Michael Parkinson on Barnsley

I don't think that not living near Barnsley stops you being a Red, I've been away from South Yorkshire since 1974 apart from a few months occasionally 70s and 80s. However, I do think Parky only ever says anything about Barnsley when against all the odds we accomplish something like this. I saw him when me and my dad sat eating chips on the steps outside Wembley in 2000 (having just bumped into Dicky Bird when we got off the bus) and he was on a TV documentary in 1997 after the Bradford game. Otherwise totally AWOL.

 

As a student in Newcastle, I occasionally went to watch "the toon" and I also watched "The U's" when I lived in Cambridge but never considered myself to be anything but a Barnsley fan.

 

https://www.efl.com/news/2012/november/famous-fans-sir-michael-parkinson/

He doesn't dictate when the media interview him in relation to his association with Barnsley FC. We don't make the headlines that often, when we do and the media want to interview him, he's happy to talk about it. Barnsley finish 10th in League 1 let's wheel out Parky isn't much of a story.

You can certainly question the validity of the famous fan story whenever a smaller club does well, but these famous fans have no say in when they will be interviewed about the subject.

 

I used to work with a guy who would support his local team. He'd lived in a few places, and just got a season ticket for the closest league club whenever he moved to a new city.

All very odd in my opinion!

 

Fair point. Lazy journalism, "Barnsley have done brilliant, find a celeb fan" Parky will always be first on the list....

 

Back in the late 70s, there was a guy stood with us in the corner between Ponty and West stand who was from Newcastle, always listened to his radio for their scores and had been a regular at St James park but was there at Oakwell every week.

 

Similarly when I was a student, I used to watch Boro with a Liverpool fan, a Tranmere fan, a Coventry fan and an Arsenal fan; drunk my tea out of a Barnsley F.C. cup every day though (until the cleaner accidentally broke it (poor lass, she was mortified and tried her hardest to get a replacement)).

 

Did he become a Red or an Imp?

 

Its not natural to have two clubs. I've shown an interest in other teams as I lived in the area but they were never MY club. I went because I love footy. To say you'd never go and watch anyone else seems to say you're not interested in football, just tribalism.
Its the greatest game in the world, if I couldnt watch Barnsley play I'd always try and find a game somewhere to watch even if its Tralee Dynamos against Fenit Samphires.

 

it is true that there's a vast amount of lazy journalism out there but then tjerey a heck of a lot of lazy readers.

 

I'm a Barnsley fan, not a football fan, really.

I'm interested in Barnsley, and Barnsley tribalism, and not much else.

Football is pretty dead, anyway. Why would I care less whether Oilchester City or Oilsea win the Champions League, for instance? It doesn't matter to me.

I care which teams go up and down from our division, but only because it affects us. And I take an interest in the teams I hate, too, because it's always nice when they get spanked.

But all those things revolve around us, because the teams I hate have 'done something' to irritate me.

 

I certainly get the no interest in the top teams angle. Given a choice between going to see a game at the 7th or 8th tier or a free ticket to a Premier League game not involving Barnsley I'd pick the former every time. The game at the very top has been soured beyond repair I'm afraid. For me anyway.

 

But its not difficult to understand that someone may live in an area a long time and gain some form of affinity with a local nearby club if they are unable to get to their club. I've been to the hamlets a few times down the years. Maybe only once or twice a season, but its local and they play a nice part in the community. I saw Ethan Pinnock play there, so it provided an interesting note when he appeared in a red shirt for us.

I wouldn't consider myself a fan of theirs, but I'd rather the local club to where I now live do better than not. Though if I lived near say Charlton and we were in the same league, I'm not sure I'd bring myself to watch them because of the increased rivalry.

 

Same here. Yesterdays cup final as a case in point. I finished my work with about 20 minutes left. Turned the TV off, did a few chores and spent some time with the missus. She said Leicester had won. Years back I would have watched those last 20 minutes and the lifting of the cup. It barely even registered once I heard the final result, and I suspect in a few weeks I'll have forgotten who were even in the final.

 

Yep years ago I'd have been rooting for the underdog a la, Southampton, Ipswich, Sunderland etc but it's all pretty meaningless now plus I can't really have any joy for Leicester given that they cheated the system to get promoted in the first place. I still get invested in international games because you can't just buy a squad. That said the era of Rooney, Gerrard, Terry etc damn near wiped out my enthusiasm for that too as I'm sure it did with many others.

 

I gave up on internationals a long long time ago and just don't bother with tournaments at all, i think I saw a little of a Euro championship in the last 2 or 3 but I couldn't tell you which one. The flagrant backhanders to host and the treatment of workers for building stadia in South Africa, Russia and particularly Qatar has just quashed any interest I had.

 

I’ve been to a few Harrogate Town games in the last few years, die to living in and around the Leeds/Harrogate area. It was nice, they are a decent little club with a good setup who have had a decent amount of success.

It has and will never be the same as watching Barnsley and I just couldn’t get that excited when a goal was scored. I went mainly to support local businesses and the club as they do a lot of good work in the community. I just can’t ever understand anyone actually claiming to support two teams.

I support Barnsley, and only Barnsley.

 

There surely will be the bog standard Dickie Bird interview to come this week on Calendar or Look North.