Have a look at our stats from the 1996/97 promotion season.

It seems strange that attendances in that year were generally lower than what we are getting this season, so far.
Apart from odd games, local derbies or "big" clubs we were still only getting 11/12/13 thousand into March and April, one month before we were promoted.
I find this hard to believe... but it's twue !!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996–97_Barnsley_F.C._season

 

Yes, I remember the 0-0 draw in October v Oxford at home and the 6,000 crowd. Was one of the best 0-0 games I've ever seen. Phil Whitehead was in the nets for them and he had played for us the season before and was crap but that night he was like Gordon Banks, pulled off several world class saves to keep us out.

We had about 2,500 season ticket holders at the start of that season, think it more or less doubled at Christmas when the 'half season tickets' went on sale.

The Oldham home game (March?) was probably the first game where our fans stared to truly believe we could get promoted.

 

Yup, a few thousand season ticket holders and some still couldn't get their seat for the Prem season. thank you Messrs Spinks, Dennis. Like rabbits caught in the headlights that crew.

 

I was a regular that season having just started back watching the reds the season before having not been to a game since the early 80s when it got too rough for a gentle boy like myself.

I missed out on a season ticket for the Premier season.

 

I'm still unfeasibly bitter about how they went about selling season tickets that year.

 

"Theduntwannerguwup!"



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That agrees with my memory

The only game when there was serious risk of a sell-out was the Bradford game. I went to several games that season and paid on the gate.

My dad queued up and got us tickets for Bradford.

 

Re: That agrees with my memory

Never out of the top four ALL season. Not really sure why it took people so long to catch on to the fact that the Reds might go up.

Imagine if that was the case now - beginning of November and still in the top four. Promotion would be the only topic of conversation on here. Well, the main one at least....

 

Re: That agrees with my memory

It was pretty much like that back then as I recall. I have no idea why attendances were slow to pick up, maybe people were still of the same mindset as my dad was, he kept saying "They'll never go up, they don't want to go up.....". Bless him, even as we walked up Pontefract Rd to the Bradford game.

 

Easy peasy. We had quite a few foreigners in the team. That kept a few thousand away...

 

Under 4000 only a couple of seasons earlier

 

Michael Spinks told me at the end of the season, that the season tickets did not exceed 2,800

 

I agree, the previous game was the 4-0 against Charlton when Wolves lost 2-1 at Reading in injury time. That was the clincher for me, although I was gutted at Portsmouth when we lost 4-2, but cheered up in the week before the Bradford game when Grimsby drew 1-1 with Wolves meaning that a win against Bradford would do it.

 

What was the problem? I'd been a season ticket holder for years and didn't have a problem.

Genuine question not being arsey in any way.

 

Chuffin Grimsby!! I think the Oldham game at the back end of the season was a £5 to get in hence the 17k attendance .

 

No worries pal - My issue was that in the ponty it had been unreserved seating - a group of us all sat together and so all summer I'd been asking the club if existing season ticket holders would get first chance at 'their' seats - yes no problem you'll get renewal forms first I was told.

Then I got a phone call at work from my mate telling me that they were on general sale - no renewal forms were sent to us - so I rang the club, and bought our tickets on credit card over the phone.

Later that week someone went in and bought one of the seats I'd purchased - when I got chance to go in and ask what was happening I was told "we sold them to people who could be bothered to queue up"

That summed up for me the attitude of Spinks et al to existing fans - **** Em we want the new money.




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I love John Oster.

 

Absolutely mate. No thought for giving the existing season ticket holders time to get theirs before selling to all and sundry.

Still pisses me off. two thirds of the ponty was sold out before I even got my renewal notice through (alpahbetical order!) and the fact it was "buy yer own & get 2 extra ones for yer mates at the same time".

Had a right go at Spinksy about it. His response, .... "yes it was done deliberately to cause a panic so that we sold out as quick as possible". I left at that point before I punched him in the gob.

 

The original sales didn't but they did by Christmas - hence the "buy yer own ST plus two for yer mates (who have never been before) policy" nearly sold the ground out in a week (5,000 x 3)

 

What a thing to say. The bell.

I got the impression Spinksy didn't much care for normal fans.