Wilder: Sheff Utd not weighed down by previous play-off struggles

Chris Wilder says Sheffield United will not be weighed down by their historic play-off record ahead of the Championship play-off final on Saturday.

United will face Sunderland for the chance to be promoted to the Premier League, with the Blades looking to make the jump back to the top-flight on their first attempt.

However, this will be their fifth Football League play-off final and first since losing 7-6 on penalties to Huddersfield Town in League One in May 2012.

Overall, the Blades have failed to earn promotion in any of their four previous finals. No side has appeared in more without ever earning promotion (four also for Leeds United and Reading).

“If I listen to all the narrative, we might as well not turn up and might as well give myself a holiday,” Wilder told Sky Sports.

“I’ve been to the majority of the [play-off defeats] and I was probably saying the same thing as what the majority of the punters are saying as well.

“We’re trying to write our own little bit in the chapter of this famous football club. There’s everything to gain from this group. You know, we’ve not been weighed down by any negativity at all.”

United have not won any of their last seven matches at Wembley Stadium (D1 L6), though, with their last win coming 100 years ago against Cardiff City in the 1925 FA Cup final.

This time tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/FgnR0cHnIf

— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) May 23, 2025

But they go into the final having won their semi-final against Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate, winning both legs 3-0.

And Wilder praised his side’s attitude after they bounced back from their disappointment of not gaining automatic promotion.

“There’s been a real reset since we missed out on promotion,” he added. “What we wanted to do after the Burnley game was to get ourselves back in form, get a couple of wins, and we managed that.

“We’re in great shape physically. The players are playing with a real light shirt, and we’re really positive. The feel about the place has been completely different. And I know you can’t get away from the track record of the football club in the play-offs.

“But this club’s been here for over 135 years. And there is going to be a play-off campaign where we get it right in the next 135 years. I’m sure that ers won’t want to wait that long.

“There’s been a real flow to our game, a positivity about our game, and from the stands and the ers, a real freshness that this could be our year, and we’ve got to go and make that happen.”