#6 Sheffield Derby
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It seems fit to end by looking at the Sheffield derby, as Sheffield was, of course, the city where the idea of the local derby began. Today’s Steel City rivalry, however, takes place between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, two of the larger clubs outside of the Premier League.
The two sides have met competitively on 127 occasions, with United leading the way with 45 wins to Wednesday’s 42, and 40 draws between the two. To find a Sheffield derby taking place in the confines of the Premier League, you’ve got to go back to 1993/94 – just the second season in the league’s history. That year saw a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane before Wednesday picked up a 3-1 home win at Hillsborough.
The season also saw United relegated, and while they’ve been back to the Premier League since, despite finishing 7th in 1993/94 Wednesday were relegated in 1999/00 and haven’t been back since.
With both sides in the Championship for the bulk of the 2000’s, there have been plenty of Sheffield derbies since. In the years spanning 2000 to 2010, United picked up five wins to Wednesday’s four, but both sides did the double on occasion – United in 2005/06 and Wednesday in 2008/09.
With Wednesday currently one of the best sides in the Championship and United winning League One in 2016/17 and gaining promotion to the same league, 2017/18 will see the first Sheffield derbies since 2011/12. Perhaps in the future, we’ll see a Steel City derby in the Premier League again, but only time will tell.
