| 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.
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)
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