Heroes & Villains – Barnsley
Hero – Danny Wilson (1993 – 98)
Danny Wilson was the manager who took Barnsley to the promised land of the Premier League in 1997.
He started off at Oakwell as a player-assistant manager when he signed from Sheffield Wednesday in 1993. His team-mate Viv Anderson joined as player-manager.
12 months later, Anderson moved to Middlesbrough to become Bryan Robson’s assistant and Wilson moved up to become player-manager.
Barnsley finished runners-up in the First Division in Wilson’s third season in charge and were promoted to the Premier League.
The club only lasted a single season in the top flight in 1997/98. He left to become Sheffield Wednesday boss in the summer of 1998.
Wilson returned for a second spell in charge at Oakwell between 2013 and 2015.
Danny appeared in a photo of the ‘Ugly’ shirt in Barnsley’s part in the series ‘Good, Bad & Ugly’. You can read that here.
Villain – Any other Yorkshire club!
I had a look through various Barnsley forums to try and find a player or club that their fans really didn’t like. There didn’t seem to be one set rival and numerous clubs were mentioned.
Leeds United, both Sheffield clubs and Doncaster Rovers were singled out as teams that Barnsley fans despised. Margaret Thatcher even got a mention from one fan!
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