Rotting from the head down

I’ve been a supporter for 36 years
now and a season ticket holder until this season for most of that time

I stopped going 2nd half of last season; my dad had died and I couldn’t see the point in supporting a team that was so abject and depressing to watch given what i was dealing with in my private life. My ST went unused along with my dad’s.

I didn’t renew my ST this season and have instead focussed my effort and I must say, derived any enjoyment from football, via coaching my son’s junior team.

I want along today to my first BFC match of this season hoping to at least see an organised, committed side in the style Duff is known for

What I saw, and what I see, is a team but more importantly a club on its arse

There is no atmosphere at Oakwell. Since January I have only attended non-league men’s football and recently went to Chesterfield.

The contrast between these two clubs could not be greater at the moment.

Chesterfield create a really good atmosphere, helped no doubt by having a fuller stadium - and with an organised drummer and signing section (appreciate this isn’t for everyone but it no doubt helped the atmosphere).

But what I also noted was even the other stands, and most importantly a packed family section (lots of free kids’ tickets), joined in the atmosphere; there’s a real pride at what the club are producing on the pitch, but most importantly building off the pitch within the community

In contrast there is no goodwill left at Oakwell anymore

There are some ‘happy clappers’ still and I admire their positivity to some degree

However those with influence within the club are doing their beloved club more harm than good at the moment by not calling out what is happening.

And I fear we don’t have the constructive criticism from BFCST to change things.

One of the recommendations of the Crouch review was a shadow board from Supporters Trusts to hold decision makers and their processes to account within clubs. We really could do with this (Donny have one).

We are a shambles off the field - so many examples recently but what springs to mind includes, but not necessarily limited to;

- The hex sponsorship - an absolute disgrace to our Club.
- The poor state of facilities at Oakwell and the lack of a genuine / established matchday experience as a whole
- The lack of expertise; a CEO seemingly out of his depth allowed to continue unchecked, and until recently a dearth of back room staff
- Poor open day
- Poor availability of shirts- tbf this is a very old problem but why the club can’t get the shirts available sooner I’ll never know - Father’s Day is June every year and I’ve never known us have a new shirt to buy
- God awful communication with fans; and when people like Julie Quay turn up it seems to be a personal PR trip rather than to do anything meaningful. As much as many seem to admire Parek et al amongst the ‘new’ board he’s an absent owner. We need hands on management

There are plenty of other things that I have probably forgot about too

Not to mention of course the disasters we’ve seen on the field- currently what’s most noticeable

- A lopsided squad
- No strike force
- All part of a mixed / contradictory strategy on type of player for recruitment
- Uncommitted players; I watched Styles closely today and there was no determination or commitment, he’s either saving himself for a move or not committed or both. Some Individual performances were as bad as I’ve seen for some time. How Williams stayed on the field I’ll never know. He tried but he was awful. Same for Aitchison. There were plenty of others too.
- Lack of desire or physicality. Classic example Wolfe came on for Connell today and missed his very first 50/50 tackle as they broke from our corner and almost scored. Piss poor. Not an ability issue. But a lack of desire / lack of heart and belief.

We understandably have lost money being relegated and need to balance the books before recruiting, to a certain degree

But it’s clear we’re on our arses here, financially. Our owners aren’t putting anything in to tide us over.

And when money is tight we need the right talent off the pitch to make things happen, but the only deal this ceo can do quickly and efficiently is with a dodgy pyramid scheme owners

It all boils down to the fact we need new owners

For all the smoke and mirrors over the summer, we’re still owned by Conway and Lee and Parek hasn’t got either the resources or commitment to significantly change things

Our CEO is out of his depth and I have no faith in this Julie Quay woman who seems to be a PR stunt

My only hope was we had a good manager this season in Duff. But he’s been dealt a **** hand with his squad and can’t work miracles

Ultimately we need a reset and a new start as a club to generate a vision and buy-in from the highest level down to the fans - to become one again

At Chesterfield they had to drop two leagues and almost be relegated from the national league, before being taken over by the supporter trust to get back on track. And then gradually build what they are now building, and in a transparent and positive way

I’m not saying this is necessarily viable for us or other clubs, and certainly our BFCST seem a little cosy for me with the board as they are, so probably wouldn’t want or feel able to instigate something similar

But our club needs a reset.

We’re dying.

And I believe we’re going to keep going backwards with the current set up

I just hope we don’t drop too far before the rest or new beginning happens

It gives me no pleasure writing this but as a fan I don’t think I’ve ever felt this disconnected from My Club.

 

I agree things are a bit ***** now, but just to correct you, we have never been owned by Conway or Lee.

 

I was dying reading your post

 

UREDS

 

The thing that hurts/smarts the most is how it would quite literally have been easier to avoid all this, yet Conway and Co managed to mismanage things so badly that it's potentially set us back years. We had a platform to build on and become properly established at Championship level and they systematically, tantamount to deliberately dismantled it.

The current lot seem equally clueless. So, so many things that with a bit of effort could be solved yet they do nothing. I wish they'd all just **** off. Why is it so much to ask to have someone who's even slightly competent in charge? The last 14 months have seriously started taking a toll on my mental health and these dickheads haven't helped by ruining one of the few distractions from it all.

 

Hilarious. Thanks for your input.

 

Exactly. We had the chance to consolidate last year. Unfortunately incompetence or arrogance or both, from Conway, cost us. And now he’s run out of town but still holds shares and therefore holding us back. A mess.

 

On the Julie Anne Quay point. She posted on instagram today pics of her watching the match. Absolutely no PR value in that given the result. Fair play to her for laying herself open to a volley of pelters.
Feel free to go on there and put your points to her.

 

Yeah but she has way too many tabs open. That's serial killer behaviour.

And the second tab says Tory.

It's Tekkytyke in disguise

 

Great post and sums up where I am with things.

 

I think all in all my friend the best thing for you is to stick to watching Chesterfield .

 

Remember Red CB that when you are telling other fans not to support the club, and basically saying they aren't proper fans for being pissed off with our owners and CEO, just think back to your own feelings towards them last season when they kicked you out of your seat.

 

Great post. Sums it up well, no entertainment and y i stoped going. 240 mile round trip with high diesel prices. Ok match ticket isnt high but still all adds up

 

Ive seen itca lot worse, its not great and its not dying in the slightest. So i dont agree with much in your post at all.

Look at our academy with ex plarnsley players running it, box office staff wonderful, love the fan zone, a good coach we have who has had a good impact in only 5 games, loved seeing JAQ in the fanzone, bfc in the community do some good stuff, media team release some great stuff, i could go on and on.

 

You are miss understanding my comments, what I am saying is that if you are that fed up with the club then you vote with your feet & this lad has had enough and said that he had in recent times enjoyed his visit to Chesterfield, so fair play to him & everyone who decides enough is enough & if he gets more pleasure out of watching none league then do exactly that .. Every time you disagree with me over the club you remind me of how I felt with the west stand fiasco & my views have not altered on that, I said it then & I will say it again that I will be here when these owners are long gone & the sooner they go the the better but I do not have to agree with every negativity or every positivity for that matter , I still love watching the reds but if I felt like the poster then I would consider other options.

 

Spot on. Very little changed in the summer on the board apart from one puppet being replaced with another to try and bump season ticket sales. Every board member have played their part in the rotting corpse of Barnsley Football Club the past few years and ideally every one of them would be gone and we'd have a brand new 100% owner. Our ground is a joke, merchandise is useless, head coach can't spend a penny, board have known for the whole of 2022 we need strikers and still haven't sorted it and the matchday experience Conman wanted to improve when he first joined our board is no better all these years later.

 

The thing that gets me with posts like this is, they only appear after a heavy defeat.

I fully get the disillusionment around the club, and if you're struggling to find the motivation to go, then stop. That's your decision, and I respect anyone for making it, because I know I couldn't. I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather do on a Saturday afternoon, even now, even after everything that has gone on.

I missed 6 months due to work commitments, and even though I actually only missed about 3 victories in that time (it was a particularly bad start to the season), it was awful not being at Oakwell, knowing 11,000 others were. As I say, each to their own.

 

conway was replaced for season tickets sales . That's it!

 

I take some of the points in the original post, but if you had been to the Bristol Rovers game, as I did, and missed yesterday's, as I had to do, you may well have had a completely different reaction. In view of the very disappointing and surprising scoreline yesterday, I can understand your frustration, but the performance four days earlier was outstanding.

 

Ahh yes, cos the extra season ticket sales made such a huge difference to owners who, apparently, couldn't give a ****.