Sheffield United Football Club participated in League One, the third level of English football in 2012–13, after having failed to win promotion, losing in the previous season's play-off final. Danny Wilson remained in charge for a second season and the club continued to reduce costs as they sought to adapt to life at the third level of English football. Many of the players involved in the previous season were either sold or released, while the likes of Nick Blackman, Tony McMahon, Shaun Miller and Dave Kitson were signed to replace them.
The team went unbeaten in the league until November, briefly climbing to the top of the table, and returned to first place once again over the Christmas period. United had little success in the various cup competitions however, as they were beaten in the first round of the Football League Cup by Burton Albion, and by Coventry City in the Football League Trophy. They did manage to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup but were comprehensively beaten by Reading, a result which came amidst a rapid downturn in league form during January, that almost saw United almost drop out of the play-off places. After a brief recovery through February, the decline in results continued and following another string of poor results in April, Danny Wilson was dismissed as manager, with coach Chris Morgan being appointed as caretaker for the remainder of the season.
Despite the change of manager, United's form did not significantly improve and they finished the season in 5th place in the league, thus facing Yeovil Town in the play-offs. Having beaten Yeovil 1–0 in the first leg, they were defeated by two goals in the second and as such were consigned to remain in League One for at least another season.
Background
The previous season had been United's first in the third tier of English football for 23 years and had seen them install Danny Wilson as manager. United had competed for automatic promotion throughout the season but when top scorer Ched Evans was handed a prison sentence after being convicted of rape in April, the team's results tailed off towards the end of the season and they were overtaken by local rivals Sheffield Wednesday who claimed the final automatic promotion spot. United reached the play-off final but were beaten on penalties by Huddersfield Town, consigning United to a second season in League One.
Team kit In June United struck a deal with gaming company Redtooth to sponsor the team's away kit for the coming season. It had been expected that the team shirts would be jointly sponsored by Westfield Health and Gilders as per the previous season but the club announced that the car dealers were to continue a commercial relationship with the club but would no longer be shirt sponsors. At the end of July United officially launched their new away kit baring Redtooth's logo. In a change to the previous season the shirt itself was predominantly black with a light-red trim and a light-red diagonal stripe across the chest. In September the club announced a new third kit, this one being all white, introduced to avoid further colour clashes. At the end of that month the club also announced a new secondary kit sponsor, revealing that the GCI Com logo would be included on the back of the team shirts.
Season overview Pre-season Pre-season began with 11 players being released, including former Player of the Year James Beattie, defenders Andy Taylor and Johnny Ertl, and first choice stopper Steve Simonsen. Three senior out-of-contract players were offered new terms with Kevin McDonald, Chris Porter and Lee Williamson being offered the chance to remain with United. On 5 July Chris Porter signed a two-year contract with the option of a third, while Academy graduate Jordan Chapell also agreed a new one-year deal. The following day young right-back Matthew Lowton was sold to Premier League Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. The Blades returned to pre-season training having arranged the now annual pre-season tour of Malta, followed by a string of low key friendlies. With manager Danny Wilson seeking to improve the squad, on 13 July he signed 19-year-old striker John Cofie from Manchester United on a season-long loan. The first game of pre-season came against non-league Ilkeston where a side relying mainly on young players and triallists were held to a 1–1 draw after Harry Maguire had opened the scoring. A day later the Blades made their first permanent signing of the transfer window with 21-year-old right back Darryl Westlake signing a two-year deal with the option of a third year, with a fee to be agreed with his former club Walsall via a tribunal due to his age.
The squad commenced their summer training camp on the island of Malta and their next fixture saw them record a comfortable 6–0 victory over local side Zejtun Corinthians. As the training camp continued Chris Morgan announced during a question and answer session with the fans in attendance that he had decided to retire from playing due to a recurrent injury, and that he would now focus solely on his role as reserve-team coach. The following day United confirmed that Kevin McDonald had signed a new two-year contract, the news coming a couple of hours before the Blades were held to a 0–0 draw by Maltese side Hibernians. Back in the UK, and with July almost over, United made a triple signing, handing two-year deals to defenders Tony McMahon who had been released by Middlesbrough, and former loanee Matt Hill who had left Blackpool, along with signing striker Shaun Miller for an undisclosed fee from Crewe Alexandra. United's final game of July saw them take on Rotherham United at their newly opened ground, The New York Stadium, and recording a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal from loanee John Cofie.
As August began a United XI travelled the short distance to Hallam where two goals each from Ironside and Philliskirk were enough to secure a comfortable 4–0 victory. Joe Ironside was on target again a few days later as both he and new signing Tony McMahon scored to give United a 2–0 victory at Morecambe. With pre-season coming to an end reserve coach Chris Morgan took a young United XI side to Matlock Town where they recorded a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal from Erik Tønne. Then, the day before the season opener against Burton Albion, United announced the signing of Blackburn Rovers striker Nick Blackman on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
August and September: Too many draws
The Blades first competitive game of the season was a home League Cup tie against Burton Albion. Howard, Miller, Blackman, McMahon and McFadzean all made their first team débuts for United but with the game tied at 2–2 after extra time United lost on penalties for the second game in succession. The Blades began their league campaign with a home game against newly promoted Shrewsbury Town, winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from former Shrewsbury loanee David McAllister. A trip to Coventry City followed a few days later with United snatching a late goal for a 1–1 draw, with the same result being repeated the following Saturday as the Blades were held to another draw by Colchester United.
With the transfer window closing at the end of August, United continued to reshape their squad in an effort to reduce the wage bill, agreeing a new contract with Richard Cresswell for him to become player coach. On the final day of transfer activity the club agreed to sell Stephen Quinn to Hull City for an undisclosed fee, and allowed Nick Montgomery, the club's then longest serving player, to leave in order to move to Australia. United concluded their summer transfer dealings by offering former Portsmouth striker Dave Kitson a short-term deal to run up until Christmas 2012.
September began with a 5–3 victory over Bournemouth at Bramall Lane thanks in part to a brace of goals from Ryan Flynn. Flynn was also a central figure in the following game as both he and fellow midfielder Michael Doyle were shown red cards against Scunthorpe United before the Blades came from behind to grab a 1–1 draw. Off the field, the following week the club parted company with Chief Executive Julian Winter and Director of Academy Coaching John Pemberton, citing ongoing restructuring. With the red cards for both Doyle and Flynn being upheld on appeal, Danny Wilson bolstered the squad by bringing forward Paul Gallagher in on a months loan from Leicester City. Back on the pitch Gallagher, Kitson and Westlake all made their United debuts as the Blades were held to a 1–1 draw by Bury at Bramall Lane, whilst a 0–0 draw was the result when Doncaster Rovers visited Sheffield a couple of days later. A third goal of the season from Neill Collins was enough to continue the Blades' unbeaten start with a 1–0 victory over Yeovil Town at Huish Park. Despite the return of Michael Doyle and Ryan Flynn from suspension and a first goal from Dave Kitson, United were forced to settle for yet another 1–1 draw in their last game of September, versus Notts County at Bramall Lane.
October and November: Long live King George
October started more positively for the Blades as a late goal from Paul Gallagher, his first for the club, snatched a victory in an away fixture against Hartlepool United. United then made it two wins in a row on their travels as they defeated Leyton Orient 1–0 thanks to Nick Blackman's fifth goal of the campaign. During the match Mark Howard suffered a thigh injury in the 11th minute, being replaced in goal by George Long, and was later ruled out for up to 12 weeks. The following week, and despite attempts to retain his services, Paul Gallagher's loan period expired and he returned to his parent club. The Blades also announced changes to the Football Club board, with chairman Chris Steer stepping down to be replaced by Dave Green, and Nigerian financier Jacob Esan being added as a director. Despite George Long having made some impressive performances, Danny Wilson still looked to bring in another goalkeeper as cover and confirmed that former Wales international and free agent Danny Coyne had been invited to train with the Blades; but insisted that Long would continue to be first choice for the time being. The Blades then entertained Oldham Athletic at Bramall Lane, a bad tempered match which saw Oldham score in the seventh minute of injury time to snatch a 1–1 draw, and Lactics striker Lee Croft subsequently accused of racially abusing a ball boy. Having received a bye for the first round, United began their Football League Trophy campaign with a 4–1 victory over Notts County at Meadow Lane. Lecsinel Jean-François played for the first time in over six months after a knee injury, appearing for the last 15 minutes as a substitute, however he injured his other knee and was ruled out for a further two months. Back in the league and a trip to Preston North End culminated in a 1–0 win thanks to a Dave Kitson goal, before a Nick Blackman penalty was enough to claim the same result in a home game against Walsall. With the month almost over the Blades beat the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsnenal by handing a three-year deal to 17-year-old Academy player Diego De Girolamo, before another Nick Blackman spot-kick was enough to despatch Portsmouth 1–0 at Bramall Lane.