On Monday 5 February 2018, the University was delighted to
welcome 500 guests to the Octagon for a special ‘In Conversation’
evening.
Andy Giddings from BBC Radio Sheffield and
regular on Football Heaven was the compere, putting questions to Dr
Kevin McCabe and special guest, Chris Wilder, Manager of Sheffield
United Football Club.
Kevin is an Honorary Graduate of the
University of Sheffield and founder and Chairman of the Scarborough
Group of Companies, a company with roots stretching back to 1976 and one
of the UK's busiest privately-owned Investment, Development and Leisure
corporations. He remains Chairman and Owner of Sheffield United Limited
which owns the Blades Real Estate interests and is a driving force
behind the Football Club that does so much for the city of Sheffield.
The special guest had not been announced
prior to the event. Chris Wilder was the mystery guest to take to the
stage and joined Kevin in the conversations. Chris is a former
professional footballer and has been manager of SUFC since May 2016.
Andy Giddings put questions to Kevin and
Chris about business and football and discussed some of SUFC’s
highlights, including when they were promoted at Bramall Lane against
Northampton. Kevin spoke about the spirit of the club and how important
the club is for the city of Sheffield, ‘United and Wednesday are so
important to Sheffield – some clubs at the top have lost their soul’ he
said. To conclude the conversations, Andy presented Kevin and Chris with
a selection of pre-submitted questions from the audience. The event was
highly entertaining and engaging and provided a fantastic insight in to
Sheffield United Football Club.
The event also raised money for the Sheffield
Scanner, a campaign that Kevin is a keen supporter of, through the sale
of raffle tickets. Sheffield United Football Club generously donated
five fantastic raffle prizes. The evening raised an impressive £1225.00
towards the Sheffield Scanner campaign and a big thank goes to everyone
who contributed to the evening.