Unreliable History

Founded by the Rev. Tiverton Preedy, the Yorkshire club were originally named after the church, Barnsley St. Peters. They played on the adjoining fields, but were soon required to move after their heavy footballs were forever breaking the Vicar’s stained glass windows. These breakages earned them the title of the “Little Tykes”, but by 1912 they had transformed into “Battling Barnsley” as they vanquished all-comers to win the FA Cup. The trophy was paraded through the streets of the town on the back of an open-topped cart and over 45,000 whippets turned out to welcome home the victors.

During the intervening years, Barnsley anonymously trawled the lower leagues plying their trade at the Oakwell Ground. The name was taken from the great tree close to the water supply for that parish, which both had to be removed to make space to build the stadium. It is thought that the wish to fill in the well led to the lack of luck suffered by the club for the greater part of it’s history. In fact, the majority of Barnsley’s fame during these wilderness years has come from being Danny Blanchflower’s first English club and that Michael Parkinson was one of their fans.

Their recent ascent has seen them achieve a place in the top flight for the first time in their history. To retain their position on this plane, their crew have been trying to encourage their players by singing “It’s just like watching Brazil”. Unfortunately, the players have taken this to heart and are playing like Brazil – 1974 !!  A swift return to the Division One playing fields was soon bestowed upon them and their paranoid fans, who believed that there was some sort of conspiracy to keep the bigger clubs in the top flight at their expense.  That grassy knoll overlooking their ground has been viewed with suspicion ever since.

The ground is sited on a hill overlooking the windswept Yorkshire Moors and has a longer than average players tunnel, that also has a 1 in 3 slope to it. Therefore, it is advisable that you stand well away from the mouth of it, as even lumbering carthorses can build up a head of steam by the time they reach the pitch.

A sad note to finish on as we must report that Barnsley’s famous Toby Tyke mascot has had to be put down after a short illness, suffering from distemper.  Reports that it is to be replaced with a whippet have not yet been confirmed.

The side almost returned to the Premier League in 1999-2000, but lost in the play-off final to long time nearly men, Ipswich Town. Since then, successive managers have struggled on a budget to keep Barnsley in the Championship, which they have done successfully.

 

FAMOUS PLAYERS :- Danny Blanchflower, Claude Higginbottom, Clint Marcelle, Paul Wilkinson, Charlie Williams.

FAMOUS FANS : – Ian Kelsey (TV Actor – Dave in “Emmerdale”, Patrick Spiller in “Casualty), Dickie Bird (Former cricket umpire), Michael Parkinson (TV Chat Show host)

 

Club Records


Formed 1887

Turned Professional 1888

Became a Limited Company 1899

Previous names Barnsley’s St. Peter’s = 1887-1897

Previous grounds

Nickname “The TYKES” or “The REDS” or “The COLLIERS”

Club Colours
[Images courtesy of the wonderful Colours of Football website]
HOME :

AWAY :

THIRD :


Record Football League Win 9-0   v   Accrington Stanley     Division 3 (S)  03.02.1934
9-0   v   Loughborough Town    Division 2       28.1.1899

Record Premier League Win 2-0   v   Coventry City  (Home)   20.10.1997

Record Football League Defeat 0-9    v  Notts. County   Division 2     19.11.1927

Record Premier League Defeat 0-7   v   Manchester United  (Away)     25.10.1997

Record Cup Win 6-0  v  Blackpool  FA Cup First Round  20.01.1910
6-0  v  Peterborough United   League Cup First Round 2nd Leg  15.09.1981

Record Fee Paid £1.5 million to Queens Park Rangers for Mike SHERON (January 1999)
£1.5 million to Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) for Georgi HRISTOV (July 1997)

Record Fee Received £5 million from Swansea City for Alfie MAWSON (30th August 2016)

Record Appearances 569  –  Barry MURPHY  (1962-1978)

Record League Appearances 514  –  Barry MURPHY  (1962-1978)

Record Premier League Appearances 37  –  Neil REDFEARN     (1997-1998)

Record League goal-scorer 123  –  Ernest HINE  (1921-1926 and 1934-1938)

Record Premier League goal-scorer 10  –  Neil REDFEARN     (1997-1998)

Record all-time goal-scorer 131  –  Ernest HINE  (1921-1926 and 1934-1938)

Record goal-scorer in a League season 33  –  Cecil McCORMACK   Division 2  1950-1951   (42 games)

Most goals scored in a League match  5 – Frank EATON  v  South Shields  Division 3 (North)   09.04.1927
5 – Peter CUNNINGHAM  v  Darlington  Division 3 (North)   04.02.1933
5 – Beau ASQUITH  v  Darlington  Division 3 (North)   12.11.1938
5 – Cecil McCORMACK  v  Luton Town  Division 2   09.09.1950

Record Home Attendance 40,255   v  Stoke City     FA Cup Fifth Round     15.02.1936

Record total of goals in a League season 118  –  Division 3 (North)  1933-1934  (42 games)

Record League points total 3 points for a win  –  91    League One  2018-2019  (46 games)
2 points for a win  –  67    Division 2  1981-1982  (42 games)

Record Premier League points total 35  –  1997-1998

Most Capped Player while at club 35  –  Gerry McTAGGART  (Northern Ireland)

Youngest Players Reuben NOBLE-LAZARUS  –  15 years 45 days  v  Ipswich Town   (as a sub) (Championship)  (Away)   30.09.2008

Oldest Players Mike POLLITT  –  41 years and 206 days  v  Nottingham Forest   (Championship)  (Away)  14.09.2013

 

Stadium details 

Address :  Oakwell Ground, Grove Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S71 1ET

Telephone :   01226 211211
Ticket Office :

Capacity :  23,287
Pitch size :  100.5m x 68.5m  (110 yards  x 75 yards)
Official website :  www.barnsleyfc.co.uk

Directions

There are good directions to the Oakwell Ground on the Barnsley FC Website.

Honours


Division One Runners-up  (Second Tier) 1996-1997

Division Three North Champions  (Third Tier) 1933-1934, 1938-1939, 1954-1955

Division Three North Runners-up  (Third Tier) 1953-1954

Division Three Runners-up  (Third Tier) 1980-1981

League One Runners-up  (Third Tier) 2018-2019

Division Four Runners-up  (Fourth Tier) 1967-1968

FA Cup Winners 1912

FA Cup Finalists 1910

Football League Trophy Winners 2016

 

Managers


Arthur FAIRCLOUGH 1898 – 1901

John McCARTNEY 1901 – 1904

Arthur FAIRCLOUGH 1904 – 1912

John HASTIE 1912 – 1914

Percy LEWIS 1914 – 1919

Percy SANT 1919 – 1926

John COMMINS 1926 – 1929

Arthur FAIRCLOUGH 1929 – 1930

Brough FLETCHER 1930 – 1936

Matthew WALKER 1936 – 1937

Angus SEED 1937 – 1953

Tim WARD 1953 – 1960

Johnny STEELE 1960 – 1971

John McSEVENEY 1971 – 1972

Johnny STEELE 1972 – 1973

Jim ILEY 1973 – 1978

Allan CLARKE 1978 – 1980

Norman HUNTER 1980 – 1984

Bobby COLLINS 1984 – 1985

Allan CLARKE 1985 – 1989

Eric WINSTANLEY (Caretaker) 1989

Mel MACHIN 1989 – 1993

Eric WINSTANLEY (Caretaker) 1993

Viv ANDERSON 1993 – 1994

Danny WILSON 1994 – 1998

John HENDRIE 1998 – 1999

Eric WINSTANLEY (Caretaker) 1999

Dave BASSETT 1999 – 2000

Eric WINSTANLEY (Caretaker) 2000 – 2001

Nigel SPACKMAN 2001

Glyn HODGES (Caretaker) 2001

Steve PARKIN 2001 – 2002

Glyn HODGES 2002 – 2003

Gudjon BORDARSON 2003 – 2004

Paul HART 2004 – 2005

Andy RITCHIE 2005 – 2006

Simon DAVEY 2006 – 2009

Mark ROBINS 2009- 2011

Keith HILL 2011 – 2012

David FLITCROFT 2012 – 2013

Micky MELLON (Caretaker) 2013

Danny WILSON 2013 – 2015

Mark BURTON (Caretaker) 2015

Lee JOHNSON 2015 – 2016

Paul HECKINGBOTTOM (Caretaker) 2016

Paul HECKINGBOTTOM 2016 – 2018

Paul HARSLEY (Caretaker) 2018

Jose MORAIS 2018

Daniel STENDEL 2018 – 2019

Adam MURRAY (Caretaker) 2019

Gerhard STRUBER 2019 – 2020

Adam MURRAY (Caretaker) 2020

Valerian ISMAEL 2020 – 

 

League Record

The Football League structure has historically been as follows …

1888-1892 1892-1920 1920-1921 1921-1958 1958-1992 1992-2004 2004 to date
First tier Football League Division One Division One Division One Division One Premiership Premier League
Second tier Division Two Division Two Division Two Division Two Division One Championship
Third tier Division Three Division Three
(North) and (South)
Division Three Division Two  League One
Fourth tier Division Four Division Three League Two

Elected to Division Two  (Second Tier) 1898

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1898-1932

Division Three North (Third Tier) 1932-1934

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1934-1938

Division Three North  (Third Tier) 1938-1939

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1939-1953

Division Three North  (Third Tier) 1953-1955

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1955-1959

Division Three  (Third Tier) 1959-1965

Division Four  (Fourth Tier) 1965-1968

Division Three  (Third Tier) 1968-1972

Division Four  (Fourth Tier) 1972-1979

Division Three  (Third Tier) 1979-1981

Division Two  (Second Tier) 1981-1992

Division One  (Second Tier) 1992-1997

Premier League  (Top Tier) 1997-1998

Division One  (Second Tier) 1998-2002

Division Two  (Third Tier) 2002-2004

League One  (Third Tier) 2004-2006

Championship  (Second Tier) 2006-2014

League One  (Third Tier) 2014-2016

Championship  (Second Tier) 2016-2018

League One  (Third Tier) 2018-2019

Championship  (Second Tier) 2019-