Can Sheffield United join this season’s hoodoo breakers?

Play-off finals are always tense, but Sheffield United fans could be made to feel extra anxious ahead of Saturday’s Championship game against Sunderland.

The Blades’ play-off record makes for disappointing reading. They have failed to score in any of their previous attempts and have never succeeded in any of the finals they have reached.

There is also a lot to be desired about their Wembley record, which hasn’t been won since 1925.

If you’re a fan of football, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed that clubs have laid their ghosts to rest in 2025.

Newcastle United celebrated its first domestic trophy triumph in 70 years with the Carabao Cup victory in March.

Crystal Palace, for the first time in their history, won the FA Cup final last weekend to win significant silverware.

Tottenham’s 41-year quest for a European trophy came to an end with victory in the Europa League on Wednesday, perhaps in the vein of the Magpies and Eagles.

Longing for glory has also been ended in other countries as well, including England.

In their 122-year history, Go Ahead Eagles won the Coppa Italia for the first time in Bologna’s victory after 51 years, and in the Netherlands, Bologna won the Coppa Italia.

Sheffield United fans might not want to or need to be reminded that their current standing is their worst record in the play-offs.

Nine attempts have been made.

However, they can be encouraged by the fact that both the other teams, who had zero from nine records, now both boast one from ten.

Preston’s 4-0 defeat of Swindon Town in the League One play-off final in 2015 put an end to Preston’s miserable play-off campaign, and Brentford, who are now Premier League legends, also made it 10th time lucky when they defeated Swansea in the Championship play-off final in 2021.

The Blades will attempt to give Lincoln City, who have lost seven of their attempts, the unwanted title of worst play-off record.

Unsurprisingly, Chris Wilder, a veteran United boss, doesn’t get bogged down in the past.

Everybody talks about our play-off record locally, and perhaps nationally, but not a single word of it has entered my or the players’ minds, Wilder said on BBC Radio Sheffield.

They are “absolutely optimistic and determined,” and they look forward to the challenge of attending Wembley and hoping to win.

There is one man who holds the key to Sheffield United’s hopes, even though they may have a terrible record in the play-offs and indeed at Wembley.

Boss Wilder has won promotion to the top four tiers despite never having been able to win the EFL play-offs.

With a 3-1 victory over York City at the national stadium in 2010, he resurrected League Two.

The 57-year-old hasn’t performed as well in the second-tier play-off campaign this season, either; their 6-0 aggregate victory over Bristol City is their largest winning margin to date in a play-off semi-final.

As everyone else has it said, “Wembley is no place to lose.”

This play-off final is the first to be contested by teams that finished more than 12 points apart in the regular season due to United’s 14 points split with Sunderland in the Championship table.

The negative aspect of Sheffield United is that, in 1994, Burnley made fun of amassing a dozen fewer points than Stockport to advance to the second tier.

However, there have only been two (from eight) instances in which a team has finished 10 or more points behind the team they defeated in the final before coming out on top.

It’s one apiece in each of the two games this season, with both teams winning at home.

The team that handles the situation and plays the game will win any big game, Wilder continued.

“I have no idea what kind of game to expect from them,” she said. We will have to disassemble them if they are seated.

They have threats all over the pitch and are a young side with plenty of energy and personality. Without their bad side, they wouldn’t have gotten the points they did.