OVER in the industrial town of Sheffield, we met staff from the club Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
They are much older guys compared to the other clubs I've been to, and look like they've been supporting the club since they were boys.
Not surprisingly, the Bramall Lane Stadium is the home of Sheffield United Football Club, and is the oldest major stadium in the world still hosting professional football matches.
Interestingly, the club has the nickname 'The Blades' due to Sheffield's worldwide reputation of steel production.
And there was a factory that housed a museum showcasing commemorative blades, plates and cutlery, and an elderly lady who was our tour guide casually commented there was one made for England when it won the 1966 World Cup.
I jokingly said that this would be the only one of its kind in the world, since that was their only World Cup victory.
SONGS AND CHANTS
To which, she said in the most innocent way, "Oh really? I didn't know that".
I'm sure any English football fan in the land who heard what she said must have felt her comment 'Cuts Like A Knife' (song courtesy of Canadian rocker Bryan Adams).
And like all clubs, Sheffield United has a great range of songs and chants sung by their fans, including their most notable unofficial anthem, The Greasy Chip Butty Song, which I thought was a really cute title.
It?' a rally cry sung before each half, and often after the game if the team has performed well.
To the tune of Annie's Song by John Denver, it goes like this:
You fill up my senses
Like a barrel of Magnet
Like packet of Woodbines
Like a good pinch of snuff
Like night out in Sheffield
Like a greasy chip butty
Like Sheffield United
Come thrill me again....!
Encore! Encore!
Catch Jamie Yeo on Soccer Cities every Thursday at 8pm on STAR Sports.
This article was first published in The New Paper on May 30th, 2008.
