The previous season (2001/02) had not been an eventful one as the Blades finished a poor 13th place, while the Worthington Cup was not brilliant either as they went out in round two when they lost on penalty's to Grimsby Town after a 3-3 draw. As was the FA Cup, the Blades knocked out Nottingham Forest 1-0 in round three only to lose to 2-1 Preston North End the following round.
Neil Warnock had promised that the new season would be much better but the fans where not too convinced when he made his summer signings. Stuart McCall (Bradford City), Steve Yates (Tranmere Rovers), Paddy Kenny (Bury), Iffy Onoura (Gillingham), Wayne Allison (Unattached) and Jon-Paul McGovern (5 month loan from Celtic) all joined on a free, while his only fee signing was former Barnsley striker Laurens Ten Heuvel from Dutch side Telstar for £100,000.
Meanwhile Shane Nicholson (Tranmere Rovers), Keith Curle (Barnsley), , Bobby Ford (Oxford United), Laurent D'Jaffo (Aberdeen), Georges Santos (Grimsby Town), Patrick Suffo (???), Adam Burley (Burton Albion) and Mark Ward (Belper Town) all left on a free while Paul Devlin (Birmingham City) went for £200k in a massive seasons clear out, but defender Benoit Croissant went on a seasons loan to Telstar.
The Blades opposition in their pre-season friendly's did not go down well with United fans. Their first fixture was a 14-1 victory away at Baslow before being held to a 0-0 draw against Bristol Rovers along with a 8-0 win against Bodmin. A Ndlovu brace helped United beat Saltash United 3-0 but the Blades most meaningful fixture was a 4-1 victory at home to Dutch Premier League side FC Twente.
United's first Nationwide League Division One clash saw the Blades travel to Coventry City, however the Sky Blues won the game 2-1. Carl Asaba took the lead after 13 minutes but Jay Bothroyd equalised just minutes later before McSheffrey made it 2-1 just before half-time. Our first game at home was against Portsmouth, Peter Ndlovu took the lead from a Shaka Hislop blunder but Deon Burton made amends to draw level.
The following game saw possibly the worst performance of the season as United drew 1-1 with Walsall at Bramall Lane, Australian International Steve Corica put the Saddlers in front but loanee Jon-Paul McGovern equalised with a fine volley before half-time. The first victory of the season came away to Burnley where Iffy Onoura's deflected shot found the goal to gave United a deserved 1-0 win.
There first victory quickly became two as they beat Millwall in a mid-week fixture 3-1. The game looked to be a 0-0 draw until Tonge chipped the ball over keeper for Asaba to head in a easy goal, Tonge then went and made it 2-0, but Ifill pulled one back in last minute before Peter Ndlovu fired the Blades into a 3-1 lead.
The first fixture in September was the Sheffield Derby at Hillsbrough.
United pilled pressure from start to finish in front of Sky TV but the Owls tactics of hit and hope paid off as they won 2-0 with goals from Lloyd Owusu and Shefki Kuqi.
United were still on their travels as they went to Norwich City to try and recover from that awful defeat to the Owls. United took the lead after just 38 seconds as Michael Brown hit a stunning free-kick straight into top corner of the goal while Tonge made it two, two minutes later. Asaba made it 3-0 with a penalty after 34 minutes, though in last minute of the 90 Paul McVeigh and Malkay Mackay finished to give the Blades a nervy ending.
The first Yorkshire Derby at Bramall Lane saw the Blades play York City in Worthington Cup First Round, the Minstermen put up a brave fight but McGovern's 13th minute strike was enough to put United through. In a tougher game United beat local rivals Rotherham United 1-0 (Ndlovu) at home while just beating Grimsby Town (home) 2-1 the following game (Allison and Tonge applied the goals).