Yorkshire – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

BARNSLEY pulled off an excellent victory in their last League One fixture, a rousing 4-1 victory against Derby County at Oakwell, strengthening their bid for a play-off berth. They’re currently on a seven-game unbeaten run and have a six-point margin (and game in hand) over seventh-placed Wycombe.

The club has just announced its financial figures for the 2021-22 season, a campaign in which they were relegated from the Championship with just 30 points, just a year after reaching the play-offs. They admitted relegation was the consequence of a summer of bad decision-making in 2021.

The report reveals a pre-tax loss of £ 7 million, an increase on 2020-21’s deficit of £ 4.3 million. Barnsley’s revenues went up by 20% to £ 15 million thanks to increased matchday income (+300%) as crowds returned to Oakwell and growth in commercial earnings (+39%).

Attendances in 2021-22 averaged 13,263 but in 2022-23, they have declined by around 20% to 10,302 per home game. The Derby game was watched by more than 17,000 people, their biggest crowd in three years.

Barnsley’s wage bill went down to £ 13.1 million from £ 14.4 million in 2021-22, which represented 87% of income compared to the very unhealthy 115% in 2020-21. The club’s owners launched a £ 1 million equity rights issue and since the year-end (May 31) has raised an additional £ 5.6 million.

Barnsley are owned by BFC Investment Company, a Hong-Kong based entity. Their shareholders are Neerav Parekh (35%), Chien Lee (31.25%) and the Cryne Family (20%) as well as Pacific Media Group, who have a small stake in the club. Chinese-American businessman Chien Lee has stakes in multiple clubs, including Thun (Switzerland), KV Oostende (Belgium), Kaiserslautern (Germany), Nancy (France), Esbjerg (Denmark) and Den Bosche (Netherlands). Lee is a big advocate of the Moneyball system increasingly favoured by small-to-medium sized clubs as a way to implement good value team-building processes.

The win against Derby County meant Barnsley have won 12 of their last 16 league games, which is promotion form by any standards. They haven’t given up on winning an automatic place even though they are nine points away from second-placed Plymouth. They do have two games in hand, though. Barnsley will play a number of the promotion-chasers over the next month, which should give a good indication of where they stand in the scheme of things. These include home games against leaders Sheffield Wednesday (March 21), Plymouth (March 11) and Ipswich Town (March 25). But Barnsley are confident at the moment and they have some eye-catching players such as Herbie Kane, James Norwood and Adam Phillips.

The Tykes are aiming for a quick return to the Championship, but going beyond that may be a tall order. League One has a number of big name clubs that are vying for football at a higher level, such as Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. Barnsley have tasted life in the Premier, they had a single season in the top flight in 1997-98, but is the Yorkshire town big enough to host Premier football again? A lot has changed since they were last there.

ALTHOUGH a battle would rage between Leeds and Sheffield if you ever suggested it, the club with the most gongs in Yorkshire is actually the Wednesday. Sheffield Wednesday have won eight major honours to Leeds United’s seven, although most of those trophies were lifted before the second world war. Sheffield United, their neighbours and red half of the steel city, have won five. Leeds, without doubt, are the closest the county has got to modern success, although their last piece of silverware was won in 1992.

Hillsborough has become a word that sends a chill up the spine of every football fan who remembers the days of precarious overcrowded terracing. There is a kind of horrific irony in the fact that the 1989 disaster took place at a time when football was staring into the abyss.

The average attendance for the top flight in 1988-89 was 20,500 and Wednesday’s gates were just over 20,000. The most horrific and far-reaching catastrophe of the modern football era took place at a time when football grounds had never been less appealing. Not that Hillsborough was one of the worst stadiums, for it was always considered for FA Cup semi-finals and it hosted several games during Euro 96, but times were very different.

Hillsborough today remains a decent and capable arena and Wednesday still have the potential to be a very sizeable club. Sadly, they fall into the category of big also-rans, a status they have endured often over the past 50 years. The list of clubs in this bracket is extensive and seems to be getting more lengthy with time: Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Stoke City, Newcastle United, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and so on.

Sheffield is a city that should host Premier League football on a regular basis. With a population of 530,000 people and two big clubs in Wednesday and United, it is not unreasonable to think that some modicum of success should come the city’s way. The last trophy to land up in Sheffield was the Football League Cup in 1991, won by Wednesday. That’s 30 long years ago. The last league title was won by Wednesday in 1930 and the last FA Cup triumph was also theirs in 1935. United’s last prize was the FA Cup in 1925 and their only title was won in 1898.

This season, Wednesday find themselves in league one thanks to a 12 point deduction that was later reduced to six. The penalty was punishment for breaching the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules. Understandably, there is some bitterness and resentment, but Wednesday are too big to stay at this level for too long – at least that’s what the optimists believe.

While United were rubbing shoulders with the elite in 2020-21, Wednesday were last in the Premier League in 2000, so they have been in exile for over 20 years. The club’s finances have clearly suffered and in 2019-20, they made a pre-tax loss of £ 24.1 million. Their income totalled £ 21 million, but their wage bill was £ 33.5 million, a very worrying figure.

They haven’t uprooted any trees in 2021-22, so the mood at the recent home game with Gillingham was a little sombre and flat. Admittedly, it was Remembrance Weekend, but with the team just above mid-table and a little shot-shy (20 goals in 16), it was no surprise that Darren Moore’s side had drawn half of their games. They had only lost three league games and had gone seven games unbeaten, but those stalemates can be very damaging. Wednesday’s top scorer, Lee Gregory, had netted six goals before the Gillingham game, but he was unable to play in the game due to a calf injury. Gregory joined the club in the summer from Stoke City and has already become vital to Wednesday’s cause. They could have done with him.

The game itself was a reminder that this was the third tier of the English game. Gillingham took the lead after 22 minutes through Vadaine Oliver, a neat finish permitted by a generous Wednesday defence. Earlier, the home side went close when Callum Paterson’s close range effort bounced off the post. It wasn’t until the 75^thminute when Wednesday equalised, Barry Bannan’s shot rebounding to Florian Kamberi, who shot home from inside the area. That was it as far as entertainment went, it was not a classic game by any means. But Wednesday are not far away from being a reasonable side, they have lost just three times, after all. With a few more goals, they can be promotion contenders. A crowd of 20,000 helps support the narrative of a long lost status.

Perthaps this is why the locals seeed perpetually discontented, judging by the banter on the journey back to the centre of town. A trip from Hillsborough can include a tram journey, a highly civilised way to travel even if the carriages were full of supporters singing anti-United songs and gagging for their pre-match refreshments. They’re all the same, really, football fans.