A closer look at the Tykes and Oakwell.
Vital Statistics
Founded: 1887
Owner: Patrick Cryne
Last Season: Championship - 17th
Nickname: The Tykes
Rivals: Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Rotherham United
Major Honours
FA Cup: 1912
Scheduled Matches
Portsmouth vs Barnsley: Saturday, October 15th (5:20pm - SKY)
Barnsley vs Portsmouth: Saturday, February 18th (3pm)
Transfers In
Craig Davies (Chesterfield - Free)
David Perkins (Colchester - Free)
Matt Done (Rochdale - Undisclosed)
Scott Wiseman (Rochdale - Undisclosed)
James McNulty (Brighton - Undisclosed)
Rob Edwards (Blackpool - Free)
Miles Addison (Derby - Loan)
Transfers Out
Hugo Colace (Estudiantes Tecos - Free)
Matt Hill (Blackpool - Free)
Liam Dickinson (Plymouth - Free)
Jason Shackell (Derby - £1,000,000)
Steven Bennett (Released)
Conor Branson (Released)
Martin Devaney (Released)
Probable Starting XI
GK: Luke STEELE
RB: Scott WISEMAN
CB: Jim McNULTY
CB: Rob EDWARDS
LB: Jay McEVELEY
RM: Jim O'BRIEN
CM: Jacob BUTTERFIELD
CM: Nathan DOYLE
CM: David PERKINS
LM: Danny HAYNES
CF: Craig DAVIES
The Manager: Keith Hill
The 42-year-old played as a centre back mainly for Plymouth Argyle and Rochdale, where he was made director of youth before becoming manager in 2006.
He turned Dale's fortunes around, taking them from the depths of League Two to eventual automatic promotion after two previous play-off failures. The following season saw Hill take Rochdale to a ninth place finish in League One, which grabbed Barnsley's attention after Mark Robins left the club following a dispute over transfer funds.
Hill joined Barnsley this summer and will be looking to defy the pundits who predict that the Yorkshire club will be relegated come May 2012.
The Fans
The Barnsley fans are a friendly bunch who know their stuff. On my last visit we remembered the "good old days" of 2008 when we won the FA Cup and Barnsley did us a huge favour by knocking out Liverpool and Chelsea before beaten in the semi-finals by Cardiff.
The most famous Tyke has to be TV chat show legend Michael Parkinson but umpire Dickie Bird and cricketer Darren Gough are also Barnsley fans.
Barnsley fan Craig Smith on the upcoming season:
Keith Hill has the team playing a fluid, patient, effective passing game and I expect them to surprise a few this season and cause a few upsets and play some entertaining football that all can appreciate. I predict a mid-table finish but hope for a shock push for the play-offs.
The Ground: Oakwell (Capacity: 23,000)
If you've never been to Barnsley before then you won't be surprised to know that it's a relatively quiet Yorkshire town that is home to one of the older grounds in the Championship.
The away fans' watering hole is actually the local leisure centre situated just up the hill from the away end. You can get food and drink here and even go for a swim if fancy.
When you come back down the slope to the away end you'll get a good view of the ground.
The East Stand is the oldest at Oakwell and it certainly shows. "Old Skool" is probably the best phrase to describe this secton of the ground.
This is the West Stand from inside the ground. Not too many supporters choose to sit here and I can't say that I blame them. The view from that upper tier screams "letterbox" to me.
The South Stand is presumably where the Barnsley "massive" watch the game. Their most vocal fans seem to be sat here but it's still difficult to hear them as they're not known for being very loud.
This is the East Stand when it is empty.
This is the East Stand when it is full. As you can see, there are still plenty of empty seats there. I expect this is the case for the majority of Barnsley's fixtures unless they're playing a big club or their local rivals. Sadly, the same can be said for Pompey these days too.
The North Stand is for the visiting fans. Pompey don't take many north of London so we only get allocated half of the stand with the other half completely empty. There was no seat allocation last year so you were free to sit wherever you liked.
The teams enter from the northwest corner of the ground, greeted by cheerleaders before one of the worst games of football I have ever had the displeasure of watching.
