The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall family of file and graver manufacturers.

[6] The ground also hosted a Billy Graham revival meeting in 1985, rock concerts by Bruce Springsteen in 1988, a friendly match for the 150th anniversary of Sheffield FC when they played Inter Milan in 2007, a Travis Pastrana Motor cross event in 2016, an IBF Welterweight title boxing match featuring Sheffield United fan Kell Brook in 2017, the Women's League Cup final and a Rod Stewart concert in 2019, and Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe rock concerts in 2023.

The stadium has also been used to host England men's and women's senior and youth teams in friendly and competitive matches.

[2] Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70.

A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground, on 27 August 1855 against Sussex, but lost by an innings and 117 runs.

[8] The idea came from Ellison, who was using his own finances to support the club, in order to improve Bramall Lane's financial position as the county's headquarters.

Only one century was scored in list A one-day cricket at Bramall Lane, John Hampshire's 108 against Nottinghamshire in 1970 in the Sunday League.

Three bowlers took all ten wickets in an innings at Bramall Lane, the feat being more common in the annals of first-class cricket than many imagine.

The best match bowling figures at the ground, 16 for 114, were recorded by G. Burton of Middlesex against Yorkshire in 1888 while Hedley Verity took a remarkable 15 for 38 against Kent in 1936.

[13] The ground hosted its first football match on 29 December 1862,[4] between Sheffield and Hallam The game was played to raise money for the Lancashire Distress Fund during the cotton famine and ended 0–0.

Bramall Lane hosted the semi-final, final and second-place playoff of the 1867 Youdan Cup (won by Hallam).

[18][19] It was won 3–1 by the home side, who also arranged a number of games with other Associations including regular fixtures against the Glasgow FA (the first in 1874 and the last in 1957).

On 22 March 1889, six days after 22,688 people paid to watch the FA Cup semi-final between Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion,[20] it was decided to create a home football team to play at Bramall Lane.

Bramall Lane is the second-oldest football venue in the world still capable of hosting international matches, after the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.

Ennis-Hill had threatened to remove her name from the stand following controversy over the club's decision to re-sign Ched Evans after his release from prison.

This stand holds approximately 7,500 fans, and most of the ground's amenities, including the box office, Blades Superstore, Platinum Suite, "Legends of the Lane" museum, "1889" award-winning restaurant (formerly known as Bosworth's of Bramall Lane), the former police control centre (now relocated to the Blades Enterprise Centre between the Bramall Lane and John Street Stands), newly refurbished reception, press box, players entrance, administrative offices and television gantry attached to the roof of the stand.

[29] Within the car park situated adjacent to the stand on Cherry Street, statutes were erected in 2010 commemorating Joe Shaw,[30] holder of United's attendance record with 714 appearances, and Derek Dooley,[31] former club chairman.

Located on Shoreham Street, The Kop has been seated since 1991, this is the area in which the most boisterous home fans sit,[32] such that former assistant manager (1999–2003) and manager (2008–10) Kevin Blackwell named the noise coming from this stand as the "Bramall Roar" after the 2003 play-off semi-final second-leg against Nottingham Forest, which the Blades won 4–3, coming from 0–2 down.

[34] It has the club's initials "SUFC" written into the seats, and holds 10,221 fans, making this the largest stand at Bramall Lane.

The facilities are of lower quality in the Kop because there is no indoor concourse, although an outdoor bar was completed in September 2007 to complement the fast-food takeaway, but in spite of this it is still a firm favourite amongst the fans, and usually full on matchday.

The stand also contains a row of wheelchair-accessible spaces along the pitch, along with the ground's 31 executive boxes, the International Bar and both the Tony Currie and 1889 suites,[36] which provide the majority of Sheffield United's hospitality provision on matchdays.

It is fully linked to the John Street Stand and is also used as a family enclosure holding around 900 fans (after the installation of new restricted-view seats after the 2006–07 campaign.

The north-west corner is filled in by rentable offices, known as the Blades Enterprise Centre, one of many examples of United diversifying their off-the-field activities to maximise income streams.

In order to maximise the earnings potential of the land around the stadium in June 2007 work began to build a 158 bedroomed 4-star Millennium and Copthorne Hotel behind the new Westfield stand.

[39] At the Shareholders' meeting in November 2007 the club announced that it intended to extend the back of the Kop stand with an additional 3,200 seats and remove the pillars holding up the roof.

In the same meeting, the club announced that its long-term ambitions are to add an additional 6,000 seats to the South Stand with the intentions of taking the overall stadium capacity to just over 44,000, however this expansion would depend on demand in the Premier League and any potential 2018 World Cup venue bid.

United PLC Former Chairman Kevin McCabe stated that he would build Bramall Lane's extensions to any specifications laid down by the FA with a view to the ground hosting matches should England be successful in winning their World Cup bid.

[41] Following this announcement Sheffield United's Chief Executive, Trevor Birch, made it known that all planned redevelopment work had been put on hold until the club was able to regain and maintain Premier League status.

New proposals for the currently open corner between the Kop and South Stand were revealed in 2017, with the plans including the construction of a block of residential flats and a new, larger club shop.

The record attendance since the 1994 introduction of all spectators being seated is 32,604 at the Sheffield United v. Wigan Athletic game in the Premier League, on 13 May 2007.