 Former player Chris Wilder was appointed as manager over the summer, and despite a four-game winless run at the start of the season, finally managed to turn things around for the Blades.The club broke into the top two in mid-November and never left the automatic promotion places, eventually securing a return to the Championship on 8 April 2017.On 15 April they secured the League One title when Bolton Wanderers, their closest challenger, lost 1–0 at Oldham Athletic, the Blades becoming the fourth club to win all four tiers of professional English football after Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1988, Burnley in 1992, and Preston North End in 1996, all of them having won the fourth-tier title.