Denise Wild: 'Mainstay of Sheffield United’s success' leaves Bramall Lane after 20 years

Denise Wild, a “legend” and much-loved kitchen assistant at Bramall Lane, is retiring after decades of baking flapjacks and banana bread for players.

In her time at the club, she has worked with Nick Montgomery, Chris Morgan and Richard Cresswell, and looked after Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire when they were at the academy as teenagers.

Derek Geary, known as Del, Sheffield United academy manager, said: “When you see a club doing well, it is down to people like Denise. Managers and players come and go, it’s the likes of her as well as those people that make a club do well.

“I am sad to see her go. She has always been very supportive, all the players through the years have loved her. She has been the mainstay of the club’s success.

“Sometimes you get unsung heroes, and she is one of them. She will always be welcome back. I am sure she will come strolling in with her flapjacks - I hope she does, anyway.”

A ceremony for Denise with the staff from the club and academy took place on Tuesday.

Denise, who lives in Shirecliffe and grew up in Fox Hill, said: “I have loved every minute of it. I have seen people come and go, and I’ve made good friends. I have known Del since he was a player, he looks after me. 

“People sometimes say I’m the ‘exec chef who doesn’t cook’. I used to make the bacon butties and that’s the extent of it, I just assisted in the kitchen. but I did bake cakes for them. They keep saying I’m famous for the flapjacks, but I don’t like them myself!

“It was Nick Montgomery, Chris Morgan and Richard Cresswell that got me into baking. I baked for them once and they said, ‘if we give you the money, can you bake for us every week?’ They used to be allowed to eat anything those days, you know.”

Even after 20 years, and a lifetime of living in Sheffield, Denise has not come around to supporting United - or even liking football at all.

She said: “I know nothing about it. I tried watching it, I tried playing it, but I don’t understand it. They all have nicknames, and have their surnames on the back of their shirts, and I have to say, ‘tell me his christian name’.

“They’d ask me, have you seen Flecky?’, and I’d tell them, ‘yes I’ve seen John’.”