[Official Site] MICHAEL DUFF REACTS TO CREWE FRIENDLY

MICHAEL DUFF REACTS TO CREWE FRIENDLY
Interviews

Speaking after our goalless draw with Crewe Alexandra on Saturday, our Head Coach Michael Duff praised his side's physicality in hot conditions at Oakwell.

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Another reference to the Showcase academy pitch. Has it been sponsored by the cinema chain?

 

Good grief there’s some jargon in there!

 

"We lacked a little bit of cutting edge, but we haven't done that much work in that part of the pitch just yet"

Oh good. Two thirds of the way through preseason and we're only just discovering there's a net at the other end of the pitch too. Really looking forward to this season.

 

Would have been my starting point but as long as we reach there at some point in the season it will be an improvement on last !

 

I guess the fact that they know it's there is grounds for optimism as I'm pretty sure they were blissfully unaware it existed last season. Now to task an expedition force with trying to find the bloody thing.

 

There are a number of academy pitches. The ‘Showcase’ one is the one that the U23s and U18s play their matches on. It’s to better explain where the game was played. Rather than ‘on one of the academy pitches’ or ‘the academy pitch furthest north’.

It’s always been referred to as the Showcase pitch. It’s just not often the first team use it. At all. So I guess that’s why it’s being questioned.

Don’t ask me why it’s called that, and not ‘Main’ academy pitch. Before my time. Sounds sexier I suppose. Or summat.

 

I was wondering why a training pitch friendly was admission by ticket only. Surely there weren’t security or safety issues that prompted this, especially with such a low number. Just curious that’s all.

 

So which one is the showcase pitch anyway? Until this season I'd never heard it called that at all. I know there's a pitch with stands on both sides but it's presumably not that because that ones just been referred to as the academy pitch for the last 20 years hasn't it? And that one has a capacity of over 2,000 but the capacity of this one is a couple of hundred? Is it the other pitch with a much smaller stand on it? I believe that's the AFC stand on bfc land? Actually I've just realised I'm not sure which of the stands is the AFC stand on bfc land

 

It was meant to be behind closed doors, like the Walsall game last week, on a training ground. Quite a lot of friendlies are on training grounds or academy pitches this summer due to the season starting earlier because of the impending World Cup being in ******* Qatar.

The Oakwell surface will be ready this week, hence the home games with Forest and Sheff Utd to come.

I believe Khaled wanted to give access to a number of season tickets holders for yesterday’s fixture, so it went from initially being behind closed doors, to having limited numbers with a few stewards (who are in-house, club employees now). So all 8,000 or so season ticket holders could apply for a ticket for yesterday with an opportunity to be one of the 250 or whatever the figure was.

 

Wait till we get there and find Devante Cole is the main striker

 

There isn’t any pitch with stands on both sides. There’s the 4G Astro pitch immediately next to the car park, which has a stand that houses hundreds. Not sure how many exactly. On the banking, there’s a bit of terracing. Then as far north you go, there’s the Showcase pitch. That has open terracing, an analysis/filming box, and then a small stand. All on that one banking. Below that pitch is another pitch, and to the side of that, another 2/3 pitch. Above the Showcase and 4G are the two training pitches, immediately below the Metrodome.

The AFC thing is way over my head. I was a student getting smashed every weekend back then and remember very little.

 

Lots of empty seats in the photo gallery. Maybe too hot for some people.

 

Is that all stewards for all Barnsley fixtures going forward? Or you have a few in-house employees that can cope with small fixtures like yesterday, but still require a security firm to make up the numbers for first team fixtures?

 

Thanks whitey. I always assumed the stand behind the carpark was the main pitch and thought this was the one being called the showcase pitch. I also thought that the stand down the side of it held a couple of thousand, it looks huge from the back.

If I've read you right then the showcase pitch is the one that goes the same way as the main oakwell pitch and the stands/terracing are where the west stand is?

The AFC stand thing is that when Patrick owned Barnsley FC and obviously oakwell (well half) he allowed AFC Barnsley to erect a stand on one of our academy pitches which at the time made little sense as AFC were a rival club to BFC even signing up a lot of our academy players which made the phrase "AFC stand on bfc land" quite popular back then as people were using it to mock the whole fiasco and the refusal to acknowledge that Patrick was behind AFC Barnsley despite the overwhelming evidence that he was funding it. Obviously as we all know it turned out that Patrick was indeed funding both clubs at the same time. I THINK thats the small stand on the showcase pitch but as I didn't even know which the showcase was until you said I'm probably wrong.

 

I believe all of our stewarding/safety work is now in-house.

 

Absolutely no idea on that one, for reasons already stated. I thought they played at Dot Hyman? Didn’t Marcelle turn out for them?

 

It was too hot for me. I filmed the first half and nearly collapsed at half time. Sweltering.

 

@YTBFC
Will the youth games be okay to watch next season?

 

I think they started at Dorothy Hyman when Doyle was owner but switched to Oakwell as soon as Patrick got control, or it was something like that anyway. Marcelle was announced as their new manager but they said he had completely failed to show up and they had to change manager. I think the replacement manager was Dave Hancock's brother Mark or Mike? (could even have been Dave himself) who is related to quite a few of our former academy players.

Have a word with James about it when you see him, it really is a fascinating story and I reckon you'd enjoy hearing his take on it all from when he was a young lad.