Post 1996 Barnsley FC success……….

A think I’ve touched upon this before but feel it’s relavent to bring if back up, anyone who’s followed the reds post 1996 probably need to have a chat with there dads grandads and uncles when you lazily throw out terms like ‘worst season ever’……..

In my time of watching us I’ve seen us;
Play in the premiership
Win at Wembley twice
Play in a fa cup semi final
Gain 5 promotions
Beat Liverpool at Anfield twice
Beat man united
Beat Chelsea

Now while we all want instant success, well sadly it doesn’t work like that in life, especially football……I’m not daft to see that this last 2 months has been a total clusterfuck and I’m also not daft enough see that the board have scored some mighty own goals too but the short history of the club, for the size we are and our spending capabilities I’d suggest we’ve over achieved!!

There will be a lot on here who can recall times in the basement league when we had probably only a core of reds fans turning up week in week out……..

The showing on Friday was abysmal, and before you give me all this Nareev or JAQ ****** it was shameful………if you want success there’s a team at S6 that will take you on.

Win lose or draw tonight, come August we go again and again and again……..the club was here for 100+ years before the owners and it’ll be 100+ years after too…….

Some of the things I’ve read on here Twitter and some WhatsApp groups leaves me wanting to bang my head on the door……..

Anynow, I’ll see you all at Wembley!!

 

Are you going on a stadium tour?

 

Spot on.

 

Yep. we'll still be here when these have gone

 

My dad was stood on the kop end back in the early 70s (no segregation, you’d walk to the other end at half time) with his mate. A photograph appeared in the Sunday paper the next day showing the whole kop with my dad and his mate. The only other people on it were the goalkeeper and a policeman walking along behind the
Goal line. Now those were grim days….

 

My dad must have been his mate!
Back in the days when teams like Halifax, Chesterfield, Rotherham, Port Vale etc etc were in the divisions above us and we were truly struggling.
The thought of being in the second tier let alone the top tier were fantasy land back then.

 

I bet in the next 28 years we won't replicate that success though.
So as beautiful and amazing as that period was, its gone, time waits for nobody and if we want any future success we have to get our house in order or fans will be sat her saying do you remember when etc etc

 

Correct time does move on. Right now we're a third division team. What happened in the early seventies or the late nineties has no relevance. In terms of the history of the club both periods were outliers.
Maybe we can accept that we have an absolute belief we can challenge to get back to the Championship but we have absolutely no divine right to be there.
Far bigger/richer clubs than us have struggled to get out of this league. If we don't manage it this time we can have another decent crack next season.

 

Maybe not or maybe we will……..a bet there wasn’t many in 1995 who could’ve predicted how the next 28 year was going to pan out either! My point is that there’s way too much negativity when a look back over a short time frame says that we ain’t that bad at all

 

Great post @judith charmers. You'll remember when we used to sing "We'll support, we'll support, we'll support you evermore, we'll support you evermore". Some of the abusers on Twitter no doubt won't.

 

Can remember being in brewery stand in 80s, think it was a zenith data cup game, nearest bloke to me was 50 yard away

 

Absolutely spot on , I've watched 20 yrs prior to 1996 and there was some good and bad days more bad than good.
I am having to stop going on social media for some of the sh£# that is being spouted.
Quote Simon Jordan .
" Be careful what you wish for "

 

Very well put

 

Look at the Division 3 table for the season we were in the Premier League - Brighton, Cardiff, Swansea and Hull were 4 of the bottom 5 and all went on to have significant success since. The same season Manchester City were relegated to this level.

 

My first game was 1957 and believe me I've seen some shocking seasons, it makes the good ones all the more enjoyable. Up to the Clark/Hunter days it was bad season after season, then probably the best few seasons back to back ever. The crowds were big and boisterous, then the miners strike killed us, back in the doldrums, yo-yoing up and down until Danny MK1. Even in the promotion season the crowds didn't grow till near the end, but then in the long run it didn't work out, culminating in admin. Since then we've had mixed times, but look at what the op listed, for a small provincial club like ours those achievements are brilliant. Happy clapper?? maybe. Realist?? definitely. We're going to see more 5h1t seasons than we are good. Enjoy the good seasons when they come along. Grumble at the bad ones by all means, but never lose the faith.

 

B.O. ?

 

In some ways the most successful period in our history but also a sad tale of gradual decline. We find ourselves 2 leagues down and have changed from being a stable championship club to , at best, a yoyo L1 club

 

Great post mate!

 

Great post mate.....I tried to say same other day on a different thread, I stated that Clarke/ Hunter days sparked a big rise in crowds and such.... best days we have had in my time...... but good old so called Supertyke tried to shoot me down by researching stats lol......anyone who was about pre Clarke knows how bad it was watching tarn back then.......COYR tneet