Which division do we belong in ?

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Originally Posted by Young_Nudger

If we are the most established club in the 2nd Tier - then how come every club currently in that league other than Peterborough has a better more successful history than Barnsley?

Barnsley has been starved of success.
It’s not a massive town with regards to population but it’s a massive town when it comes to football fans living in it.

The mindset at Barnsley has always been to think small.
Think small - be small.

When in reality no one actually knows the potential of the club.
If these owners occasional put their hands in their pockets and supported the club as proper owners should do then they may just get a big surprise.’

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You are wrong we are historically the team with the most seasons in the second tier of English of football & until someone tops that we have the history to suggest that this has been mainly our level but as I said before I strongly believe that you are only as as good as the level you are currently at , history counts for nothing.

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Originally Posted by Young_Nudger

History is massively important to a football club.
And Barnsley have no history to call owt that enables the club to attract support.

Only have to look at clubs like Sheffield Wednesday - still getting decent crowds watching absolute garbage with the club going nowhere under a mountain of debt.
But talk to their fans and they will tell you that they are a Premier club and it’s just a matter of time before they are back there.
All beliefs based on their history.

Sad thing is - when PMG arrived I naturally thought they would provide the financial backing to enable Barnsley to achieve a period of success.
Disappointment is an understatement.

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Wednedsay fans are arrogant & deluded , they talk about history & the premier league but they have not been there for 22 years , they last won the old first division title back in the 1930"s which is 90 years ago , how long do you dine out on that for ?

With all due respect Shads , and it grieves me to say it , no matter how bad they are at present , they still have a pull for players to want to join them rather than us , a bit like we have a pull to sign player's before Rovrum , we've had plenty of chances to further any ambition over the years , bad luck ( itv digital ) and poor leadership partly to blame , Crowds ? and this is what annoys me, why are there so many restrictions at Oakwell ? Most grounds segregate fan's with a line of stewards /police , we have the west north closed ( I understand part of that , yet we close part of the north ESL also ? , a North Stand that holds around 6k could be split surely ? on the odd occasions we could have had more in the ground EG Walsall in the play offs a few years ago, is it down to Policing ? Is it down to costs ? Who's making them decisions ? Maybe that's why the Club continually get bad press , poor decision making from ? , no foresight no ambition , and that's why we are where we are , floundering along .

Ive surprised a load of fans in the pubs wen Ive asked them this question over the years. In Normy, Cas, Ponty, Wakey, and even Hornsea & Skipsea lol.
And their reaction is usually summat like.. 'Wot Barnsley, are you fu*kin joking, or wot!!'. 😯
A lot of fans honestly don't realise we hav spent more seasons in this league than every other team.

BUT, I suppose even I have got to ask if that means we deserve to be in this league these days!.

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Originally Posted by Young_Nudger

Good question.
And one I put to Patrick Cryne and also Khaled during Q&A sessions.
I’ve also mentioned this a few times on message boards.
How big is Barnsley Football Club ?

In my time of watching the Super Tykes we have always been of similar size to the Lancashire clubs - Bolton, Burnley and Blackburn.
But those clubs have a better history than Barnsley - they have had more success - and as such they have a better understanding of how big the fan base is as they have spent seasons in the top flight.

Barnsley never has.

We don’t know what the attendances would be if we spent a few seasons in the top flight.
Barnsley has had one session in that division - the ground was less ready for that division than what it is now - but we filled it even though we were anchored to the bottom of that league.

There is some talk of building a new West Stand and Khaled has asked Barnsley Council how many supporters we would expect if we got into the Premier.
I would guess the home end needs to accommodate at least 20k.

But no one knows.

BTW - as a result of Barnsley not having that period of sustained success we have a high proportion of football supporters in Barnsley that support other local teams - Leeds and the Sheffield clubs.
All too evident when you go to Cortonwood.
And often seen in the town centre itself.

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what was reply to asking Cryne, and Khaled that question ?

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Originally Posted by Romared

With all due respect Shads , and it grieves me to say it , no matter how bad they are at present , they still have a pull for players to want to join them rather than us , a bit like we have a pull to sign player's before Rovrum , we've had plenty of chances to further any ambition over the years , bad luck ( itv digital ) and poor leadership partly to blame , Crowds ? and this is what annoys me, why are there so many restrictions at Oakwell ? Most grounds segregate fan's with a line of stewards /police , we have the west north closed ( I understand part of that , yet we close part of the north ESL also ? , a North Stand that holds around 6k could be split surely ? on the odd occasions we could have had more in the ground EG Walsall in the play offs a few years ago, is it down to Policing ? Is it down to costs ? Who's making them decisions ? Maybe that's why the Club continually get bad press , poor decision making from ? , no foresight no ambition , and that's why we are where we are , floundering along .

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I agree with you Roma , Sheffield is a big city with an even bigger catchment area & they will always pull more fans & I will give both sides of the city credit and they both have very loyal fans but when they talk about their history they talk as if they are one of the big fish but the reality of it is the opposite ,for a city the size of Sheffield their records since the war has been very poor. Attendances can be very misleading , currently in this country there has been a steady rise over recent years but history shows that they do fluctuate , recently on Facebook one poster has been showing the results from corresponding weeks in the Green Un from the eighties & the crowds were really low especially in the top flight compared to the current trend, it is certainly worth going through the archives & having a look a few people might be well surprised .

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Originally Posted by Romared

what was reply to asking Cryne, and Khaled that question ?

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Poor.
Khaled sort of brushed it off.
And Patrick stuttered a bit as tho he had never considered the question.
If anyone was taking over at Barnsley you would think that this would be something that they would spent much time mulling over.

Things have changed in the last 20 years. Historically we are a second tier outfit be reights but that has no meaning whatsoever in the present climate with the money that's involved nowadays.

Personally it doesn't really matter which level we ply our trade at although you always aspire to be the best you can be. I'm Barnsley till I die and this football club will always be in my blood no matter what. I'll always support us whether we're in the Premiership or non league.

Tha belongs weer tha belongs at end ot day. Sunderland are rotting in league 1 cos they've been run by idiots who've let debts get crazily out of control. The size of that club is enormous and they've always had a top flight 'pull' but are where they are.

Leeds did 3 seasons in league 1, Sheffield United did 6 consecutive seasons in league 1. Forest were down there for a couple o years, so too Wednesday.

Barnsley has the potential to pull 20000 home fans regularly if successful but it's a big if. Realistically we are a 6000 hardcore and always have been barring the 1970s doldrums.

Those 6k diehards will be all that's left next season

Somewhere yo-yoing between the top of League 1 and the bottom of the Championship