Barnsley
Formed 1887
Elected to Division Two 1898
Kit History
Barnsley St Peters
1887
1887 a
circa1890-1898 b
Barnsley
1897
1898-1901 h
1901-1903 k
1903-1904 k
1907-1908 h
1909-1912 a
1921-1922 b
1926-1927 b
1931-1932 g
1933-1934 b
1938-1939 b
1939-1940 s
1946-1947 q
1948 b
1949-1950 b f
1951-1952 f
1956-circa 1962 q
1963-1964 j
1965-1966 a
1966-1967 c
1968-1972 a m
1972-1973 j n
1973-1974 j n
1974-1975 n
1975-1976 n
1976-1977 n
1977-1978 n
1978-1979 r
1979-1980 n o
1980-1981 n o
1981-1982 n o
1982-1984 n d o
1984-1986 o
1986-1988 f j o
1988-1989 e o
1989-1990 j
1990-1991 j
1991-1992 o
1992-1993 d j o
1993-1994 d o
1994-1995 d o
1995-1996 d o
1996-1997 d o
1997-1998 d o
1998-1999 d o
1999-2000 d o
2000-2001 d o
2001-2002 d o
2002-2003 d o
2003-2004 d l o
2004-2005 d o
2005-2006 a o
2006-2007 a o
2007-2008 a p
2008-2009 a
2009-2010 a
Background
In 1887 the curate of St Peter’s
Church formed Barnsley St Peter’s FC. The team won support from
outside the parish and went on to compete in the Sheffield & District
League in 1890 before joining the Midland League in 1895. In 1897 the
club dropped its association with the church and as Barnsley FC, applied
to join the Football League when the Second Division was enlarged. They
were successful and joined Glossop and New Brighton in the expanded division.
In 1901 Barnsley adopted plain red shirts and white knickers and this colour scheme has remained substantially the same ever since, with variations dictated by the fashion of the time.
Remarkably, Barnsley were to remain in the Second Division until 1932, a consistent if unexciting mid-table side. In 1910, however, the club reached the FA Cup Final, losing to Newcastle United in a replay. Two seasons later, "The Tykes" went one better to win the FA Cup, this time beating West Bromwich Albion in a replay.
Relegated twice in the Thirties (1932 and 1938),
Barnsley bounced back quickly on each occasion. In the Fifties the club
spent two seasons in Division Three (North) before returning to the Second
Division. Relegation in 
1959 proved a more serious matter and the club
went into long term decline that took them down to the Fourth Division
in 1965. The rest of the decade and all of the 1970s was spent in the
lower divisions but fortunes changed in 1979 when ex-Leeds star Allan
Clarke led the team to promotion from Division Four. Clark rebuilt the
team the following year before returning to Leeds: his role was taken
by another former Leeds star, Norman Hunter who took the club back into
the Second Division in 1981.
The club use the coat of arms of the town of Barnsley as its crest, which features a miner and a glass-blower, 
representing the town's past association with heavy industry. Between 1980 and 1986, the badge worn on players' shirts consisted of a wishing well (for reasons that are not known to HFK) and this was later replaced by a Yorkshire rose, which appeared on a variety of backgrounds. The club's mascot, Toby Tyke also appeared prominently in various media but never on players' shirts.
Throughout the Eighties and Nineties, Barnsley returned to their perennial role of a mid-table Second Division team. In 1997, however, they confounded everyone by winning promotion to the Premier League. A dramatic season followed which ended in relegation but few fans would ever forget seeing their favourites playing at the highest level for the first time in their history. Sadly, there would be no quick return and in 2002, Barnsley were relegated to (Nationwide) Division Two and went into administration, narrowly avoiding the drop into the lowest division.
Sources
- (a) Barnsley FC Official Website
- (b) Barnsley FC Museum
- (c) Tranmere Rovers FC - Images of Sport
- (d) empics
- (e) kitclassics
- (f) Football Focus
- (g) Bury FC - Images of Sport (Peter Cullen 1998)
- (h) George W Reeves website - a curious site charting the brief career of George Reeves
- (i) Ralph Pomeroy
- (j) Pete's Picture Palace
- (k) Association of Football Statisticians - provided by Pete Wyatt
- (l) David King
- (m) Football League Review provided by Simon Monks
- (n) Alick Milne
- (o) bsfl - a very useful collection of modern shirts with notes
- (p) Football Shirt Culture
- (q) Simon Monks
- (r) Steve Browne
- (s) Paul Heasman footballnotmuggybonehead