- Sheffield United’s official X account was hacked on Monday afternoon
- Hackers posted four tweets about Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan
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Sheffield United have confirmed their official X account was hacked on Monday afternoon – just five days before the club face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
With excitement building ahead of one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history, fans might have expected the feed to be busier than usual.
But few could have predicted the bizarre barrage of posts that followed – many of which centred around Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan.
The erratic messages began with the question: ‘Why so much hate on Barry Bannan? Should I fire him??’
That was quickly followed by a close-up image of Bannan during a match, captioned: ‘ok i just love barry bannan’.
The tone then shifted again, with one tweet reading: ‘I’m following everyone who trash talk barry bannan. I just figured out that he is from another other club,’ before a final post attempted to change the subject: ‘Let’s forget Barry Bannan. New topic: MUFC > City’.
Sheffield United’s official X account was compromised on Monday afternoon when hackers posted multiple bizarre tweets about Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan
One of the tweets featured a photo of the midfielder and the text: ‘ok i just love barry bannan’
Another tweet read: ‘I’m following everyone who trash talk barry bannan. I just figured out that he is from another other club’
The final tweet in the Bannan sequence then claimed Man United were better than Man City
The sequence left supporters bewildered and strongly hinted that the club’s social media account had been compromised.
The tweets were deleted within the hour, and Sheffield United later confirmed that their account had been the target of a hack.
In a statement shared on the platform, the club said: ‘#SUFC can confirm that the account has been reclaimed, and all posts made by the hackers have been removed.
‘The club would like to apologise to anyone offended by what the hackers posted to our page; these posts do not represent the views of anyone at Sheffield United.’
Earlier, some tweets appeared to promote cryptocurrency links and external sites, sparking concerns about potential scams and phishing attempts.
At 5pm, the club appeared to confirm that normal service had resumed with a light-hearted post reading: ‘Right, where were we?’
That was followed by a more familiar type of content – a video message from former Blades defender Jack O’Connell, offering support ahead of the Wembley showdown.
‘Hey up lads,’ O’Connell said. ‘I just want to wish you all the best for the play-off final. Give it everything you’ve got, leave everything out there, do yourselves proud and get the club back to where it belongs. Let’s go Bladesmen!’
At 4.33pm, the club issued a statement announcing the hackers’ tweets had been deleted
United will head to Wembley on Saturday to face Sunderland in the Championship play-off final
Chris Wilder’s men head into Saturday’s final with momentum after thrashing Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate in their semi-final.
Meanwhile, Sunderland edged past Coventry City 3-2 in a nervy two-legged tie to reach Wembley.
Sheffield United had finished third in the Championship’s regular season with 92 points – a tally made even more impressive given they started the season with a two-point deduction.
Sunderland, by contrast, secured sixth place on the final day of the campaign, edging out Hull City on goal difference.
The Blades are aiming to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking after being relegated last season.
Sunderland, meanwhile, have not featured in the top flight since 2017.
