Players who played for Derby County and Sheffield United

Which footballers have played for both Derby County and Sheffield United? It's exactly the kind of link that wins rounds of The Connection, our football trivia game. Every player below has been checked against his career record, including loan spells.

Quick quiz: how many can you name before you look? There are 9 in our list.

Show all 9 players

Player	Country	Derby County	Sheffield United
Bruce Rioch	England / Scotland	1974–1976 & 1977–1979	1979 loan
Dean Saunders	Wales	1988–1991	1997–1998
Paul McGrath	England / Republic of Ireland	1996–1997	1997–1998
Danny Higginbotham	England / Gibraltar	2000–2003	2013
Phil Jagielka	England	2021–2022	2000–2007 & 2019–2021
Michael Tonge	England	2010 loan	2001–2008
Rob Hulse	England	2008–2010	2006–2008
Jamie Ward	England / Northern Ireland	2011–2015	2009–2011
Conor Hourihane	Republic of Ireland	2022–2024	2021–2022 loan

Quick facts

9 players in our verified list have played for both Derby County and Sheffield United.
The most common countries are England (7), Wales (1), Republic of Ireland (1).
The earliest in our list is Bruce Rioch; the most recent is Conor Hourihane.
3 players made the link through a loan spell, including Bruce Rioch.

Test yourself

In The Connection you get two clubs and a country, and the first to name a player who links them wins the point. Try it with your mates, or take on today's daily.

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