Battle of Bramall Lane
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The Battle of Bramall Lane is the informal name given to an English First Division football match between Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion at Sheffield's Bramall Lane ground on 16 March 2002.
The match started out ill-tempered, as police had to form a wall to prevent West Brom fans from mounting a pitch invasion even before kickoff. Nine minutes in, United's keeper, Simon Tracey, was sent off for handling a ball outside the penalty area. Sheffield manager Neil Warnock sent in a new keeper, Wilko De Vogt, taking off one of his outfield players. The visiting Baggies scored a first-half goal against the 10-man Blades, and added a second goal in the 62nd minute.
The match turned truly ugly in the 65th minute, when George Santos, whom the Blades had just brought on seconds earlier, was sent off for crashing into Andy Johnson. With hindsight, one could have anticipated fireworks between the two; when Johnson was playing for Nottingham Forest the previous season, he had fractured Santos' cheekbone and seriously damaged his eye socket with a swinging elbow. The two clubs then scuffled on the pitch; in the melee, another Blades substitute, Patrick Suffo, was sent off for an apparent head-butt of Darren Moore. This reduced the Blades to eight men, with no more substitutions left. Soon after, Blades captain Keith Curle was fortunate to avoid a sending off after appearing to throw punches at Derek McInnes, who had scored the Baggies' second goal just before the scuffle.
In the 77th minute, the Baggies added a third goal. Two minutes later, Michael Brown limped off for United, and Robert Ullathorne went out injured in the 82nd minute, reducing the Blades to six men. The referee, Eddie Wolstenholme, then abandoned the game with West Brom up 3-0. In the wake of this debacle, some observers, especially West Brom supporters, questioned the validity of the last two injuries and accused Warnock of deliberately trying to void the game by reducing his team to six men. Brown's injury was however serious enough for him not to play for the club for the rest of the season.
After the match, The FA launched an investigation; they could have chosen to let the result stand, or order a replay. West Brom manager Gary Megson, who had accused Warnock and his players of orchestrating the chaos, had a very strong opinion on the issue:
- I've been in professional football since 16 and I'm 42 now. I've never ever witnessed anything as disgraceful as that. There is no place for that in any game of football, let alone professional football. There will be no replay. If we are called back to Bramall Lane we shall kick-off and then walk off the pitch.
Eventually, The FA fined United £10,000. The Football League, following The FA's recommendation, let the match result stand. Warnock escaped punishment, as he was not mentioned in Wolstenholme's match report. Santos and Suffo never played for United again.