Forget the flag. I'd be more concerned about the standard of football that United played which in our present state, playing quite drab football, would wipe us out. I don't think we could cope right now.
To be fair, Utd are up at the top & rightly so & I know Wednesday got a point last night , they were shocking, their football was dreadful & they never tried to win the match & yes the might beat us, they normally do, but I would have no fear of Wednesday wiping us or anyone out .
You have consistently mentioned attracting fans from places like Denby Dale (whose town has a premier league football club), yet you think it is unacceptable that someone who lives in Barnsley can't support one of the Sheffield teams? Okay... I think what Chien and co are really up against is pleasing the likes of you.
Seems that Sheffield have bigger worries than football..... https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7706034/roma-children-slovakian-migrants-sheffield-shock/
What the owners need to do is build. Not buy players for now like Wednesday have put them on massive wages when it fails you are ******. But buy players build for the future get promoted and then keep building Brentford are a great example of a club run the right way building for the long term. A few smaller teams in the premiership run the right way too Burnley and Huddersfield. And if Mr lee ever fancied having a push yo get us to the premiership and was successful it would set us up for years in terms of fan base. I know many reds who started watching in the premiership years. 21k at Huddersfield v Fulham and only 600 Fulham I know the season tickets are cheap but the promotion will set them up for years to come now.
Yes I do know there is an handful of fans from outside of Barnsley that have no connection to Barnsley who supports Barnsley. But most Barnsley fans know there is a disproportionate number of Leeds and Sheffield fans living in Barnsley - when compared to people outside of Barnsley that support Barnsley. There has never been a place just outside Leeds that ran TWELVE coaches every home match to watch Barnsley like there was in Wombwell to watch Leeds. There has never been special trains from Sheffield full of Sheffield people coming to watch Barnsley - like there was in Barnsley going to watch Sheffield United. Generally their offspring and now their grandchildren maintain that support for these clubs. Other local clubs (eg Huddersfield, Doncaster etc) don’t have the same impact as what Leeds and Sheffield do. There’s literally thousands of Leeds and Sheffield supporters living in Barnsley that have no ties whatsoever with these cities. Not so much in the centre of Barnsley - but Barnsley fans living within the surrounding Barnsley District knows this. I personally know dozens of them - and they look disparagingly down on their own town club of Barnsley. If you don’t live in the Barnsley District you will probably not come across this on a regular basis. I do. And some on here obviously didn’t read my post a few days ago about the importance of supporting your own town club. It’s not just about supporting the club it’s also about supporting your own community. Last time a local club was promoted to the Premier it was Sheffield United. That was many years ago - at that time Radio Sheffield reported that their promotion created a £45 MILLION boost to that local economy. Promotion to the Premeir League would probably double or treble that amount now. So a born and bred Barnsley guy who has children who are looking for work travels to Hillsborogh to watch Sheffield Wednesday hoping that they will get promotion. Which will boost the Sheffield economy - while his own kids sit at home unemployed.
It's the same all over the country. It's not exclusive to people from Barnsley and it won't change anytime soon.
There are Manchester, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea fans living in towns throughout the country. That’s an equalising effect - which we have to accept. But yer can bet your bottom dollar there isn’t thousands of Leeds and Sheffield fans living in places like Norwich, Watford or Bristol. Barnsley Football Club has lived in the shadow of Leeds and Sheffield for decades. Barnsley people have gone to watch those clubs because they perceive Barnsley Football Club as a POOR and backward club. The Barnsley Owls flag was a signal to say we might come from Barnsley but we don’t support that *****. Believe me what I’m saying here because I know quite a few of these people - I know what they think about their own town club.
Wednesday have had 66 years in the top flight, Leeds 50. Some of their fans from Barnsley will have been going with their dad's and grandads. Just because you and me love watching Barnsley, you can't expect others to feel the same. It is what it is, and only success on the pitch will attract new fans. It won't turn leeds and Wednesday fans. Hemsworth miners welfare and Frickley would be financially better off if all the fans in WF9 supported them instead of league clubs. Doesn't mean we think badly of them or take the piss.
“ 12 coachloads this, trainfull that, where do you you get these figures from? I don’t doubt there is some substance to your what you say but you do go over the top. The last time 12 coaches left Wombwell for anywhere was either one of the Old WMC annual day seaside trips, or perhaps picketing in the early days of the Miners strike. Your not telling anyone anything new here. When I was at school every football fan had 2 teams one was a First division club the other was Barnsley. Almost everyone went to Oakwell. Also, a little TRUE story for you, I knew 2 ardent Wednesday fans from my days at the pit. Saw them later at Oakwell because........Their KIDS WERE BARNSLEY FANS and .....converted them into BARNSLEY FANS.
The initial post was intended to try and inform the owners and CEO about the historical stranglehold Leeds and Sheffield has on Barnsley Football Club. I was hoping that others on here would support the message I was trying to portray to them. As per - I got the Johnny opposite reaction from people on here. Until that stranglehold is broken and we start to compete on a level playing field with these clubs then we will forever leech support to these clubs. As you say - that will come about with success on the pitch - and these owners have the capability to achieve that success. Fingers crossed.
People have not gone to watch Leeds & Sheffield because of what they perceive of Barnsley , they are both big cities & big cities always attract more , whether it be for football , shopping , entertainment or whatever , thats how it is , & I mentioned earlier , where I live in Hoyland Common , hillsboro is as close as Oakwell & therefore support for either club is split, but you appear to ignore local geography . We are a small town who actually do very well in attracting the fan base we have, but the only realistic way to attract more fans & keep them is to do it on the pitch & progress . Of course you could do it the Bradford way & reduce charges dramatically however that is having a reverse effect on the pitch with their team dropping like a stone .
That’s a defeatist statement. As said hundreds of times on here - we are a town of about 240,000 with another c100,000 +++ living just beyond the district boundary that perceive Barnsley to be their local town e.g. Brampton, West Melton, Hemsworth, Denby Dale etc etc etc.
I think everyone agrees with you that Barnsley people should be watching Barnsley, or should I say everyone from Barnsley that's a reds fan. It's something thats been discussed many times. All were saying is that there are fans from outside, coming to watch the reds, and that your numbers are sketchy to say the least.
Haha i dont know about the other places but I can guarantee 99% of people in Denby Dale do not perceive Barnsley to be their town!!!!! Im proud of my town and as someone from HD8 I'm from Huddersfield thank you!! My paternal roots are firmly in Barnsley and I'm proud of that, too.