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In the 1980s film trilogy, ‘Back to the Future’, at the end of the first instalment, the inventor of the time machine, Dr Emmett Brown, interrupts the central character, Marty’s reunion with his girlfriend. Having just returned from the future, where the villain, Biff, has stolen a baseball yearbook from the future. This allowed him to become a millionaire by correctly betting on the baseball World Series winners by virtue of the yearbook. Biff rules the town of Hill Valley and makes everyone’s lives miserable.
Doc Emmett Brown and Marty McFly in Back to the Future Universal Pictures
In the second instalment, we are given a terrifying glimpse of what could happen if a duplicitous individual used a time machine to their advantage.
Since that day at Wembley, I have been pinching myself. Did that really happen? And even more so, to what that led to. The club’s unprecedented summer spending spree and the incredible Premier League debut, by roasting West Ham by three goals to nil.
I have had some uncomfortable dreams this summer. Mainly that Wembley didn’t go the way that it did and that I am in some parallel universe where VAR didn’t play a part in the game.
Maybe Chris Wilder, the Sheffield manager on the day (who was critical of the use of VAR in the play-off final) had somehow got hold of Doc Brown’s DeLorean and took himself back to the EFL committee meeting where the decision was made to use VAR technology in the Championship play-off final, despite not having used it for any of the league matches nor the play-off semi-finals.
Having gone back and persuaded the committee to vote against its use, Wilder would be safe in the knowledge that Harrison Burrows’ 34th-minute, 20-yard piledriver would stand. Vini Souza’s offside position, blindsiding Anthony Patterson, would have gone unnoticed, giving the Blades an almost insurmountable 2-0 lead on the afternoon.
Sheffield United would have gone on to win the game and been promoted to the Premier League in our place, and the monkey on that club’s back at not having won at Wembley for 100 years would have been lifted.
Sheffield United would still have Chris Wilder in charge, someone who, inexplicably, the Blades’ fans love, though maybe with a time machine at his disposal, he could have worn something different for his Wembley appearance. They wouldn’t be feeding on scraps in the transfer market. Not worrying about a last season of parachute payments. Not for them the humiliation of facing their beaten play-off semi-finalists in the first fixture of the new Championship season and being thrashed 4-1 at home and then losing 1-0 away to Swansea to prop up the table after two games. Being even worse off than their deadly city rivals, Sheffield Wednesday (with all the travails they are suffering).
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: Chris Wilder, Manager of Sheffield United, celebrates his teams first goal scored by Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United during the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final match between Sheffield United and Sunderland at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2025 in London, England. This weekend’s EFL play-off matches at Wembley will all kick-off one minute late, to raise awareness for the ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign, which aims to encourage people to learn CPR. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: Chris Wilder, Manager of Sheffield United, celebrates his teams first goal scored by Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United during the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final match between Sheffield United and Sunderland at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2025 in London, England. This weekend’s EFL play-off matches at Wembley will all kick-off one minute late, to raise awareness for the ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign, which aims to encourage people to learn CPR. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: Chris Wilder, Manager of Sheffield United, celebrates his teams first goal scored by Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United during the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final match between Sheffield United and Sunderland at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2025 in London, England. This weekend’s EFL play-off matches at Wembley will all kick-off one minute late, to raise awareness for the ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign, which aims to encourage people to learn CPR. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) Getty Images
And from our point of view, Enzo Le Fée’s loan spell would have come to an end, and he would be back at AS Roma.
We wouldn’t have been able to afford the likes of Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Chemsdine Talbi, Reinildo Mandava, Simon Adingra, Omar Alderete, Arthur Masuaku, Granit Xhaka, Robin Roefs, Marc Guiu, and Nordi Mukiele. To say nothing of the appointment of former Roma man, Florent Ghisolfi, as director of football, who was instrumental in making most of these deals happen.
We also wouldn’t be wringing our hands at how brutal football is, as the likes of Dan Neil, Patterson, Patrick Roberts, and Dennis Cirkin would not have to take a step back, having got us over the line. They could continue their happy little way, having another go in the Championship.
But anyone who understands anything about time travel knows that it is nigh-on impossible to break the space-time continuum. So even if VAR were not in existence, this team of Régis le Bris never knows when they’re beaten. Most likely, after Eliezer Mayenda and Tommy Watson had equalised by the 96th minute, Wilson Isidor would have scored an even later winner, so all this conjecture and anxiety would not be necessary.
Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris celebrates following the Sky Bet Championship play off final at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday May 24, 2025. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)