Chris Dawkes: Sheffield United pre season tour to Scotland
Chris Dawkes - Sports Correspondent
Last year Calendar followed Sheffield United to the Algarve to cover their pre-season tour ahead of the club’s first season in the Premier League for 12 years.
This summer there’s no trip to Portugal. No fans packing out a sun drenched training ground. Instead the Blades have set up camp in Edinburgh. No fans have followed them. This is pre season in a COVID world.
It could have been different. The original plan was for the Blades to set up camp in Evian on the French-Swiss border, and the banks of the Lake Geneva.
But government regulations surrounding quarantine meant this wasn’t feasible with the Premier League season less than 3 weeks away.
Instead the team were forced to play their first pre season game at Dundee United in torrential conditions. Storm Francis wreaked havoc and the game was abandoned at half time with the Blades 1-0 up. It was all very different to 12 months earlier.
Never in the wildest dreams of those Blades fans who made the trip to Portugal last year did they foresee a season where the club would exceed all expectations to finish 9th in the Premier League table - their highest league position in 28 years.
If the stats are anything to go by this year could be somewhat more challenging. No Yorkshire club has spent more than two consecutive seasons in the top flight since Leeds were relegated in 2004.
Sheffield United’s pre-season training camp this year is at the national performance centre for sport in Scotland - the Oriam sports facility on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The Scottish rugby union team use it as a base, as do the Scottish national football team.
Calendar was invited along to film training and speak to the players ahead of the new season.
So far the club have made just two summer signings - both goalkeepers - Aaron Ramsdale from Bournemouth for a reported £18 million pounds, and Wes Foderingham on a free transfer from Glasgow Rangers. But manager Chris Wilder told us he expects more names to be added to the squad ahead of the deadline in October.
He’ll need to if the Blades are to match or even improve on last seasons performance, which almost saw them qualify for Europe for the first time in their history.
It’s less than 3 weeks until the Blades kick off against Wolves at Bramall Lane. There’ll be no fans there. But this club are good at adapting to the new normal. This pre season can testify to that.
Calendar's Chris Dawkes has been with the squad at their Scotland training camp.