Barnsley (a)

What on earth?

The return of FulhamisH !

billp TOOFIF Tuesday, 18 February 2020

After the disappointing show at Millwall, our lot put on the most ridiculously awful performance of the season, even worse that the Hull home game. I’d been lulled by our elevated league status of late and honestly would never have thought that was possible!

Prior to the game I was approached by two or three groups of Barnsley fans, all of whom proceeded to tell me how Fulham would wipe the floor with them, one chap in particular was insistent that we’d beat then nine nil. My fellow sufferers were at pains to tell this charming and friendly Yorkshire folk that “No, it’s highly likely that your team will find our lot out, we are so inconsistent and as we haven’t lost in a few games, we are now about ready to lose two or three”. Maybe we should have been more ebullient and braggartly, the fates might have been influenced, so the ensuing result was down to our natural Fulhamish pessimism.

Coupled with the sad news about Jimmy Conway (the players wore black armbands and the crowd expressed their emotions with far longer than the usual one minutes’ applause for our great winger) and discovering that our favourite pre-match Italian restaurant had shut up shop and scarpered made this a truly rotten day all round. Perhaps this is just another minor blip but this is Fulham so who knows? One thing is for sure though, the game up at Derby will be no cake walk so Scotty has to get something sorted out before that one kicks off if we are to keep in the promotion chase.

The weather was going to be a factor as gale force winds had been predicted and it was certainly whipping around the now exposed Craven Cottage pitch so when play started comical things were happening to the ball and rather a lot of players were losing their footing. No doubt, the soaking of the pitch before the game contributed to that somewhat .

There is absolutely no point in saying any more, the whole team, Bryan and Rodák in particular were having poor games, "Get shot of both of ‘em" was booming out all around me as the game wore on. I would probably have echoed that but I was speechless and anyway, it’s counter-productive screaming at individuals, after all they all appeared somewhat off their best.

The game started in a mode that suited the blustery conditions and the wind favoured the team attacking the Hammersmith End, Rodák’s high punts stopping comically mid-air aor skying off and out to touch, surely this match would not show a repeat of the strategy which failed at Millwall? The opening 15 minutes or so were stop-start, back and forth and not terribly pleasing to watch, peppered with fouls and mistakes with neither team getting too familiar with the other’s goal although Rodák had to get down to stop a tame effort from the Conor Chaplin when a feeble challenge by Bryan freed the Barnsley right winger, this was a let off.

In the 18th minute, Barnsley had the first meaningful attack, after a catalogue of errors by our team, Knockaert notably, losing possession by treading on the ball and falling face down into the turf and inviting an immediate team incursion by Barnsley who did not hesitate to come forward as a unit. The ball was played from the left wing just inside the away half and collected by Alex Mowatt who played a delightful lofted left-footed ball over our midfield, splitting the defence to find the Barnsley number seven, Brown who merely had Rodák to confront, as Tim Ream completely lost track of it’s trajectory, unfortunately the keeper had missed the ball and wrestled Brown to the ground. The ref didn’t hesitate and gave the spot kick, booking Marek for his troubles.

Cauley Woodrow, who had found the net 12 times so far this season, scored a well-taken penalty to put the visitors one up within 25 minutes. The game progressed in much the same fashion , Fulham’s play was not at all consistent and despite some promising play, it all too often resulted in hastily contrived shots or just fizzled out, Tom Cairney coming closest with an attempt in the last minute of the half, like those before, it was half-hearted. But we are a team that favours two contrasting 45 minutes of play so surely we’d get back on track in the second half and score two or three, won’t we?

As it transpired no! Sad to say it just got worse, despite some promising approach work and we staged an onslaught on Barnsley’s goal, sadly to no avail. Mitro had what looked like a certain goal but he drove a low shot which the keeper stuck out a foot to divert the ball to safety .He then won a corner from more enterprising approach work through the middle. Barnsley were awful defending the incoming ball for the corner and the keeper went walkabout, fortunately for him, there were so many Barnsley players packing out the area the ball could only hit one of their’s, Onomah ballooned the ball over when it eventually reached a white shirt.

Barnsley then won the ball near the centre circle and played a long ball down the middle of the pitch which eluded our back line, Conor Chapman got goal side of the pursing Bryan, Hector and Sessegnon with only Rodák between him and the goal. An easy save required all our accident-prone goalie had to do was stand firm and intimidate the winger, ah, easier said than done. Once again he fluffed his lines and effected a cartoon style flap at the ball and tumbled, the ball trickled slowly goalward with Marek and Conor Chaplin left merged together on the pitch like Lego pieces when Hector arrived to take control. Hector’s long clearance was bashed straight out of touch, why oh why punt high balls in a force 50 wind?

Then another promising Whites attack broke down in the visitor’s area, we had ample opportunities to recover and keep the pressure on but Josh Onomah, failed to completely control an awkward pass and was robbed by te very lively Woodrow, Kevin McDonald was bypassed and left flat-footed and with a deft ball upfield from our old player, Barnsley were away again and heading pell-mell to out goal with Jacob Brown in a one on one with Tim Ream. No prizes for guessing who’d beat Tim in a sprint, I reckon I could, I’ve seen bulk carriers turn faster than our Yankkee Doodle Dodderer. Brown won and volleyed the ball past the flapping Rodák, this was a masterclass in inept defending and goal-keeping. Nil-Two.

Cauley was again in the tick of, narrowly putting the ball wide from the right past our keeper who could have been auditioning for the Royal Ballet so good was his dying swan impression, This becoming a complete nightmare, and dare I say it, even worse that the performance at the Den.

By now this was the Woodrow, Chaplin and Brown Show, they were the heart of every Barnsley incursion, carving openings and looking dangerous every time their team advanced. Barnsley drove down their left wing and won a corner in front of the Cottage, the ball coming over to the right and being headed upwards towards Rodák who unconvincingly plucked the ball out of the air and ran towards the edge of the area to hoof a low ball upfield, obviously intended for Mitro or Kamara, however it was a gift for the Barnsley centre half Ludewig who immediately controlled the ball and banged it long and diagonally to be received by Mike Bahre who fed Cauley in our area to the left. Woodrow easily beat Hector and shot goalward, his left-footer embarrassingly went low to our hapless keeper’s right.

Josh , who was probably our best player on the day, again gamefully had a shot but this was not to be our day and Barnsley would be those with a smile on their faces.

I have to add though that Barnsley thoroughly deserved their victory and every one of their players was superb, a credit to a team that had been suffering of late, it's a pity this win left them at the bottom. It was also good to see a former player in the limelight. I felt good for Cauley, he deserved his two goals, he was one of a brood of promising Academy youngsters of whom we had such high hopes but who were moved on for one reason or another. Conor Chapman looked dangerous throughout and Michael Sollbauer had Mitro sewn up tight throughout the match.

It's come to something when my Man of the Match is the entire opposition team!

Barnsley History

Barnsley have spent more seasons in the second tier of English football than any other club in history[5] and have produced some notable talents over the years who have gone on to be successful at other clubs.

One example is Tommy Taylor, who was a prolific goalscorer for Barnsley in the early 1950s and went on to win two league titles with Manchester United (as well as scoring 16 times in 19 England internationals) before losing his life in the Munich air disaster. Taylor's move to Manchester United was for a fee of £29,999 – one of the highest fees in England at the time.

Taylor broke into the Barnsley team just after the sale of wing-half Danny Blanchflower to Aston Villa. Blanchflower would go on to sign for Tottenham Hotspur and be voted FWA Player of the Year twice as well as captaining the North London club to the first league and cup double of the 20th century.[6]

Beginnings and FA Cup glory

Barnsley FC was established in 1887 by a clergyman, Tiverton Preedy, and played in the Sheffield and District League from 1890 and then in the Midland League from 1895. 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 lost out to Newcastle United in a replay match.

However, they would then reach the 1912 FA Cup Final where they would defeat West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in a replay to win the trophy for the first and only time in their history. When the league restarted after World War I, the 1919–20 season brought some significant changes to the league. The principal difference was that the First Division would be increased from 20 teams to 22. The bottom team from the previous season was Tottenham Hotspur and they were duly relegated. The first extra place in the First Division went to Chelsea, who retained their place despite finishing 2nd bottom and therefore in the relegation places.

Derby County and Preston North End were rightly promoted from the Second Division which left one place to be filled. Having finished the previous season's Second Division in 3rd place (1914–15), Barnsley expected to achieve First Division status for the first time, but The Football League instead chose to call a ballot of the clubs. Henry Norris, the then Arsenal chairman, had recently moved Woolwich Arsenal north of the River Thames to Highbury, and needed First Division football to attract fans to their new home. He was later to admit some underhand dealings, allegedly including the bribing of some member clubs to vote for Arsenal's inclusion. They duly won the vote and Barnsley were consigned to the second tier of English football for another 8 decades.

Pre-war and post-war era

The club did however come close to reaching the top division in the early years. In 1922, they missed out on promotion by a single goal. During the years preceding and following World War II, the club found themselves sliding between the Second and Third Division.

In 1949 the club signed a 23-year-old wing-half called Danny Blanchflower from Glentoran, and he so 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 1961.

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 for Barnsley. In April 1953, he became one of the most expensive players in English football at the time when 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 also scoring 16 times in 19 appearances for the England national football team, before losing his life in the Munich air disaster in February 1958.

Fourth Division era

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 that 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.

Revival in the 1980s

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 playoffs in the second half of the decade, which gave teams finishing as low as fifth and eventually sixth the chance of winning promotion.

Division One and the Premier League

Barnsley in action against Leicester City in the 1997–98 season. The resulting 1–0 defeat condemned the Tykes to relegation

At the time of the creation of the FA Premier League in 1992, Barnsley had been Football League members for 94 years but had still not reached the top flight. They were, at least, in a decent position to make that breakthrough, as members of the new Division One (as the old Second Division was now called). In December 1989, they turned to Mel Machin, manager of Manchester City's promotion-winning side the previous campaign, to guide them into the top flight, but he left nearly four years later with promotion still to be achieved. Machin's successor Viv Anderson spent just one season in charge before quitting to become Bryan Robson's assistant at Middlesbrough, and for the 1994–95 season Barnsley turned to veteran midfielder Danny Wilson to manage the club.

Wilson's first season brought a sixth-place finish in Division One, which would normally have meant a playoff place, but a restructuring of the league meant that they missed out. They finished 10th a year later before finally emerging as serious promotion contenders in the 1996–97 season, finally clinching runners-up spot and automatic promotion and gaining the top flight place that they had spent 99 years trying to win.

Barnsley lasted just one season in the Premier League but did not go down without a brave fight, and they did reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, famously defeating Manchester United in the fifth round. They also made their record signing that season with Gjorgi Hristov for £2 million pounds, a record that Barnsley FC still have. Wilson then departed to take over at Sheffield Wednesday, being succeeded as Barnsley manager by veteran striker John Hendrie, who had been a key player in the promotion-winning team.

Barnsley were the only team from outside the Premier League to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in the 1998–99 season, but had a disappointing season in Division One, never really looking like winning promotion and eventually finishing a dismal 13th in the final table. Hendrie was then replaced as manager by Dave Bassett, who rejuvenated the team and took them to fourth place in 1999–2000, but they lost in the playoff final to Ipswich Town.

Mixed fortunes in the 21st century

In the following years Barnsley were not as successful, with relegation to Division Two in 2002 and administration both threatening the existence of the club. Barnsley suffered greatly due to the ITV Digital crisis. A late purchase by Barnsley's then Mayor, Peter Doyle, saved the club from folding. Doyle has since left the club, leaving Gordon Shepherd and local businessman Patrick Cryne in control. A regular turnover of managers did the club's stability no favours, either.

Barnsley had the distinction of playing in the last play-off final at Wembley before the stadium was closed for redevelopment,[7] and in 2006 won in a play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where they beat Swansea City 4–3 on penalties (2–2 after extra-time) 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. Davey managed to steer the team away from relegation in the second half of the season, and the eventually finished 20th. The following season, a much-changed Barnsley side managed a historic FA Cup run, beating Premier League giants Liverpool 2–1 at Anfield and defending champions Chelsea 1–0 to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1912, where they narrowly lost out 1–0 to fellow Championship side Cardiff City at Wembley.

Barnsley narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship that season, and after a disappointing start to the 2009–10 season Simon Davey. was sacked in favour of former Rotherham United boss Mark Robins.[8]

In May 2011, after a difficult 2010–11 season, Robins resigned as manager due to a dispute over the budget for the following season.[9] He was replaced by Rochdale manager Keith Hill and his assistant David Flitcroft.[10] Barnsley ended the 2011–12 season as one of only two football clubs to turn a profit in the Championship; ironically they stayed up only because Portsmouth were given a 10-point deduction for going into administration. The club's form failed to improve the following season, and Keith Hill was sacked as manager shortly before the turn of the year. David Flitcroft took over initially as caretaker manager, and after an improved run of results (combined with Sean O'Driscoll and Terry Butcher turning down the chance to manage the club) earned the job on a permanent basis.[11]

On Sunday 3 April 2016, Barnsley won the Football League Trophy after a 3–2 win over Oxford United of League Two at Wembley.[12]

On 19 May, after a 6–1 aggregate win over Walsall, Barnsley booked their place in the Play Off Final.[13] On 29 May, they gained promotion back to the Football League Championship with a 3–1 win over Millwall at Wembley.[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 initially suspended before being sacked by Barnsley on 28 September.[15]

On 13 January 2017, Barnsley released a statement to announce that the club's chief executive, Linton Brown, had left the club.[16]

On 19 December 2017, it was announced that Patrick Cryne and family, had agreed to sell an 80% stake in Barnsley Football Club to a consortium led by Chien Lee of NewCity Capital and Pacific Media Group, which is led by Paul Conway and Grace Hung. Indian investor Neerav Parekh and baseball legend Billy Beane have also bought part of the club as part of the international investor consortium.[3][4]

Barnsley were relegated back to the third tier in 2017–18, after finishing 22nd.[17]

On 30 April 2019, it was confirmed that Barnsley F.C. were promoted from the EFL League One and will play in the 2019–20 EFL Championship.[18][19]

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Match Information

Competition: Sky Bet Championship

Date: Saturday 15 February 2020

Kick-off: 3:00pm

Venue: Craven Cottage, Fulham

Attendance: 18,516

Referee: James Linington

Fulham

Line-up: Rodák; Steven Sessegnon (Kamara 65'), Hector, Ream, Bryan; Cairney (Arter 54'), McDonald (De Cordova-Reid 53'), Onomah; Knockaert, Mitrovic, Cavaleiro

Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, Odoi, Christie, Johansen

Manager: Scott Parker

Barnsley

Line-up: Collins; Ludewig, Sollbauer, Halme, Jordan Williams; Mowatt; Thomas (Dougall 81'), Bähre; Woodrow (Marsh 90'); Brown, Chaplin (Schmidt 86')

Unused substitutes: Walton, Ben Williams, Oduor, Elliot Simoes

Manager: Gerhard Struber

Our first evr game against Barnsley took place on the 28th of September 1907, it was an away game in the old League Division Two and we lost 6-0, we all remember the last game where they beat us at their place 1-0.

In the last eight meetings prior to this fixture, the Whites have won 5, drawn 1 and lost 2.

Overall we have met 81 times of which we won 26, drew 23 and lost 32.