterfield. Continue into Chesterfield and at the roundabout junction with the A61 take the third exit towards Sheffield. Continue on the A61 through Dronfield and into Sheffield, passing the Earl of Arundel and Surrey Public House on the left. Take the next left onto Bramall Lane and the ground is on the right.
Off-street parking can be found at one of the following locations: Atkinsons, Charter Row (S1 4HR), Eyre Street (S1 4QW), Furnival Gate, Matilda Way (S1 4QJ), Rockingham Way (S1 4JD) and Sidney Street (S1 4EG).
Where to stay…
As a city with a population of over 550,000, Sheffield has a large range of accommodation options available.
Bramall Lane is only short walk south of the city centre, so if you pick any hotel in that area, then you will be sorted for food, drinks and getting to and from the game easily enough.
What to do…
Sheffield has more than 250 parks, woodlands, and gardens, making it one of the greenest cities in the UK. However, we appreciate that most West Ham United supporters are not heading to the city for a walk in the park!
The ‘Steel City’ is also famous for being the birthplace of stainless steel - hence Sheffield United’s nickname of ‘The Blades’ - and is known for the quality of the cutlery its industries produce.
Anyway, if you are looking for something to do on the morning of the game, the Millennium Gallery showcases Sheffield’s art, craft, and design history.
If you are making a weekend of it, why not head into to the nearby Peak District National Park.
What’s happened there before…
Our two most recent Premier League visits to Bramall Lane ended in narrow victories for each club - Sébastien Haller’s rocket secured a 1-0 win for the Hammers without supporters present in November 2020, after Robert Snodgrass’s last-gasp equaliser was disallowed following a VAR review to hand Sheffield United a 1-0 win in January of the same year.
Prior to that, our last visit was in April 2007, when a 3-0 defeat appeared to be sending West Ham United closer to relegation, only for the Irons to pull off a Great Escape and Neil Warnock’s Blades to go down on the final day of the season.
