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The midfielder, who in his second spell with the Bantams skippered them to the heady heights of the Premiership, popped up with a rare winner on 54 minutes to silence the crowd that once idolised him.
Dean Windass, later to see red, and Peter Ndlovu had earlier traded first-half goals within a frantic two minute spell as both sides created a glut of chances in a great advertisement for First Division football.
In a lively opening spell Windass twice went close to opening his account as he went in search of ending his dreadful goal drought that stretched back to March. First only Phil Jagielka's block stopped Windass from scoring, before the bustling striker narrowly headed over from six yards after getting on the end of a pin-point Paul Heckingbottom cross from the left.
The Blades hit back with Ndlovu's dangerous whipped cross turned away by Jason Gavin. From the resulting corner, Michael Tonge created space for a left-footed shot, but that went straight into the grateful arms of Marlon Beresford.
Then came the breakthrough on 27 minutes. Neat play on the right by Nicky Summerbee earned a throw-in and from that the ball fell to DEAN WINDASS on the edge of the box and he smashed a low drive into the bottom right-hand corner.
But City barely had time to celebrate before United were back on level terms. Former Bantam Ashley Ward held the ball up after it was cheaply given away by Gavin and he fed PETER NDLOVU who curled the ball past the despairing dive of Beresford.
City might have gone back in front immediately when Gavin stole in unmarked from a Summerbee corner, but his header was hacked off the line by Jon Harley.
The second half started much as the first ended, with the chances continuing to come. Bradford might well have gone ahead had it not been for a fingertip save from Paul Gerrard. A great ball into the box by the impressive Summerbee found Andy Gray and his header was acrobatically turned away by the Blades keeper.
Paul Peschisolido had been brought on at the break to pep up a blunt Blades attack and the Canadian international was immediately causing problems. He exchanged passes with Ward and dispatched a low skimming shot that Beresford did well to push away.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall for the Bantams, having twice seen United go close as STUART McCALL put the Blades in front on 54 minutes. A scramble in the City box saw the ball fall kindly to the former City hero and his side-footed shot squirmed past Beresford.
As Bradford pressed, Summerbee continued to be a dangerous supply line, his dipping cross from the right just evading the head of the charging Windass. Then the action switched to the left as Lewis Emanuel crashed a shot just wide of Gerrard's left post as City turned up the pressure.
But Warnock's men were still looking dangerous themselves, with Ndlovu, Peschisolido and Tonge all having shots blocked by Bradford defenders.
City boss Nicky Law threw on striker Robert Wolleaston and winger Ben Muirhead as his side went for broke in the last 10 minutes. And Muirhead was soon in the thick of the action, firstly dribbling his way into the box, only to shoot straight at Gerrard, before his whipped cross into the box was headed out to Paul Evans, whose ambitious bicycle kick flashed just wide.
It would have been a fitting end had Windass managed to keep down a volley in the dying minutes to earn a deserved point for City, but instead he finished the game in despair, harshly sent off in the dying seconds for a lunge at Michael Brown.