The Best of Barnsley In response to a thread on the BBS asking for posters' favourite Barnsley teams, I decided to go through Grenville Firth and David Wood's excellent reference work “The Who's Who of Barnsley FC” to produce a team of great players who came from the town and were developed through the club's youth/academy systems. Initially, I concentrated on players who I had seen in my footballing lifetime (season 1964/65 to 2013/14). That footballing lifetime of memories produced some slightly surprising results, so I decided that I would compare the previous 50 years, a time that I do not remember personally, but from which I remembered the stories that my father told me, of the players who brightened his life. Of course, football was different then. It was a game that was developing, a game that was more naïve and a game that even the positions on the field were different to those in the modern game. In order to compare the two eras, I have had to translate the positions given in the book to those that equate to the modern game. The comparisons between the two eras are interesting and point towards a greater understanding of the part that has been played in the clubs history of the youth/academy systems, and the part played in the club's history by buying from lower leagues less developed football areas and developing those players. This comparison starts with the best team, in my opinion, born, bred and developed in Barnsley. GK David Watson (1992-98) [d] RB Nicky Eaden (1991-2000) [d] CD Pat Howard (1964-71) [a] CD Mick McCarthy (1977-83) [b and c] LB Phil Chambers (1970-85) [b and c]] RM Stewart Barrowclough (1969-70 and 1981-83) [c] DM AM Steve Agnew (1984-91) LM Ian Banks (1979-83 and 1989-92) [c] ST David Hirst (1985-86) TM other players considered GK Andy Rhodes (1982-85) RB Jo Joyce (1979-91) [c], John Stones (2012-13) CD Mick Pickering (1974-77), Carl Tiler (1988-91) CD Eric Winstanley (1962-73) [a], Chris Morgan (1996-2003) LB Eric Brookes (1959-69), David Booth (1965-72), Paul Cross (1983-92), Chris Barker (1998-2002) RM Bob Doyle (1972-76) DM AM Jacob Butterfield (2007-11) LM ST David Speedie (1978-80), Andy Liddell (1991-98) [d] TM Key: [a] Part of the team managed by John Steele that won promotion from Division 4 (League 2) in 1967-68 season Part of the team managed by Allan Clarke that won promotion from Division 4 (League 2) in 1978-79 season [c] Part of the team managed by Norman Hunter that won promotion from Division 3 (League 1) in 1980-81 season [d] Part of the team managed by Danny Wilson that won promotion from Division 2 (Championship) in 1996-97 [e] Part of the team managed by Andy Ritchie that won promotion from League 1 in 2005-06. No player from this team has been selected in my “Best of Barnsley” team, although Anthony Kay was considered. Firstly, I was surprised just how few top class players the club/town has produced during my 50 years of watching. Most of the true greats that I have watched in that time were in fact born outside the town and had their initial football experiences at other clubs. The memory plays tricks, and I was sure that the club had mined a rich seam of talent from the surrounding area, but it turns out that in my 50 years of watching, only 24 home grown players have made my shortlist. This is an average of just 1 player every 2 years, a truly miserable result. The result is underlined by the fact that most of the teams that have achieved promotion contained a large proportion of home grown players: [a] Total home grown greats 2. Total home grown greats 2. [c] Total home grown greats 5. [d] Total home grown greats 3. [e] Total home grown greats 0. It is clear that during the last 50 years, the club has produced its fair share of goalkeepers and defenders, but few mid-fielders and attackers of true quality. Three of those listed (Bob Doyle, Jo Joyce and Jacob Butterfield) were not actually from the town, but received their initial education at the club. Barnsley has never been a rich club and yet it has been able to punch above its weight for much of the period. It has done so by buying cheap and selling for a profit rather than producing its own. Most posters' teams contain players who are in the main better than my team. They are lists, in the main, of players who were acquired cheaply and sold on when the time was right, and for good profits. The game has changed since freedom of contract. Players have become greedy and so have their agents. It has become far more difficult to survive using this strategy. Clubs like Barnsley are caught in a vice caused on the one hand by the riches available in the Premiership and on the other by the players and club owners who are understandably anxious to get their hands on some of those riches. It has bred an arms race that is particularly evident in the uneven playing field of the Championship. But if the club is to survive, it must be more successful than it has been at developing it own players through the academy. As long as I can remember, there has been a young kid in the academy who would be the next big thing. The problem has been that the next big thing hardly ever arrives. Just look at the analysis of the above table analysed by decades. 1964/65 to 1973/74 - 7 players 1974/75 to 1983/84 - 7 players 1984/85 to 1993/94 - 6 players 1994/95 to 2003/04 - 2 players 2004/05 to 2013/14 - 2 players It is clear from this table that in spite of the increasing amounts of money ploughed into the academy, the return on that investment is getting worse. I am not sure why this is, but if my name was Ben Mansford, it would be the first question on my lips because it is the biggest question affecting the club's future well being and is key to the club getting back to the Championship within the budget constraints that it will have, and the difficulty of achieving this with the strategy that has served the club well in the past. There used to be an expression quoted in the press, if Barnsley need a centre forward they need only shout down the nearest pit shaft. I decided to look what the clubs record of producing great players was in the 50 years previous to my personal experience. I obviously cannot rely on my own memory in order to test greatness and it is true that the memories of others may be slanted towards skill and away from defensive strengths. In consequence, the following table may not be an true reflection of the position. GK Harry Hough (1947-57), Alan Hill (1960-66) RB Colin Swift (1955-62) CD CD Frank Barson (1911-19), Duncan Sharp (1950-1962) LB RM George Donkin (1913-1927),Tubby Ashton (1927-36), Dickie Spence (1932-34), Arthur Kaye (1950-59) DM Billy Houghton (1957-64) AM Brough Fletcher (1914-26 and 1926-37), Frank Beaumont (1957-61) LM Jimmy Curran (1921-32), Eric Brook (1926-28) ST Ernie Hine (1922-26 and 1934-38), Russell Wainscott (1920-23), Fred Tilson (1926-38), Beaumont Asquith (1934-39 and 1945-48), Lol Chappell (1949-59), TM George Robledo (1945-49), Tommy Taylor (1949-53) There are only 21 names on the above list, which suggests that the poor performance in producing truly great players in the last 50 years is actually the norm for our area. If this is true, it indicates a poor prognosis for the club in today's unhelpful environment. In actual fact, the club seems to have imported the majority of its players during this period from the North East of England, Ireland and Scotland, which at that time were rich in footballing talent. My opening comments appear confirmed by the absence of defenders and abundance of talented forwards, who the club was able to sell on in order to keep it relatively stable and successful. Many will reject my analysis of course, but with the town in such economically stretched circumstances, it is difficult to see that the club can attract an investor wanting to risk his money on increasing the turnstile and commercial revenues and chasing the cash at the end of the rainbow in the Premiership. It is much more likely that any potential investor will try to get his hands on the land and will spend a small proportion of this on a flat-pack ground at the edge of town, with no academy and basic training and car parking facilities. It is going to be a very challenging time for the club, a time when the clubs performance off the field will be tested to breaking point. I hope that Mr Mansford and Mr Watkins can live up to their own hype.