Barnsley F.C.

manager	Conor Hourihane‡R2R‡

website	https://barnsleyfc.co.uk

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current	2025–26 Barnsley F.C. season

Barnsley Football Club is a professional football club in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third tier of English football.

Nicknamed “the Reds”, "the Tykes" or less commonly "the Colliers", they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy and moved to Oakwell the following year. The club's original blue colours were changed to red and white in 1904. Barnsley spent the 1890s in the Sheffield & District, Midland and Yorkshire leagues, before gaining admittance to the Football League Second Division in 1898. They twice reached the final of the FA Cup whilst still in the second tier, losing to Newcastle United in 1910 and winning the competition over West Bromwich Albion in 1912. The club suffered relegation in 1933, but secured promotion as Third Division North champions in 1934. They won the Third Division North title for a second time in 1939, having been relegated the previous season.

Relegated again in 1953, they secured another Third Division North title in 1955. However, further relegations left them in the fourth tier of English football by 1966. Promotion from the Fourth Division was achieved in 1968, though they were relegated after just four seasons. The club secured two promotions in three years under the stewardship of Allan Clarke and Norman Hunter, and from 1981 would spend sixteen consecutive years in the second tier.

Premier League football was secured for the 1997–98 season with a second-place finish in the First Division, though they were relegated after one season and dropped down to the third tier in 2002. Barnsley won the 2006 League One play-off final and remained in the Championship for eight seasons. Relegated in 2014, they won both the 2016 Football League Trophy final and the 2016 League One play-off final, though this time spent just two seasons in the Championship. In 2017, a majority stake in the club was sold to a consortium that included Chien Lee, Neerav Parekh and Billy Beane. Barnsley won promotion from League One with a second-place finish in the year 2019, before being relegated out of the Championship again in the year of 2022. Barnsley have spent more seasons and played more games at the second level of English football than any other team.[3][4] The club's main rivals are fellow Yorkshire clubs Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United.

History

Beginnings and FA Cup glory

Barnsley were established in 1887 as Barnsley St Peter's by Reverend Tiverton Preedy, and they played in the Sheffield and District League from 1890 and in the Midland League from 1895. In 1897, the club dropped the St Peter's part of its name to become simply Barnsley. They joined the Football League in 1898, and struggled in the Second Division for the first decade, due in part to ongoing financial difficulties. In 1910, the club reached the FA Cup final, where they were defeated by Newcastle United. In 1912, they reached the FA Cup final again, and defeated West Bromwich Albion 1–0 to win the trophy for the first time in their history. When league football restarted after the First World War, the 1919–20 season brought some significant changes to the league. The main difference was that the First Division would now have 22 teams, rather than 20. The bottom team from the previous season was Tottenham Hotspur and they were relegated. The first extra place in the First Division went to Chelsea, who retained their place despite finishing second bottom and therefore in the relegation places. Derby County and Preston North End were promoted from the Second Division which left one place to be filled.

Stadium

The stadium's name, Oakwell, originates from the well and oak tree that were on the site when first built. Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, used primarily by the club for playing its home fixtures, and its reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main stadium, it also includes several neighbouring venues which form the facilities of the Barnsley academy – an indoor training pitch, a smaller stadium with seating on the south and west sides for around 2,200 spectators, and several training pitches used by the different Barnsley squads. Until 2003, the stadium and the vast amount of land that surrounds it was owned by Barnsley themselves; however, after falling into administration in 2002 the council purchased the main Oakwell Stadium to allow the club to pay its creditors and remain participants in the Football League.[35] The stadium's capacity is 23,287.[36]

Rivalries

According to a survey, 'The League of Love and Hate' conducted in August 2019, Barnsley supporters named fellow Yorkshire clubs Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Leeds United as their biggest rivals, with Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United following.[37]

Colours and strip

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Strip

Home strip

Barnsley have played their home games in red shirts for most of their history. The only exception to this is the period 1887–1901, where it is speculated that the team first wore blue shirts with claret arms, then circa 1890 the team wore chocolate and white stripes, before moving on to blue and white stripes around 1898. The team first wore red shirts in 1901.[41] Since this time, the team have worn red shirts often with a white trim, although in more recent times a black trim has sometimes been used. As with most football clubs the shirt design varies from season to season. One particular design that stands out is the 1989–90 season shirt which featured white stars on a red background and has been named as one of the worst shirts ever.[42] Manufacturers logos were added to the shirt in 1976–77

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Under-21s

[44]

Under-18s

[45]

Staff

[46]

Ownership structure

Neerav Parekh 66.36%
Cryne family 22.11%
Julie Anne Quay and Matt Edmonds 9.12%
Chien Lee 1.68%
Pacific Media Group 0.72%

Board members

Chairman: Neerav Parekh

Club records

Barnsley have spent more seasons and played more games at the second level of English football than any other team.[3][4]

Record league victory: 9–0
v Loughborough, Second Division, 28 January 1899
v Accrington Stanley (away), Third Division North, 3 February 1934
Record cup victory: 6–0 v Blackpool, FA Cup first round, 20 January 1910
Record league defeat: 9–0 v Notts County, Second Division, 19 January 1927
Record cup defeat:
8–1 v Derby County, FA Cup first round, 30 January 1897

Honours

League

Cup

Source:[52][53]

First Division (level 2)
Runners-up: 1996–97
Third Division North / Third Division / League One (level 3)
Champions: 1933–34, 1938–39, 1954–55
Runners-up: 1980–81, 2018–19
Play-off winners: 2006, 2016

External links

Barnsley at ScoreShelf (archived)
Barnsley FC at the Barnsley Chronicle
Barnsley FC Supporters Trust (archived)
BBC South Yorkshire's Barnsley FC Page
Barnsley Statistics at Football365 (archived)
Independent Barnsley FC News – barnsleyfc.com (archived)

References

Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008–2009 Headline Book Publishing, 2008, retrieved 12 January 2018^
Club Statement: Darrell Clarke www.barnsleyfc.co.uk, 12 March 2025, retrieved 12 March 2025^
Barnsley 2–1 Brighton BBC Sport, 12 March 2013, retrieved 8 November 2013

Prewar and postwar eras

The club came close to reaching the First Division in their early years. In the 1921–22 season, they missed out on promotion by goal difference. During the 1930s and 1940s years, the club found themselves sliding between the Second and Third Division. In 1949, the club signed Danny Blanchflower from Glentoran, and he impressed at Oakwell that two years later he was signed by First Division side Aston Villa, later signing for Tottenham Hotspur and being voted FWA Player of the Year twice, as well as being the captain of the 20th century's first league and cup double winning team in 1960–61.[8] Around the time of Blanchflower's departure, a young centre-forward called Tommy Taylor broke into the Barnsley team, scoring 26 goals in 44 games. In April 1953, he became one of the most expensive players in English football at the time when Sir Matt Busby signed him for Manchester United for a fee of £29,999. Taylor went on to be a prolific goalscorer at the highest level over the next five years, winning two league titles and scoring 16 goals in 19 appearances for the England national football team, before losing his life in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958.[9]

When the Northern and Southern sections of the Third Division were replaced by national Third and Fourth Divisions for the 1958–59 season, Barnsley were still in the Second Division, but went down to the Third Division at the end of the season. In 1965, Barnsley were relegated to the Football League Fourth Division for the first time, winning promotion three years later. They went down to the Fourth Division again in 1972, and this time stayed down for seven seasons, finally returning to the Third Division in 1979. Two years later, they went up again and quickly established themselves as a decent Second Division side throughout the 1980s, although they still failed to clinch that elusive First Division place, despite the introduction of the play-offs in the second half of the decade, which gave teams finishing as low as fifth and eventually sixth the chance of winning promotion.[10]

Mixed fortunes in the 21st century

The team were relegated to the Second Division in 2002; administration threatened the existence of the club as Barnsley suffered greatly due to the ITV Digital crisis. A late purchase by Barnsley's then mayor, Peter Doyle, saved the club from folding. In 2006, the side won in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where they beat Swansea City 4–3 on penalties to earn promotion to the Championship. The manager at this time was Andy Ritchie, who was in his first season in charge after replacing Paul Hart. The team struggled in their first season back in the Championship. In November 2006, with Barnsley in the relegation zone, Ritchie was sacked in favour of Simon Davey, who managed to steer the team away from relegation in the second half of the season, and they eventually finished 20th. The following season, Barnsley reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, beating Premier League side Liverpool 2–1 at Anfield and defending champions Chelsea 1–0; the team lost 1–0 against fellow Championship side Cardiff City at Wembley in the semi-final. In October 2008, the club fielded the youngest player in the Football League's history when Reuben Noble-Lazarus came on against Ipswich Town aged 15 years and 45 days.[12]

Barnsley ended the 2011–12 season as one of only two football clubs to turn a profit in the Championship; they stayed up only because Portsmouth were given a 10-point deduction for going into administration. In 2016, Barnsley won the Football League Trophy after a 3–2 win against Oxford United.[13] They gained promotion to the Championship following a 3–1 win over Millwall in the play-off final later that season.[14] In September 2016, Barnsley were caught up in an ongoing scandal in English football, with assistant manager Tommy Wright alleged to have accepted "bungs" in exchange for working as an ambassador for a third-party player ownership consortium. Wright was suspended and subsequently dismissed by the club.[15]

New ownership

In December 2017, Patrick Cryne and his family sold an 80% stake in the club to NewCity Capital's Chien Lee and Pacific Media Group's Paul Conway. They were joined by Indian investor Neerav Parekh and Billy Beane, minority owner of and advisor for the Athletics, who was widely known for the Moneyball film portrayal, as part of an international investor consortium.[16][17]

Barnsley were relegated to the third tier in 2017–18.[18] Following this, the new owners adopted a data-driven approach to identify talents, focusing on young players and team rebuilding.[19] The club appointed Daniel Stendel as head coach, who introduced a high-pressing style of play.[20] Barnsley were promoted back to the Championship the following season.[21] In the 2019–20 season, under new coach Gerhard Struber,[22] Barnsley avoided relegation from the Championship.[23] In 2020–21, under the management of Valérien Ismaël, Barnsley finished fifth place and reached the EFL Championship Play-offs for the first time in 24 years, doing so with the youngest squad and one of the smallest budgets in the division.[24] The Wall Street Journal called Barnsley a "Moneyball experiment".[25]

Prior to the 2021–22 season, Markus Schopp was appointed as the new head coach.[26] In November 2021, he was dismissed after seven consecutive defeats.[27] Three weeks later Poya Asbaghi was appointed as his successor.[28] Fortunes improved little as Barnsley were relegated from the 2021–22 EFL Championship following a 2–1 defeat against Huddersfield Town.[29] Asbaghi left the club by mutual consent shortly afterwards.[30] On 15 June 2022, Michael Duff was appointed head coach of Barnsley on a three-year contract.[31]

In May 2022, it was revealed that Pacific Media Group did not actually own all the shares they claimed to own, and were simply a nominee for a group of 4 investors who owned 20% of the club. Following this revelation, Neerav Parekh purchased the shares of 2 of the investors, while Matt Edmonds purchased the shares of the 4th investor. Following the purchases and further equity raises, the new ownership of the club is now understood to be split between Neerav Parekh (61.14%), the Cryne family (21.30%), Julie Anne Quay and Matt Edmonds (11%), Chien Lee (4.60%), and Conway's company Pacific Media Group (1.96%). With this reconstituted shareholding and a loss of majority control, Paul Conway, Chien Lee, Grace Hung and Dickson Lee were voted off the board of Barnsley Football Club, and were replaced by Jean Cryne and Julie Anne Quay in May 2022.[32] In July 2023, the EFL charged Barnsley with 5 breaches of the EFL Regulations related to the ownership of the club under Conway and Lee's tenure, whilst also charging Conway and Lee individually with causing these breaches in regulations.[33][34]

History

Beginnings and FA Cup glory

Stadium

Rivalries

Colours and strip

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Strip

Home strip

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Out on loan

Under-21s

Under-18s

Staff

Ownership structure

Board members

Club records

Honours

External links

References

Prewar and postwar eras

Division One and the Premier League

Mixed fortunes in the 21st century

New ownership

Away strip

Home strip

Away strip

Board members

First-team staff

Managerial history

Cup records

Barnsley St. Peter's FC

Barnsley FC

Barnsley St. Peter's FC

Barnsley FC

Player of the season

mgrtitle
nickname	The Reds, The Tykes‡R1R‡
ground	Oakwell
capacity	23,287
clubname	Barnsley
fullname	Barnsley Football Club
founded	1887
owner	BFC Investment Company Ltd
chairman	Neerav Parekh