Fans from the days of “Iley Out”

I totally get that there's not much money in the Club but there are parallels to the 1966 season and beyond to the Iley years. Back in '66 we looked like going out of business, we were bottom of the entire Football League and performances were dire. Ernest Dennis and Geoff Buckle stumped up 10 grand on two new players which kick started the revival that McSeveney stalled. Right now Barnsley FC seems to be trading with poor stock and, just like a High Street business, we're in need of something new and exciting to pull in the customers. Ernest Dennis once commented that "If you have a successful team, the money will come through the turnstiles."

 

They don't want to go up !

 

Poor football, poor crowds, poor pitches....just a poor standard.
We are now in a different world of pitches, refs, rules ...player fitness etc.
That said (i started mid 70s) at least we competed. We were absolutely trying to sell our best players...gutted when mick butler went.
Thought Iley was poor but i was young....he was a local lad though.

 

This sh.1t show that we are witnessing is on par if not a tad worse than I've ever seen and that takes some beating ...I was there in the dark days of division 4....
I remember shouting my objections along with the rest calling for the sacking of the board during the loss at Marine...Ernest Dennis not only our chairman but my employer at the time....the following Monday morning he called me into the office and said to me ....I saw you on Saturday lad at Marine and you were very vocal, explicit with numerous obscenities aimed at me ...guess you are like most and darent say it to my face....
How wrong he was ..he sat there opened mouthed as I got my frustration of my chest and let him have both barrels not holding back at all, once I'd finished his mouth had dropped some more lol....
He looked me straight in the eye then thanked me for my honesty and said what surprises me more is, you had the balls to say that to my face then why do you need to feel you have to shout and join the herd mentality to get your point across ...my door is always open
He then shook my hand and said remember this moment lad ...if you've anything to say, say it don't shout it from the roof tops anybody that's got anything about them says it to the others face and they will accept honesty and respect you for it
Got to say my respect for him went through the roof from that moment on ....hard task master but a soft centre ...he put the fear of God into most who worked for him ......

 

You modelled yourself on him dint yer!

 

Cracking story. Did you get some fruit?

 

Lol you had to pay for it or it came out of your wages lol some said I was fruity enough when it came to females lol

 

It was tedious but clearly we weren't aware that things could be worse.

 

Good story that. IMO we have much to thank the Dennis family for.

 

Opposite way around I think mate