Battle of Bramall Lane
| Event | 2001–02 First Division | ||||||
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| -*Match abandoned after 82 minutes with the score Sheffield United 0–3 West Bromwich Albion. FA ruled score to stand for league standings. |
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| Date | 16 March 2002 | ||||||
| Venue | Bramall Lane, Sheffield | ||||||
| Referee | Eddie Wolstenholme | ||||||
| Attendance | 17,653 | ||||||
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 United's Bramall Lane ground on 16 March 2002. The match was unusual in that it was abandoned because Sheffield United had only six players left on the pitch.
With eight league matches of the 2001–02 season remaining, Albion lay in third place in the First Division on 67 points, 11 points behind rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, who occupied the second automatic promotion spot. United meanwhile were in 15th position on 50 points, safe from relegation but not threatening the playoff places.
Nine minutes in, United's keeper, Simon Tracey, was sent off for handling the ball outside the penalty area and denying Albion a clear goalscoring opportunity. Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock sent on a new keeper, Wilko de Vogt, taking off Peter Ndlovu. The visiting WBA scored a first-half goal through Scott Dobie against the 10-man United, and added a second goal in the 62nd minute through Derek McInnes.
The match turned truly ugly in the 65th minute, when Georges Santos, whom United had just brought on seconds earlier, was sent off for a high and poorly timed two-footed lunging tackle on Andy Johnson. 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 teams then scuffled on the pitch; in the mêlée, another United substitute, Patrick Suffo, was sent off for head-butting Derek McInnes. This reduced United to eight men, with no more substitutions left. Soon after, United captain Keith Curle was fortunate to avoid a sending off after appearing to throw punches at McInnes.
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