Who was your first BFC hero and why?

Had to be Barrie Thomas of my bulletin board name. We were bottom of the fourth; attendances were on the slide; the club had been given weeks to live financially, or follow Gateshead and Accrington Stanley out of the league; the newly appointed chairman had died days after being appointed - it looked like the end of a great club. Then along came messrs Dennis (Ernest) and Buckle (Geoff), offering £10k, with the proviso it would be spent on players. So the press was connecting us with anyone who could score goals for £10k. I recall that first it was former England international Derek Kevan from Stockport County; then once four-goal hero Keith East from Swindon Town - both turned us down. Then it was a shift of tack to take two strikers for the fee and the first touted were George McLean and Johnny Evans, both of Exeter City - McLean the big, bruising centre-forward and Evans the nippy inside forward who had once scored twenty-six in a season, including sixteen in fifteen games for Carlisle. The McLean deal fell through, but we got Evans for £2.5k and combined it with the £7.5k signing of Barrie Thomas from S****horpe. Thomas had looked a possible to break Dixie Dean's scoring record of sixty in a season with Scunny, netting thirty-one in just twenty-one games. He scored twice in the first eleven minutes in a 3-0 win at Exeter and twice in a 3-1 cup win over Southport. We steadily climbed the league; the attendances returned; the following season, we were promoted. It all started with the enthusiasm and work-rate of the class of Barrie Thomas and the non-stop running of John Evans. Thomas was the hero, because he scored a quality of goal which you only get with top-class marksmen, although he made up his totals with some tap-ins too. Hero for doing his (their) bit for saving the club from extinction.

 

did paul futcher ever score for us? sure it was him who cracked 1 from 30 yards and goal all the way then neville southall tipped it over, everton late 80's

 

Re: where is Eric now...??

Back in Barnsley and just had a hip replacement mate.

 

I've loved reading your post, mate.

 

August 1959 - what a great epoch for humanity :biggrin:

 

1st one was Winstanley, if ever a man deserves the title legend it is he.
2nd Bobby Doyle , just loved that man, great midfielder and i am not ashamed to say , I cried when I heard we had sold him.
3rd Anton Otulakowski, a great midfielder who I didnt get to see play enough for Barnsley, only 42 games !
4th God, Ronnie Glavin was just the best player I have ever seen in a red shirt.
5th Paul Futcher, simply sublime at centre half.
6th darren Sheridan, nutter !
7th Bruce Dyer, great man.
8th Luke Steele, fantastic person and a true gent.

I know thats more than just my first , but bugger off !

 

September 1959 for me. More eeh potty than epoch in my case!

 

Trying to figure out exactly when I started watching. I went to one or two matches with mi dad in mid / late 60's; what was the big cup match in that era - Leicester? When was Ironside in the nets?

And Mickey Butler was probably my first hero. I remember The News of The World doing a feature on how much clog he got.

 

It was, mate, yes. January 1969 and Roy Ironside WAS in goal.
Mick Butler was my second hero.

 

Thanks for the confirmation; the mists of time have parted a little:biggrin:

 

We drew 1-1 at Oakwell. Johnny Evans scored our second half equaliser after Len Glover had put Leicester in front in the first half. Both goals were scored at the Kop end. I think the attendance was around 23 000, perhaps a bit bigger.
Leicester had Peter Shilton and Allan Clarke in their line up. Clarke was the country's record signing at the time, after Leicester had paid Fulham £150 000 for him the previous Summer. It was to be beaten by Clarke again the following Summer when Leeds United bought him for £165 000.

 

I remember that

"The Anatomy of a Footballer" it was called. He didn't half get some clog, can you imagine Ronaldo playing in the 4th division back then? Wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes.

My first hero was Alan Little, hard as nails.

 

Re: I remember that

1959 sounds like some year, May for me

 

Convicted drug dealer

 

This

 

You're right, it was, and that was probably his only shot for the Reds. However, he did score a goal for us, but he was playing for Oldham at the time!

 

Hard to pick one from the bunch of Early 80's Barnsley - Allan Clarke was a hero but the team was full of players who were special - Glavin (of course), but also Ian Banks. Used to love watching Stuart Barrowclough down the line as well. God that was a fantastic time to watch Barnsley. As a 10 - 11 year old, it was special.

 

Well, we didn't get very far into this before someone else came up with my first hero. He scored two goals in my first game (a 4-0 home win against Workington) and seemed to score every week, although I'm sure he didn't. I met him several years later at a charity game at Bramall Lane and was quite overawed.

The timeline of my Reds heroes probably goes Joicey-McCarthy-Futcher-Redfearn. There are several others who I thought were brilliant for a variety of reasons, like Clarke, Glavin, Banks, Baker, Owen, Wylde, Currie, Tiler, Ward and Stones, but we haven't had anyone that I've held in high enough esteem as a player to call them a hero since Redfearn.

 

Ronnie Glavin. I started watching the reds in 1976 as a 3 year old and can honestly say I've never seen a better player. Redfearn and Hignett came close and I've also had cult heroes such as Steve Cooper, Taggart, McCarthy, Futcher,... The list goes on. When Glavin got the ball on the edge of our own penalty area, you half expected him to score. People say that football's boring...

 

I'd have to say Glavin.