Club Profile

Barnsley

Barnsley has mainly been a second-tier club in a town whose citizens will be surprised but delighted you’ve showed up for a visit.

LOCATION: In Yorkshire, 90 minutes east of Manchester by train and 30 minutes north of Sheffield

CONTACT: barnsleyfc.co.uk, 01226 211211, #BarnsleyFC

NICKNAMES: The Tykes, the Reds, or (more in the past) the Colliers. A tyke seems to be a Yorkshire term for a sly or cunning dog—mischievous, not dastardly. A collier is a coal miner.

History

A sentence from Wikipedia perhaps defines this club’s history perfectly: “Barnsley have spent more seasons in the second tier of English football than any other club in history and have produced some notable talents over the years who have gone on to be successful at other clubs.” They joined the Football League (Second Division, naturally) in 1898 and lost the FA Cup final to Newcastle in 1910. They went back in 1912 and won it, 1-0, over West Brom. After World War I, the league shuffled around a bit, and Barnsley felt they should have been going to the First Division for the first time, but it went to a vote. Arsenal had just moved to a new location in London, and perhaps some bribes went around. Again we hear from Wikipedia: “[Arsenal] duly won the vote and Barnsley were consigned to the second tier of English football for another eight decades.”

They didn’t actually spend 80 years in the second tier; they went back and forth between second and third, and in the ’60s and ’70s they spent a few seasons in the fourth tier. They had a good run in the 1980s, finishing sixth in the second tier once.

The peak came in the late 1990s. In 1997 they finished second in the second tier (confusingly called the First Division at the time), thus winning promotion to the Premier League. In their one and only top-tier season, they got relegated, losing seven of their last nine, but made the FA Cup quarterfinals after beating Tottenham and Manchester United along the way. The next year they made the quarters again, and in 2000 they made the league playoffs but lost the final to Ipswich Town.

After financial trouble came in 2002, they stabilized and made a big FA Cup run in 2007–08, winning against Chelsea and at Liverpool before dropping the semifinal to Cardiff at Wembley. The 2015–16 season was also good; they won the League Trophy and beat Millwall in the playoff final to get back to the Championship. They were relegated on the last day back to League One, but the club was sold to a group that includes Billy Beane of the Oakland A’s and Moneyball fame. Sure enough, they made it back to the Championship in 2020, but in 2022 they finished bottom of the table, thus dropping back to League One. They nearly made a comeback during the 2022–23 season after finishing fourth in League One and reaching the League One playoff final, but they lost to rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. In 2024 the reached the playoffs again but were knocked out in the semifinals.

2024–25 SEASON: 12th in League One, 2nd Round FA Cup, 3rd Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: League One (relegated in 2022)

Rivalries

Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds are rivals, although it seems neither of them worries about the Tykes much. It would seem to us that any Yorkshire club would qualify as a rival, particularly Doncaster Rovers.

Women's Team

Barnsley Women FC play in the fourth-tier National League Division One Midlands. Home games are at Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield. See barnsleywomensfc.org for more.

Songs

None that we know of, but one bears mention here anyway. It’s not specific to Barnsley, but they seem fond of smuggling a plant pot into the stadium, putting it on people’s heads, and singing, “He’s got a plant pot on his head.” Don’t believe us? Google “plant pot on head.” You’ll see.

Stadium

Oakwell, seen from a hill in town, seems to fit right into the scenery as a football ground should. Also, the rusty corrugated iron roof on the West Stand dates to the early 1900s, and some of the seats in there are original! Good on the club for keeping these touches around.

The East Stand is on a hillside, so there’s quite a walk up to its upper tier. But the view is tremendous, like you’re right on top of the pitch, and there is even good legroom. The south stand holds the hardcore Barnsley supporters, and the North Stand is given to away supporters.

It’s a comfortable, modern ground that still feels old—perfect, in other words. One major complaint though: Yorkshire is known for pies, and Barnsley in particular for pork and goose pies, and the stadium sells…Pukka Pies. Having skipped lunch in anticipation of a local treat, it was disappointing to have to huff down a mass production pie before the game.

TOURS: No tours are available at this stadium.

Going to a Game at Barnsley

GETTING THERE: It’s just a 10-minute walk from the train station.

PUBS: There are a few pubs right around Oakwell, the most football-looking being The Mount on Pontefract Road. It’s got a picture of a bulldog carrying a football; we assume that’s a tyke. Over on Doncaster Road, the Dove Inn is recommended in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, and kids and away fans are welcome (with a £2 entry fee per person) at the Barnsley East Dene Working Men’s Club (WMC). Up by the station, look for the simple but classy Old No. 7 and the Irish pub Annie Murray’s.

GRUB: Barnsley Market, which dates to 1249, is apparently famous for goose pies, and in the market there was a vendor who once won the Best Pork Pie in the Country competition. Rather than waiting to get one at the game, check one of those out.

There was a long line at Langdale Fisheries near Oakwell; that always seems a good sign. There’s a little cluster of places—Italian, kebab, Indian—nearby on Sheffield Road. Gary’s Fisheries is in the center.

AROUND TOWN: In Barnsley’s lovely Town Hall, which now includes a museum, there is a timeline on the wall. One of the entries is “The Romans come and go.” What better way to summarize the area’s lack of attractions. It isn’t that Barnsley is unappealing; it’s just that even the locals will look at you funny if you say you’re visiting from another country.

The Barnsley Market, right by the station, dates to 1249 but these days is a modern place filled with ladies sipping tea, families shopping together, butchers asking after somebody’s mum, and men expressing hope for the football game. “Yawk-sha folk,” as they call themselves, are noteworthy for being friendly, but in Barnsley they also lack cultural diversity; the town is listed as 94.7 percent “white British.”

Take a walk up to Locke Park, where its tower is the highest thing in town and has a nice view of the surrounding area. If you’re up for a longer walk, the Trans Pennine Trail passes close to the stadium and offers links to surrounding villages and countryside. In fact, Barnsley is at the hub of the 350-mile network of trails. Check out transpenninetrail.org.uk for maps and guides.