The Times on Saturday

<u>From The TimesApril 28, 2007</u>

A brief life at the top never to be forgotten by Barnsley townsfolk
The last great Premiership fairytaleMark Hodkinson


Barnsley &ndash; even the name of the place has a touch of Monty Python about it. Throw in grim, coal dust, hobnail boots and Billy Casper and they will chase you out of town, much as they did in 1997.

A decade ago today, Barnsley secured their place in the Premiership and became the nation&rsquo;s most-romanticised sporting underdogs. Other small-town clubs have made it since but Barnsley, like first love, have stayed in the mind, stuck in the heart.

Their elevation to the elite division came after 110 years in football&rsquo;s backwaters. They made it with a team mostly forged in Britain, assembled on a paltry budget coughed up by a collection of Yorkshire-based traders and businessmen &ndash; a local club for local people. It is unlikely &ndash; Colchester United may disagree &ndash; that we will see their like again.

I had the great fortune to report on Barnsley&rsquo;s match against Bradford City that sealed promotion. It is strange how you remember little things about big days. Much of the detail of the game has passed me by, but I can recall vividly the walk from my car to Oakwell. I thought how many others on how many days had shuffled through streets dreaming of this moment.

I was an outsider that day, but within a few months I was full up on Barnsley because The Times installed me as a writer-in-residence, with the brief to file a weekly dispatch. The column was christened Life At The Top and it was a privilege to become enmeshed in a club where everyone, from supporter to star striker, understood implicitly that only maximum effort at all times would guarantee survival.

Memorably, they won away to Liverpool and beat Manchester United in the FA Cup. But they were thrashed by Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham United and Manchester United. It hurt every time they were called plucky or gallant losers, much as it did references to a long-gone Barnsley of coal dust and children with hawks. They dreamt of much more.

They were relegated on the first Saturday of May 1998, after losing away to Leicester City. John Dennis, the chairman at the time, trudged around the pitch with the pallor of a man who had found a stairway to hell.

Dennis, along with every player, coach and member of the administrative staff, has moved on since that day. In fact, only one person remains at the club from that time &ndash; Norman Rimmington, the 84-year-old kitman.

The decade since has not been kind to Barnsley. As often happens, their downfall was forged in the eye of success. They signed players on high wages and long-term contracts. Several were reportedly on &pound;6,000 a week. Some agents duped them. A foreign player was passed off as a second-choice goalkeeper at his club when he was a third-choice with barely any experience. The collapse of ITV Digital was a further blow, the club having spent heavily assuming that the money would be recouped via the television deal.

Meanwhile, after the departure of Danny Wilson to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1998, managers have been appointed on what seems a weekly basis. Simon Davey, the man in charge now, is the tenth to take charge since Wilson moved on.

The mismatch of players assembled by the various managers have underperformed markedly. In the 2002-03 season they were only two points away from falling into the bottom division, with attendances half their Premiership average of 18,600 a match.

The nadir came in October 2002, when the club went into administration, losing &pound;50,000 a week and carrying debts of &pound;3.5 million. A complex takeover has brought stability at least and Davey has all but secured their Coca-Cola Championship place for next season after a fraught scrap against relegation.

Wilson&rsquo;s decade has also been disappointing. While at Barnsley he was tipped as a future manager of a top Premiership club. He failed at Sheffield Wednesday and achieved little at Bristol City before moving to Milton Keynes Dons, where he oversaw last season&rsquo;s relegation to League Two. He has fared better at Hartlepool United, his present club, where he has led a successful promotion campaign that may culminate in winning the title today.

Thankfully, the travails have not been allowed to infringe upon Barnsley&rsquo;s plans to celebrate their finest hour. Two reunion dinners have been held and on Bank Holiday Monday, May 7, a commemorative match between Barnsley and a Bradford Legends XI will take place at Oakwell. For the grand sum of &pound;5 (&pound;2 for juniors) fans can relive the day when they danced madly on the pitch and in the stands, bruising themselves and each other with their love of the players, club, town and themselves.

Such unabashed nostalgia may grate on some and serve to amplify the predicament, but others will sense, at last, a club at peace with itself and a town substantially reinvented through sport: just like watching Brazil, indeed.

Ups and downs

Oakwell highs

&mdash; Brass bands played, balloons were set free and Barnsley played their first game in the top flight, against West Ham United on Saturday, August 9, 1997. They lost, but with 37 league matches to go, from August to May hope reigned supreme.

&mdash; A solitary goal by Ashley Ward gave Barnsley an unexpected win against Liverpool at Anfield in November. The night before, Danny Wilson, the manager, had taken the players to a local pub and encouraged them to have &ldquo;a couple of pints&rdquo; each to settle their nerves.

&mdash; After a draw at Old Trafford, Barnsley beat Manchester United 3-2 in an FA Cup fifth-round replay in February. The United players had complained beforehand that their dressing-room at Oakwell was too small. The softies.

And lows

&mdash; Barnsley were made to resemble a pub team &ndash; hungover at that &ndash; by a rampaging Manchester United at Old Trafford in October. The final score was 7-0 but could have been much, much more. &ldquo;We committed suicide,&rdquo; Wilson said.

&mdash; Georgi Hristov, Barnsley&rsquo;s Macedonia striker, ruined his chances of some apr&egrave;s-training female company when he allegedly told a newspaper back home that the local women were &ldquo;ugly&rdquo; and drank too much beer.

&mdash; Gary Willard, the referee, sent off three Barnsley players in their match at home to Liverpool in March. They lost 3-2 amid several pitch invasions by fans. Many pinpoint it as the day the club lost their heart for the fight.

 

Well

I haven't seen that yet, so thanks for the post, and ignore Mr Windass.

 

Me neither, thanks, it's a good read.

Pretty well written.

 

RE: Well

This is why it was given a Windass.........

http://www.barnsleyfc.org.uk/bbs/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=71126&mid=447103#M447103

 

"— Gary Willard, the referee, sent off three Barnsley players in their match at home to Liverpool in March. They lost 3-2 amid several pitch invasions by fans. Many pinpoint it as the day the club lost their heart for the fight. "

More like the day that confirmed our suspicions that "our faces didnt fit" and that referees were more interested in keeping the status quo than being fair.

Fecking Willard - Had I seen him in the flesh he would have been picking himself up off the floor.

 

I have read his book about our season in the Prem and to be honest - whilst he has a good style of writing - he does nothing to help dispell the media driven image of the town and it's people IE clogs, whippets etc etc Sadly, this article fits very much into that mode too IMHO. I would call it lazy journalism.

 

'A foreign player was passed off as a second-choice goalkeeper at his club when he was a third-choice with barely any experience'

..........who the hell is he on about? Lars Leese maybe?

 

I agree and furthermore..see BBC2 now

Barnsley Pidgeon racers.

Nowt like seeking out the stereotypical Barnsley man.

Not that I'm watching it like.

 

Possibly

I thought he was okay - we've had a lot worst. Was he the keeper at Anfield in the 1-0 win?

 

RE: I agree and furthermore..see BBC2 now

To be honest, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry when you see such articles and programmes. Do you laugh with them and then perhaps reinforce the image? Or do you disagree pointing to the way the clubs grounds developed, the academy, metrodome, new developments in town centre such as the Alhmabra, planned new developments such as the Tuscan Village theme etc etc - and then be accused of being over sensitive and easy to wind up.....yer just can't bloody win!

 

Yes that's who he's on about and if my memory serves me right that's what it said in the Keeper of Dreams.

 

Indeed he's referring to the man who was as 'tall as trees'...

...Lars Leese was catapulted into the premiership through some dodgy reccommendations.

Have read the book by Ronald Reng which tells more of our players exploits both on and off the field in the premiership season. Fish and Chips on the team bus after games, John Hendrie dressed as Hitler and a very moving account of the 1-0 victory at Anfield. It was unbelieveable that we signed Leese, he was in the 3rd team at Bayern Leverkusen and ended up keeping goal for us in the prem! Bizzare.

Check it out at Amazon.
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0224064436/goalkeepersar-21
Frank Keating, Guardian
'By far the best soccer autobiography of the year.'

Synopsis
John Hendrie, Barnsley's ex-manager, on Lars Leese: 'Lars Leese is a shambles. He's a loser who never achieved anything.' Dave Hill, in the Guardian, on The Keeper of Dreams: 'Leese's outsider story takes us...to the true heartbeat of our national game' At the age of 28, German goalkeeper Lars Leese was catapulted from a minor league football field somewhere near Cologne to a small industrial town in the north of England. Something of a culture shock, certainly, but nothing compared to finding himself in goal for Barnsley playing the mighty Liverpool at Anfield in front of over 45,000 spectators. Plucked from obscurity and playing in one of the most important leagues in the world, Leese experienced in real life what thousands of boys - and men - can only dream of: stepping out of the crowd and onto a Premiership pitch. Lars Leese's foray into the wild world of professional football lasted only three years, but his journey from computer software salesman to Premiership goalie is a remarkable story. Here, Ronald Reng traces his stratospheric rise and equally alarming descent: the resulting narrative is an indispensable antidote to the traditional footballing briography and a unique

 

RE: Possibly

He was and he did have a very good game at Anfield - though both him and the team rode their luck a little at times. In fact, I think we only got into their half once and scored! A great day however and one I will never ever forget. As well as winning we were also treated to impeccable sporting behaviour by those fantastic Liverpool fans...............well, if you forget about the scousers who bricked the supporters coach after the game anyway.

 

I walked home and they were saying that

we shouldn't even be allowed on the same pitch as them. I remember Leese getting clattered by Owen who went in studs up

 

RE: I walked home and they were saying that

To be fair 4-1 to Liverpool would have been just about right. However, we dug in that day and made a bit of luck for ourselves. Of course, when you were contstantly playing 11 men and a Ref as we were in the Prem it was hard to begrudge us any luck on that day.

 

RE: Indeed he's referring to the man who was as 'tall as trees'...

I have just ordered it! Thanks my friend, sounds a good read and only £4 incl P & P so wont break the bank either.

 

A brief life at the top never to be forgotten by......... 'Barnsley townsfolk'

The guy shows his hand straight away by reference to 'Barnsley Townsfolk' - a very old fashioned phrase immediatley generating an image of an old fashioned club, people, town etc. By contrast would he have referred to say 'the folk of Leeds'? - Oh no, Im sure it would have been the ' city slickers' or some other description of upwardly mobile inhabitants designed to elevate rather than degenerate their image.


.......cheers Mark, but we have read it all before my friend and it just aint original anymore.

 

You have to remember it was written in German then translated into English...

...I remember some of the grammar being a bit weird. It's a slow starter but worth it. Enjoy.

 

RE: You have to remember it was written in German then translated into English...

I have a smattering of German anyway to fall back on - although I'm no Boris Becker! - but it sounds a good read.