Following promotion to the Football League in 1892-93, Sheffield United’s first major success was winning the league championship in 1897-98, following up in the 1893-94 season with a highly commendable runners-up spot to Aston Villa, who won the double that year. After winning the English title for the first time, Celtic, who were the champions of Scotland, challenged Sheffield United to a two legged “Champions of Great Britain” challenge, which United won, therefore being crowned as the Champions of Great Britain.  United finished second again in the league in 1899-00, but somehow fell all the way to 16th place out of 18 in 1898-99, just narrowly avoiding relegation. Perhaps they were exhausted by their FA Cup campaign that season – they were drawn away from home in every single round and needed no less than 5 replays to make it to the final. It paid off though, as United lifted the cup with a 4-1 win over Derby County.

 

One man characterised the club during this era – the infamous goalkeeper William “Fatty” Foulke. He was an absolute mountain of a man, standing at 6 foot 4 inches and tipping the scales at 152kg. The famous chant “Who ate all the pies?” originated from Sheffield United supporters, directed at Foulkes in regard to his size. To this day, the chant continues to be sung in the terraces, aimed at overweight footballers, officials or other supporters. The fans used to call Foulke “fatso” or “colossus” to which Foulke responded, “I don’t mind what they call me, as long as they don’t call me late to my lunch.” In the season in which United finished second to Villa, Foulke had only conceded 29 goals which was easily the best defensive record in the league that year.

 

After losing the 1900 FA Cup final, United were back in the 1902 final against Southampton. The first match ended in 2-2 draw following a controversial Southampton equaliser, and the story goes that after the match, Foulke, who was completely naked at the time, went searching for the referee, who had to hide in a broom closet to save himself.  Foulke had to be physically restrained by a group of FA officials from ripping the door off it’s hinges in order to reach the poor ref. The linesman from the game recalled, “What a sight! The thing I'll never forget is Foulke, so tremendous in size, striding along the corridor, without a stitch of clothing." For the record, Sheffield United won the replay the following week. 

​

Their next FA Cup final appearance wasn’t until 1915, the so-called “Khaki Cup Final”, named as such due to the large numbers of uniformed soldiers in attendance. This was the last game played before the league and cup were suspended until the end of WWI. The match, against Chelsea, was moved from its regular location of Crystal Palace to Old Trafford in Manchester, to free-up travel in and around London. Back then, Sheffield United were by far the stronger side, and they won the game, and the cup, 4-0. After the game, the Football Association put all players on amateur status and attendances collapsed as fuel became scarce. The league was abandoned and teams played in regional leagues with whatever players they could source. Sheffield United kept the FA Cup in safekeeping until it was contested again in 1920.

Achievements: English Division One – Champions x1 Runners up x2
                               FA Cup – Winners x3 Runners up x1

​

Star player: William Foulke, DOB 12 April 1874, Dawley, England, Nickname: Fatty

Famous for four things: Eating, drinking, goalkeeping and his temper, Foulke was the first ever celebrity footballer. He was so famous, that he featured on the mythical Mitchell and Kenyon films in a match against Bury in 1902, which can be viewed above. He wasn’t quite as popular with the FA as he was with the fans, as he used to take advantage of his strength by pulling down the crossbar to give his opponents a smaller target – occasionally accidentally breaking it in two. Opposing strikers tried to intimidate Foulke by charging at him. On one occasion, Foulke counteracted this by simply picking the striker up by the leg and tossing him aside like a rag doll. After a strong Sheffield United career, Foulke was sold to the newly formed Chelsea for £50 in 1905. The club employed ball boys whose sole job was to stand behind Foulke during games to emphasize his size. He kept goal well for the team, but was known more for showing up to breakfast early, which was set for the entire Chelsea team, and eating all of it. His teammates got tired of going hungry in the mornings, so Foulke was sold to Bradford City. He eventually got too big to keep playing, and retired in 1907. Legend says that he died in poverty, working as a sideshow act in Blackpool, but it’s not known if this is true. He remains the heaviest professional footballer of all time.