53-54: Barnsley, Merlin's Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

Anyone else occupying their minds with Sporcle quizzes during lockdown will know that during the Premier League’s 28 seasons it has been home to 49 clubs. Only six clubs have taken part in all 28: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. At the other end of the scale only three clubs have spent a solitary season at English football’s post-92 top table: Blackpool, Swindon Town and, this post’s subject, Barnsley.

Over 1.4 million people have taken Sporcle’s ‘Premier League Clubs All Time’ quiz but only 50% of them have remembered Barnsley’s spell in the league during the 1997/98 season. It was not the most pleasant of experiences for the Yorkshire club as they lost 23 of their 38 games and made an instant return to the second tier. They were spared the indignity of finishing bottom as a Palace team that didn’t bother winning at home until April propped up the table. More on that story another time.

Barnsley had earned their place in the Premier League following a strong 1996/97 campaign which saw them finish second in Division One (the Championship in old money). Aided by Danny Wilson’s shrewd business in the transfer market they secured promotion with a game to spare following a 2-0 win over local rivals Bradford City which sparked a pitch invasion and prompted an open top bus tour for the successful squad. Perhaps the 5-1 loss to mid-table Oxford United on the last day of the season was a more fitting omen for what was to come.

Barnsley splashed the cash (in late 1990s terms) and spent over £5m on new players from across Europe and the upper echelons of Division One. They beat both fellow promoted sides, Bolton Wanderers and Palace (at Selhurst Park, of course), in their first four games but were plunged into the relegation zone by the eighth round of fixtures following a 4-1 loss away at Wimbledon. They never emerged from the drop zone and, along the way, suffered 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0 thrashings at the hands of eventual champions Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester United respectively.

There were some high points. A 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield and a battling 4-3 home win against Southampton were the best moments of a fairly miserable league campaign. The Tykes did enjoy a good run in the FA Cup where they eliminated Premier League mainstays Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in fourth and fifth round replays respectively. The latter went some way to easing the pain of their shellacking at the hands of United in the league and also involved two uncharacteristic errors by Peter Schmeichel. It was always funny when United lost in the 90s.

Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection immortalised a handful of the players who endured the club’s challenging season among the very best clubs in England in the usual collection of head shots and questionable premises for shinies. However, a printing error ensured that it wasn’t just the first team players that saw their faces in sticker albums across the country. You would be forgiven for thinking that a recently promoted team would have a small squad but upon closer inspection the fresh faced group shown above didn’t match the head shots on the next page. That would be because you’re looking at Barnsley’s youth team.

Merlin realised their mistake around halfway through the season and reissued the stickers but, as two halves of a photo, many collectors found themselves with an image that looked like a science experiment gone wrong. Nevertheless, whilst only one Barnsley team can claim to have played Premiership football, at least two can claim to have featured in the sticker album.