Your first game

The first game of the 73-74 season. Div 4. Exeter City at home. Won 1-0.
Think big John Manning scored it.
Cant remember the team. Mick Butler may have been playing or was that before his time?

Like all 12 year olds at our school I was a Leeds fan and had months before seen us beaten 1-0 at wembley by Sunderland which was devastating so my dad took me down to watch some local football. We won ...and i could see the players, which I couldn't on the very odd occasion I went to Elland road in an all standing 40,000 crowd (and all were taller than me).

I therefore concluded that Barnsley were better than Leeds, and I would now support Barnsley!

 

First game was home to Swansea in 77/78 season. Main memories were, we lost 2-0, sat in the West Stand and loved the smell of pipe smoke, Oakwell seemed enormous, Alan Curtis scored for them.

It was a rearranged fixture and the programme was the one from the original match but with a white cover stapled over the original. Despite the result thoroughly enjoyed my first visit.

 

I feel rather aggrieved that I have absolutely no idea what my first match was?!? I was taken as a baby.

I can't even remember the first game I remember. As such my contribution to this thread is minimal to say the least.

 

My Ist visit to Oakwell was for a Central League game against Blackpool. I can only remember 2 facts about the game. Tony Waiters who later played for England was in goal for them and we lost 5-0. I would most likely have been in attendance for your 1st visit to Oakwell. It must have been the 1966/7 season.

 

Apparently it was Chester on 23 April 1968, don't remember much about it (I'd have been 5), my dad took me & my brother to a few matches at Oakwell but more at Hillsborough. First match of the real Barnsley fan era for me was also against Chester, the first Sunday match at Oakwell on 27th January 1974. It was a 1-1 draw, team would have been something like

1 Gerry Stewart
2 David Yeates
3 Phil Chambers
4 Bobby Doyle
5 Paddy Greenwood
6 John Manning
7 Les Lea
8 Mick Butler
9 Brian Mahoney
10 Ali Millar
11 Kenny Brown

Manager was Jim Iley.

 

April 6th 1974. Lost 2-0 against Northampton Town.

Didn't go again until about '77 when I caught the bug. Thankfully, it's finally wearing off.

 

Roy Cooling used to live at the top of Rose Grove on the Wilson St. Estate where I grew up. He played cricket for a long time for Mitchell's & Darfiled Welfare down in the valley before the cricket ground flooded due to subsidence. they turned the cricket ground into a fishing pond.