Barnsley Football Club is a professional football club based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.
The early years and FA Cup glory (1887–1912)
The football club 'Barnsley St. Peters' were formed in 1887, named after the church of the Reverend Tiverton Preedy, who founded the club in what had previously been a rugby-focused area. They began playing at their home Oakwell within a year, competing in the Sheffield and District League from 1890 and then in the Midland League from 1895. In 1897 the club was renamed Barnsley Football Club as the Reverend Preedy had since departed and the fanbase now encompassed a much wider area than the local parish. In the next season they were runners-up in the Midlands League and had also played in the Yorkshire League. Following this success, in 1898 they applied to join the Football League and were eventually voted into the third and final available spot.
Their first game in the Football League was a 1–0 defeat away at Lincoln City on 1 September 1898. Their first league win was a 2–0 victory at home against Luton Town, with John McArtney scoring the first ever league goal for the Tykes from the penalty spot. The team struggled in Division Two for the first ten years, due in part to ongoing financial difficulties. But then came the 1909–10 season, which saw the team on better form than they had ever been. They had a spectacular FA Cup run, beating out Blackpool, Bristol Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and Everton to reach the final. Here they played Newcastle United and were leading 1–0 until the final minute when Newcastle controversially equalised, causing a replay which Barnsley lost 2–0. The following season they finished 19th in the league and were forced to apply for re-election to the Football League, which they gratefully received.
The 1911–12 season however saw a revitalised side, and they once again proved unbeatable in the FA Cup rounds as well as being on good form in the league this time (while still not quite able to earn promotion into the top tier of English football). They went past Birmingham City, Leicester Fosse, Bolton Wanderers, a quarter-final against cup holders Bradford City and a notoriously brutal semi-final against Swindon Town. In the finals they played West Bromwich Albion. After the first match ended goal-less, the replay took place at Bramall Lane. Neither side managed to score until the last two minutes of play when Harry Tufnell's last-gap goal won the FA Cup for Barnsley, for the only time in their history. They also finished the league in sixth position, the highest they had yet achieved.
Wartime and Post-War Barnsley (1913–1959)
In the following two seasons they finished the league in fourth and fifth place, not quite managing to reach the top flight, and sat in fourth place when league football was suspended due to the First World War. When the league started again in 1919, the decision to extend the first division to twenty-two teams made it likely that Barnsley would be automatically promoted. However, a ballot was instead called and Arsenal went up in their place (the Arsenal chairman later admitted to some underhand dealings). In 1921–22, Barnsley missed promotion on goal difference, by a single goal. Stoke City needed to win their final game by 3–0 in order to go ahead of Barnsley in the table, which is exactly what they did. It was the closest any team could come to securing promotion to the top flight without actually managing it.
After this disappointment, Barnsley F.C. languished in the Second Division throughout the twenties, achieving a good attacking record but not a defensive one to match it. In the thirties they found themselves sliding between the Second and Third Division, until the football league programme was once again abandoned due to the Second World War. Post-war Barnsley continued in much the same form. Notable players that served the team during this period included George Robledo, Syd 'Skinner' Normanton and Tommy Taylor, who had departed the club by 1953 when they were relegated once again to Division Three, only to be promoted two years later and go back down again in 1959.
The long, hard road to the top (1960–1995)