The Steel City Derby, pitting Wednesday against United, has been contested over 140 times in its history.
At its peak, it has been played out in an FA cup semi-final at Wembley and in the early days of the Premier League, it was a regular occurrence at the top table of English football.
However, next season it is looking increasingly likely that the fixture will take place in the less glamorous setting of npower League One.
It just goes to show the sorry state of Sheffield football.
Sheffield United (barring a miracle) will be relegated in the coming weeks, showing the huge fall from grace for a side that reached the play-off final as recent as 2009.
Constant changing of managers, star players departing and fluctuating results on the pitch has led to the downfall of the club in the past year.
The few star assets that manager Micky Adams has at his disposal, such as Stephen Quinn and Ched Evans, will almost certainly move on in the summer. The question is will Adams be given time to build his own squad?
The story bears many resemblances to that of their arch-rivals Wednesday, who experienced similar problems last season when they were also relegated to the third tier.
Despite the doom and gloom in the red half of the city, Wednesdayites have little to shout about themselves. Their club does at least have the financial muscles to flex, after years of off-the-field uncertainty.
However, their recent January splurge showed just how hard it is to identify suitable players for that level. Of the players purchased in the last transfer window (incidentally for a total of well over £1m) only Gary Madine appears to have made an initial impact at Hillsborough.
Gary Megson certainly has a sizeable task on his hands trying to build a squad in the summer that is worthy of promotion. The only saving grace is that Wednesday now have the funds behind them. The Blades finances, on the other hand, are questionable.
When glancing down the respective squad lists of each team, the drop in quality from a few years ago is startling.
The likes of Kyle Walker, James Beattie and Paddy Kenny have departed United whilst Wednesday have had to deal with the sales of Marcus Tudgay, Chris Brunt and Madjid Bougherra.
At present it would be hard to string together a side capable of competing effectively in League One, which highlights the calibre of player at both club’s disposal.
Both clubs will now be looking to next season as they aim to outdo each other on a less grand stage than previous seasons.
If next season is to be a promotion campaign for the two clubs, Megson and Adams will both need to recruit wisely both for the sake of their respective clubs and the city’s footballing reputation.
