Historical League Positions

Warning: long and boring post. I predict that only JamDrop, Red Rain and JLWBL will read it to the end.

As an aside from the obvious disappointment we're all feeling, I've been doing some analysis of our league position over our history. Some of our younger supporters feel that we're under-performing at the moment, some older ones (including me) feel that we're above or at our natural level. Obviously we all have our opinions, but there are some facts which none of us can argue with or change.

I've calculated our overall league position for every season since 1898/99 when we joined the second division. By overall position, I mean the number of positions from the top of the first division. For example, in 1898/99 we finished 11th in division 2, and there were 18 teams in division 1, so our overall league position was 11 + 18 = 29. When I refer to a division, I mean the old numbering of 1 to 4, so for example the current league 1 is D3.

Here goes: -

The lowest position in our history was 84, which was 16th in D4 at the end of the 1966/67 season
The highest position in our history was 19, obviously in the Premier league relegation season
Our average league position over our entire history is 43, which is equivalent to 2nd bottom in D2
We're currently in position 39, 19th in D2
We've spent 1 season in D1, 74 seasons in D2 , 23 in D3 and 10 in D4
The 1959/60 season was the start of our decline - up to then we'd spent all except 5 seasons in the D2
The 1978/79 season was the start of our rise - since then we've spent 8 season in D3, 30 in D2 and of course 1 in D1

I've also averaged our league position per decade, as follows: -

Start - 1900: 32
1900 - 1910: 30
1910 - 1920: 29 (best in our history, equivalent to 11th in division 2, but not a full decade because of the 1st world war, and we also won the cup in this period)
1920 - 1930: 35
1930 - 1939: 43 (not a full decade because of the 2nd world war)
1946 - 1950: 33 (not a full decade because of the 2nd world war)
1950 - 1960: 44
1960 - 1970: 65
1970 - 1980: 72 (worst decade in our history, equivalent to 4th in division 4)
1980 - 1990: 34 (The Clarke/Hunter/Glavin effect)
1990 - 2000: 30 (The rise to the premiership)
2000 - 2010: 46 (The administration effect)
2010 - 2018: 43

For someone who started watching us in 1980, we are now about 10 places below our level at that time, but for someone (like me) who started watching in the late 60s, we're nearly 30 places above our level at that time. I'm as disappointed as anyone about our precarious position, especially after today, but I wanted to post these stats anyway. If anyone has read down to here, please include the word "******" in your reply to prove that you've actually read it. Have a nice evening everyone.

 

Great post and I made it to the end. The last 40 years have been fairly easily the most successful in our history.

 

******

 

Interesting stats although I think your overall assessment is ******.

Interesting that we haven't really progressed at all since exiting administration. And shows just how bad we used to be when you started watching

 

******, everyone knows we were fantastic when we started watching !!

 

All I can say as in living memory we were in this same division with - Crewe, Carlisle, Grimsby, Port Vale, Stockport, Luton Town, Tranmere Rovers and Swindon & Coventry were in the Premier League. We're the only ones still here.

 

You think that I would balk at reading a long post? ******!

 

******. So interestingly, contrary to what a lot of our older supporters say, we’re not over achieving in recent years, there were just two totally anomalously bad decades in the 60s and 70s.

 

I hope this works, overall league position on the left, year at the top.

 

********

 

Yes, despite my recent claims, based on memory and emotion, I was actually wrong about our current position. That's why I decided to get the facts rather than reply on memory. It's clear that the Clarke/Hunter/Glavin/Wilson/Redfearn/Hignett years were about the best. Unless you're over 100 years old.

 

That's cheered me up at a time when I badly needed it. Thank you!

 

******

http://european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/bars.htm

I always use this to compare us and the club's we play against.

 

****** - love this post. Top man.

BFC are great and life's good. It's only football. I became a fan in 77 and I'm pleased with where we are at the moment - but everythings relative to expectations I suppose!

 

There's lies damn lies and statistics. Is that a load of ****** .?

 

******.

It'd just be nice to be out of the threat of relegation in.this league. A mid-table 2nd tier team is always what I imagine us to be naturally.

But all that goes out of the window in these days of a commercial game. Before Mr Lee, we really were a League One team financially. Now we can hopefully build slowly and steadily in the Championship. Staying up this year is going to be vital though.

 

I'd like to summarise - since the 2nd world war, we were terrible, then we had a period of over achievement, now we are back on our mean.

Oh and this:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFL_Championship

Barnsley have spent more seasons at the second level of English football than any other team and on 3 January 2011 became the first club to achieve 1,000 wins in the second level of English football with a 2–1 home victory over Coventry City. Barnsley are also the first club to play 3,000 games in second-level league football (W1028, D747, L1224).

 

If I'd have known about that it would have saved me hours of work. ******

 

80's & 90's best time to be a Barnsley fan. My Great Grandad, who saw the 1912 match at Bum Hole lane would have taken issue though. He lived to 97 & berated the 80's team as hard as any other he had berated in the past. I do get a bit shouty misen occasionally....

 

******. So our "rightful" place is not comfortable level 2 midtable - but is exactly where we are.