It’s safe to assume Sheffield United are not most neutrals’ pick to win Saturday’s play-off final with Sunderland.
A band of brothers are sandwiched in no man’s land between the bottom of the Premier League and the top of the Championship; not good (or rich) enough to prosper in the top-flight, but too good for the second-tier.
Should the Blades beat their fellow red-and-white striped opponents at Wembley, they will have been promoted and relegated twice in the last six seasons. They are part of the purgatory clique.
United went down with 16 points in April last year, and some may wonder whether enough has changed for them to make a better fist of survival should they triumph at Wembley.
Chris Wilder remains the figurehead, but his team has been revamped and re-energised over the past 12 months.
Half of the 16 players used during last week’s second leg breeze over Bristol City have been signed since last summer, and academy graduates Andre Brooks and Sydie Peck both started.
Peck, arguably more than any other player, embodies United’s post-relegation evolution.
The 20-year-old played just nine minutes of the 2023-24 Premier League season, but has been virtually ever-present in the Championship, featuring in 44 of his team’s 48 matches, including 34 times as a starter. He has become increasingly pivotal since the turn of the year.
“Absolutely delighted for Sydie, his performances have been outstanding,” Wilder said in March after Peck was called into England’s elite development squad.
“He was patient last year, and his attitude has always been first class, as we know, and when that opportunity opens up, generally his performances have been absolutely spot on.”
With no goals and only two assists, Peck hasn’t been a difference maker in the final third. However, his energy and dynamism has injected fresh impetus into Wilder’s midfield, with his all-action displays earning him acclaim from fans as well as the club’s young player of the year award.
Peck’s breakthrough has justified both the club’s faith in him and his faith in himself. Born in the leafy north London borough of Enfield, Peck spent 11 years in Arsenal’s academy before heading to the Steel City aged 16 in 2021.
“It’s hard getting into any first-team, but getting into Arsenal’s is about as hard as it gets,” ex-Arsenal youth coach Dan Micciche tells The i Paper.
“He got offered a scholarship, so the club wanted to keep him. He obviously felt at the time that he maybe needed a change and could become a bit more independent by moving away.”
Last stop, WEMBLEY.
pic.twitter.com/N5y9MhC43X
— Sydie Peck (@Sydiepeck8) May 14, 2025
Peck was rated highly at Arsenal, enough that he regularly trained and played in a year up for his age group alongside current Ipswich star Omari Hutchinson in Micciche’s team.
“He was very determined,” Micciche recalls. “I remember at U16 level the training session would finish, and we’d be walking in and he’d be doing box to box runs, and staff would say, ‘oh should we call him in?’ And I’d say, ‘no just leave him’ because if he doesn’t do it here, he’ll do it somewhere else. It told us he had the drive.”
Competition in midfield was fierce. Charlie Patino, now at Deportivo La Coruna, was a year older and seen as a potential future first-teamer. Over Peck’s shoulder were Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, both playing in central midfield at the time and being fast-tracked through the Hale End youth setup.
Peck presumably felt the pathway would be less cluttered at Sheffield United, a club recently relegated from the Premier League, than at Arsenal. Will Lankshear, the Tottenham striker who spent the end of last season on loan at West Brom, had blazed the trail, making the same switch a few months before.
That single-mindedness has defined Peck’s ascent in Wilder’s plans. He started the season as a substitute, but a serious knee injury to Oliver Arblaster presented an opening in midfield, and he soon made the position his.
“I remember going to Sheffield United about 18 months ago and I spoke to Chris Wilder and asked him about Sydie,” Micciche, who is leaving a role with Everton this month, said.
“He told me a story about when Sydie was starting to get on the bench now and again. He was on the bench and Chris Wilder said to him ‘Can you play on the left?’ and Sydie turned around and said ‘just effing put me on the pitch, will you?’
“I think he has the right type of manager there because some might have gone ‘sit back down’ but Chris found it quite funny and liked that side of his personality, that he had the front to say that to the manager and just wanted to play.”
Peck got his wish and was integral during United’s automatic promotion charge and a subsequent play-off push that has led him back to London, and a date with destiny at Wembley.
“He’s already overcome a big challenge this year playing in the Championship, which is obviously a very difficult level itself,” Micciche says. “So there’s no reason why he can’t make the step up.”
Having had a watching brief of their last miserable Premier League experience, Peck will want to be a central figure for their next top-flight campaign, doing his bit to stop the Sheffield United yo-yo from crashing back down again.
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