Sheffield United v West Bromwich Albion, 16 March 2002

The referee was forced to abandon the match after 83 minutes when Sheffield United were reduced to six men by three red cards and injuries to Michael Brown and Rob Ullathorne having already used all of their possible substitutes. The two sendings off occurred after a melee after Santos fouled Andy Johnson (Johnson had fractured Santos cheekbone in a previous match) and Suffo was sent-off for appearing to head butt McInnes. This is the first time in Football League history this has occurred. It had happened in an international before in a game between Portugal and Angola in Lisbon in November 2001. Following allegations that the Sheffield United playing staff had instructed players to feign injury to get the match abandoned (Keith Curle was mentioned in the referee's report), the Football League and Football Association launched enquiries. The League reported on 21 March, awarding the match to West Bromwich Albion with the 3-0 scoreline. The FA later fined Sheffield United a sum of £10,000.