Worth remembering Eric Winstanley today on the anniversary of his passing in 2021. What an important man he was in the history of our club - as a player, coach and asst/manager. 461 appearances, 39 goals - the highest by any defender in club history and at 19, the youngest captain ever. He was a hero of mine. I also had the privilege of meeting him and he was such a friendly, humble man. It was a pleasure being in his company. RIP Winnie.
My all time favourite Eric photo. A picture of friendship not just work colleagues, who gave us our greatest time.
Lovely gentleman, legend of oakwell, Darfields finest. Hope you are well Andrew Winny from Scottie in Wales
And just to add that Redders put a lot of the success during the Sir Danny period down to Eric's coaching.
Used to love it when the Ponte sang his name especially when we were struggling, the big man came up for the corner and bang Winnie scored and we were back in the game, memories ….. great player a true legend Winnie Winnie Winnie ……………
As well as being a great player he also brought great discipline and standards to the youth team. Watson, Morgan, Eaden, Moses, Jones, Liddle etc were all indebted to him. Think we got to the youth Cup Final under his guidance. A true character who became a club legend.
A man who never lost sight of his roots, the value of football in communities and that the game should be more than about the elite or individuals. “We’ve always had ambitions to do this. And it’s a dream. But dreams can come true. And I’ll tell you what, at the bottom end of it as well, there’s a lot of clubs – your Doncaster’s, your Rotherham’s, your Rochdale’s of this world, we’ve been there. There’s no reason why they can’t get there as well. And I think it’s great for all the smaller clubs, or so called. But we’re not small anymore. We’re Barnsley. We’re Premiership. And we deserve it.” Eric Winstanley, 26th April 1997.
Well said, old mate. Those of us who actually saw him play are very lucky. Love and respect to his wonderful family, too.
You know you're a legend for our beloved club when youre in the hearts of people who never even got to see you play, who were years off being born. 20 years in my case! A true legend indeed - what a bloke he was.
He attracted attention from First Division clubs as he progressed with us at Fourth and Third Division levels but that big move never happened for him. There was a reported £60,000 bid for him, possibly Sheff Utd I think, but he remained with his home town club until finally moving on to Chesterfield for only £15,000. His coaching career soon took over and he eventually moved back to us and we all remember that wonderful promotion season where he helped Danny to steer us to the Premier League. One of Oakwell’s finest.
My all time Oakwell hero and feel privileged to have been coached by Winnie while playing at Redfearns. Anyone remember his hat trick?
22nd April 1969. Watford the visitors needed a point for promotion from division 3. We were 2-0 down when Winnie went to centre forward and scored a hat trick we won 3-2. Pat Howard who,d been injured replaced him at the back. Burned in my memory. Thank you for what you gave us Eric.
Never forget his hattrick against Watford,,one of Oakwells classic moments.Along with Ronnie Glavin Eric is up there as a favourite player of mine.