No, they've never won the League. No, they've never been in Europe. But Barnsley FC are one of the few clubs never to have dropped out of the league since entering it in 1898. And they won the FA Cup once. In 1912.

The (very) early years

Before 1887, Barnsley had been a staunch Rugby town in the middle of the Sheffield District, where Association Football (aka Soccer, aka Football) ruled supreme. For no good reason, other than he wanted to, the Reverend Tiverton Preedy, cleric at the church of St Peter in Barnsley decided he wanted to “build a soccer team that the Rugbyites will not crush!”. A committee was formed and less than two weeks later, Barnsley St Peters Football Club played their first friendly match against Manor House, a team from Worsborough Bridge. Barnsley won 4-0, and wore navy and maroon striped shirts.

They soon acquired the nickname “The Saints” from their religious associations, and played home games in the grounds of a local pub called the ‘Dove Inn’. The pub itself was used by way of changing rooms. Rev Preedy also applied for permission to use a local landowners field in the Oakwell district. He was turned down several times before the owner; Mr Arthur Senior finally gave in, saying, “You can have it so long as you behave yourselves.” This field, grudgingly granted, was to become the Oakwell Ground, home to Barnsley Football Club to this day.

After playing friendly matches for three seasons, with a fairly successful record, the Oakwell Saints applied to join the Sheffield District League, and were accepted immediately. They changed their strip to chocolate and white shirts, and enjoyed moderate success in, finishing fifth from seven in their first season (1890/91). In the 1895/6 season, St Peters joined the Midlands League, and interestingly enough, rejected a proposal to change their name to ‘Barnsley Football Club’. It only took two years for the same proposal to be repeated, and second time around, it passed, thanks to the influence of the Club’s new chairman, Alec Black. Under Black, the Club applied for, and succeeded in gaining membership to the professional league. The Oakwell club, along with Glossop, New Brighton, and Kettering began playing league football in the 1898/9 season. To mark the occasion, another strip change occurred, this time to red shirts and white shorts, a combination that the club has stuck to.