I noticed this question being asked on Tykesmad. My first hero, as a boy, was Pat Howard. Like myself, Pat is Dodworth born and bred. Even better, my idol lived just round the corner from me at the time in Gilroyd. He was a hard as nails central defender, who could also play a bit, too. It broke my heart when he was sold to First Division Newcastle United for £21 000 in September 1971. <img src ="http://www.sporting-heroes.net/content/thumbnails/00155/15393-zoom.jpg">
I had two first heroes George Hampstead and Eric Winstanley . As a lad every corner r every dead ball situation in the oppositions third seemed to be taken by George and he'd put it straight on Erics head. Probably wasn't tbh but it did seem like it at the time.
John Evans 54 goals in 170 games I couldn't help but be impressed in my junior school days Probably enhanced when he came to our school and did a PE lesson
I think it would have to be Ronnie Glavin for me; I just used to think he could do anything when he had the ball.
Re: Marlon? Brian Joicey. Scored loads of goals when I first started going down to Oakwell, including 2 in my first game. I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly some years later at a charity match and was quite starstruck. Such a shame that his career was cut short in the way it was, as he still had another year or two's worth of goals left in him.
Re: Marlon? Tony Leighton, yes, a great centre-forward, also a hero of mine, as was "Big Winnie" Eric Winstanley
John beresford. I did like gordon owen but my brain was a bit too young to really grasp what was happening then...
Hi Rothred John Evans was a great player, and I enjoyed watching him in the mid to late 60's. According to "Who's Who of BFC", he scored 59 goals in 188 appearances. Sadly, he served time in prison for "dealing with illicit drugs" and died from brain cancer in 2004.
Mick McCarthy. He just seemed to win everything. He was the reason I wanted to be a defender, a position I went on to play for the school team. He's still a hero of mine now, over thirty years later. Fantastic footballer, excellent manager, intelligent communicator (in a fine Barnsley accent) and all round brilliant bloke.
Re: Marlon? For those that don't know, Brian Joicey "suffered a blow to the kidneys" at York in November 1978, and 3 weeks later suffered from a stroke which ended his career.
Absolutely agree, Jay. Mick is an absolute legend and all round brilliant bloke. My son was mascot at Ipswich and I had hoped to met Mick (as I did the Ipswich manager the previous season), but other things got in the way and although I had a good chat with Flicker (ace bloke), I didn't get to meet Macca. Grrrrr!