Sheffield United hit the jackpot after Blackpool decision - Chris Wilder loved him | OneFootball

Chris Basham was one of the driving forces of Sheffield United's rise from League One to the Premier League

Plenty of superlatives are attributed to those who helped Sheffield United from League One to the Premier League, but one of the unsung heroes of the time was Chris Basham.

The centre-back was the longest-serving player at Bramall Lane at the time of their 2019 Championship triumph, having signed for the club back when Nigel Clough was in charge in the summer of 2014 from Blackpool.

After finishing just outside the League One play-offs the year before, the goal was to bring in solid Championship-quality players to help the side back into the top six in the third tier at least, and eventually earn promotion.

Basham had played 40 times in the previous Championship campaign with the Seasiders and was a big part of the side that stayed up, as they relied a lot on their defenders, given that they boasted the worst attacking return in the league that year.

He was an astute signing at the time, but no one could have forecast the dizzying heights that the club would achieve over the coming decade.

Chris Basham was a key part of Sheffield United's rise to the Premier League

Sheffield United's meteoric rise to the top flight didn't actually start until a couple of years after Basham arrived at the club.

The Blades would fail once more in the play-offs in the centre-back's first season at Bramall Lane, a post-season run where Basham netted his first goal for the club in the crazy 5-5 second leg draw against Swindon Town. In the following year, Sheffield United did even worse with Nigel Adkins in charge, finishing firmly in mid-table.

As many know, it was the introduction to the Bramall Lane dugout for boyhood Blade Chris Wilder that sparked the special run, and despite playing a key role in his first two years at Sheffield United, it was under the tutelage of Wilder that turned Basham into someone who'd become a Premier League-quality defender.

Alongside new arrival Jack O'Connell, Basham would form a strong defensive partnership. Wilder's back three system would be a mixture of Basham, O'Connell and someone else for the next five years. John Egan would become that third man, but for now, Jake Wright took the third spot.

In Wilder's back-three system, Basham would operate as a wide centre-back, often making overlapping runs while the wing-back tucked in. It worked a treat, as Sheffield United picked up 100 points to win League One in his first season in charge, and it only took two more years until the side was in the Premier League.

During those three years, the popular centre-back missed just nine league games, having plenty of memorable moments, none more so than in March 2019, when he scored the only goal of the game against Leeds United at Elland Road to leapfrog their rivals and send the Blades into the Championship's top two.

That win gave Sheffield United a big upper hand in the promotion race between the two sides, and while the pendulum swung back and forth in the couple of months between then and the end of the campaign, Chris Wilder's side held their nerve to secure a famous promotion.

Chris Basham would continue to be an important player in the Premier League

With Sheffield United going up with a squad mainly composed of players bought in League One, there was outside expectation that the Blades would need a major squad overhaul to compete in the Premier League.

The Blades did compete, but no overhaul was needed, as those who helped the South Yorkshire side earn that promotion and opportunity to play in the top flight were afforded such and capitalised on it massively.

The likes of John Fleck, John Lundstram and John Egan are regarded as the hard-working heroes of that 2019/20 Sheffield United side, but Basham more than played his part.

In fact, the then 31-year-old started every single league game of the campaign, and rightly won both Players' Player and Player of the Year that season. And even though the Blades endured a tough second season, Basham was still a mainstay in the side, starting 31 games.

Arguably, there wasn't anyone more important in Chris Wilder's system during his first stint as Sheffield United manager than Basham, and the Blades fans shared Wilder's love for the popular defender.

There were several unsung heroes of that 2019/20 Premier League campaign for the Blades, but Basham sits atop them all.