Barnsley
Formed 1887
Elected to Division Two 1898
Kit History
Barnsley St Peters
1887
1887 u
c1889-1890 a v w
1890-1898 b u
Barnsley
1897
1898-1901 h
1901-1903 k
1903-1904 k
1907-1908 h
1909-1912 a
1921-1922 b
1926-1927 b
1928-1929 q
1931-1932 g
1933-1934 b
1938-1939 b t
1939-1940 s
1946-1947 q
1948 b
1949-1950 b f
1951-1952 f
1954-1955 t q
1955-1960 q
1960-1961 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 the late nineteenth century, rugby was by far the most popular game in South Yorkshire. However, association football was gaining a following, not least because the risk of serious injury was considerably lower, an important factor for working men who could ill afford to lose wages because they were injured.
According to an early history of Barnsley FC posted on the BBC website the club was formed "For no good reason, other than he wanted to. The Reverend Tiverton Preedy, cleric at the church of St Peter in Barnsley decided he wanted to “build a soccer team that the Rugbyites will not crush!”. A committee was formed and less than two weeks later, Barnsley St Peters Football Club played their first friendly match against Manor House, a team from Worsborough Bridge. Barnsley won 4-0, and wore navy and maroon striped shirts.
The team photograph shown here is believed to have been taken in 1889 and clearly shows players in a variety of tops, the majority appearing to be light blue and maroon. We believe the player seated on the front row, left is wearing the striped shirts that would be adopted in 1890. It is also possible that he is wearing an old shirt, which would cast doubt on the account given above. A second point of interest, uncovered by David Wood, the club's official historian, is that several players have numbers embroidered onto the front of their jerseys, almost certainly the first example of numbered shirts in the history of the game.
St Peter's won support from outside the parish and went on to compete in the Sheffield & District League in 1890, when they switched to chocolate and white stripes, 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
- (t) Keith Ellis
- (u) bbc.co.uk
- (v) bbc.co.uk (2)
- (w) David Wood (Official Historian to Barnsley Football Club)
Photograph courtesy of bbc.co.uk. Crests are the property of Barnsley FC.