A true legend of Barnsley fc. He was at centre half along side Pat Howard when I first went to Oakwell back in 1968. Could have achieved greater heights than BFC but was a local lad through and through. Alongside Danny Wilson he was pivotal in our promotion to the Premier league all those years ago. RIP Eric
Eric was also my first BFC hero . Always great anticipation when we won a corner and see the great man make his way into the oppositions penalty box . George Hampstead delivers and Eric rises and goal. Or that’s how it seemed back then and how I’ll always remember it .
I remember The Green 'Un running an article about "South Yorkshire's 3 £100,000 centre halfs" (the title). The three were King Winnie, Dave Watson (Rotherham) and Barry Kitchener (Doncaster) - £100,000 being a lot of money in the 60s. Unfortunately King Winnie suffered injuries and Dave Watson went on to play for England (Kitchener disappeared, think he might have been included to soothe local sensibilities).