Anyone listening to 'Barnsley fan' and Yorkshire captain Darren Gough on 5 live?

I thought he was a self confessed Spurs fan?

 

HE IS 'MR BARNSLEY'!!!? nt

 

Said we had a tough game coming up away at Ipswich!

I suppose its a local one for him.</p>

We have the small matter of Derby to play before that.</p>

 

Have you read his book?

His proudest moment as a reds fan was when Barnsley got promoted to the prem in 1998!</p>

</p>

So that would be 1997 Darren!(doh) </p>

 

RE: HE IS 'MR BARNSLEY'!!!? nt

Here's an interview he did with four four two. My point was that when he was first made the headlines he went on record saying his sporting idol was Glenda Hoddle and he was a Spurs fan. I even recall him being introduced as a celeb at Oakwell and him getting a fair bit of abuse about his Tottenham statement. Good to see a Barnsley lad doing well and despite his dancing a good ambassador for the town.

http://www.fourfourtwo.premiumtv.co.uk/page/SingWhen/0,,11442~897468,00.html

It's one of man's greatest dilemmas: whether to have one more for the road. You know you have work the next day, but the prospect of staying out for just one more is almost impossible to resist. The England cricketer Darren Gough found himself in that predicament, and then some, last May. He had a game for his county Essex on the Sunday, but his beloved Barnsley were playing in the play-off final against Swansea on the Saturday...

"I was in the pub by 11am," chuckles Gough. "I met my mates in Cardiff and we got straight on it. If I looked so happy during the game, it was probably some of the drink I'd had before! We were probably the worse team for most of the game. We started off really well then we had a bad spell and in extra-time we were just hanging-on. Thankfully we got through on penalties, which was brilliant."

Despite the victory, Gough somehow resisted the urge to paint the town Barnsley red. In the old days he'd have probably quaffed first and asked questions later, but in this enlightened age of sportsmanship, it was inevitable that professionalism would win out. "It wasn't really a long night because of the game the next day," he shrugs. "But I know Antony Kay and a couple of the other players so I went in the dressing room after the game. I had a new suit on and I had beer thrown all over me. Not champagne; in the Barnsley dressing room they had beer. The cheap stuff.

"I don't get to watch them as much as I'd like these days. With living in Essex, I watch them more away than at home. But this was a great day out. When it's your own team it's just amazing."

Celebrity football supporters often get a bad name because of the brazen bandwagon clambering, but Gough's ties with Barnsley are strong, both on and off the field. "I played for Barnsley as a youth player, all the way through, so I go back a long way with them," he says. "My first game was when me Dad took me to Lincoln City; years ago that was."

Suddenly he's off, excitably rat-a-tatting memories of his formative footballing days. "God, Barnsley used to have a great side, back in the early '80s: Trevor Aylott, Ian Evans, Mick McCarthy, Ronnie Glavin, Joe Joyce, Ian Banks, Stewart Barrowclough. It were a really good side."

These days, Barnsley are just glad to have a side at all. The fallout from their solitary season in the Premiership in 1997-98 almost left them bankrupt, but after a worrying spell on life support the patient is doing just fine. "The Championship is Barnsley's level," says Gough. "It's a good division for them to be in. It stabilises the club because we were in a lot of financial trouble after the Premiership; we made promises to players on wages that we couldn't keep and we nearly went bankrupt. The club's run well now and it's refreshing that no matter what - and even if we hadn't gone up last season - we'd have been all right financially."

Not that Barnsley are Gough's only football interest. "Most people have a second team," he says. "I like Tottenham Hotspur, but I'm a Barnsley fan. I always believe that whoever your local team is that's who you support. If Barnsley play Tottenham, I want Barnsley to win. If Tottenham play anyone else I want Tottenham to win."

But for a man who's almost a caricature of Yorkshire, why the preening artistes of north London? "Glenn Hoddle. I just admire great players - Hoddle mainly, but also Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa." Was Gough that sort of player as a child; is that why he liked Hoddle? "Yep," he says modestly. "Just like him."

As with the Neville brothers, Gough probably could have made it in both football and cricket - but cricket came first, and fastest. "I wouldn't say I was better at cricket as a kid. I started as footballer - I was with Barnsley, then Rotherham - but I got offered professional terms at cricket. It was a choice between YTS football and a five-year contract with Yorkshire. But I still love football and it's still my main sport."

Does he ever regret his decision? "Nah. I've played 200-odd times for England so I can't have any regrets. I don't think I'd have played for England at football somehow."

The closest he got was during the England cricket team's pre-match kickabouts, which revealed a surprisingly high standard. "We had some bloody good footballers," he says. "Mark Butcher was a decent player, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe - three Surrey lads. Michael Vaughan was handy too, although he can't play now because of his knee. Matthew Hoggard's a good goalkeeper. Mind you Nasser [Hussain] were rubbish - he just used to goal-hang, just stand up there and tap it in. And Steve Harmison's crap, whatever he says."

Gough hasn't given up hope playing in those games again. Although he has not played for England since last summer, he is widely recognised as one of the best one-day bowlers in the country - even at 35 - particularly given the shower who spraygunned England to a humiliating 5-0 defeat against Sri Lanka recently. And with the World Cup early next year, he still hopes for one last hurrah. "You never give in," he says. "I'm one of the best 11 one-day players in England: I know that and a lot of people do, but I've given them an excuse not to pick me because I've been injured."

Either way, Gough's a winner. If he's not sunning it in the Caribbean, taking on Australia and co, a trip to Oakwell - and the chance to have as many for the road as he wants - will be a decent compensation.

Quick Questions
Best moment? The play-off final last May. Getting back in the Championship was an amazing, amazing experience and to be there was so good. Being in the Premiership was obviously great but this is better because we nearly went bankrupt and now we're back in the Championship where - financially - there are some massive games: West Brom, Sunderland, Leeds, Coventry. Proper big clubs.

Worst moment? When Barnsley got relegated to the old Third Division in 2002. We all expected to get relegated from the Premiership: so we just enjoyed it, sang our songs - "Just like watching Brazil" - and knew it would only be for a year. But nobody thought we'd gone down any further and, with all the financial problems as well, we were really struggling.

All-time hero? Neil Redfearn is up there; he played really well when we were in the Premiership. But I'd say Ronnie Glavin is my favourite: he was just a top player, and a local hero.

All-time villain? Mike Sheron, coz he's the one who took all the money. He wouldn't leave and he left us skint because he was on such big wages.
Who do you hate? Phwoar, that's a difficult one. Just for geography, I'd say Sheffield Wednesday. We can't stand them.

Dream signing? Ronaldinho, please.

 

RE: HE IS 'MR BARNSLEY'!!!? nt

Yeh I think he's alreyt Goughy. He usually has positive stuff to say. We should be proud he's from our kneck of the woods!