TYKES TAKEOVER

This evening the Barnsley Football Club plays at Wembley for the third time in very recent history in the Carabao Cup. Barnsley's form is not great and actually nor is the Spurs! The Terriers might just choke the Cockerels.

Patrick Cryne is a Barnsley "boy" and he presently owns Barnsley FC, something he has done with passion since 2004. In his match programme notes recently he announced that he had bowel cancer and he would unlikely to be able to run the club for much longer. This sad news hit the Tykes hard in what is their 130th year.
   
Founded in 1887, Barnsley FC was the project of the Reverend Tiverton Preedy at St Peter's Church, a stone's throw from Oakwell.

The club is in negotiation to be taken over by American Paul Conway, Chinese investor Chien Lee (a majority shareholder of French club Nice along with director Conway) and Billy Beane. This consortium may well become the first "non-supporter" owner of the club. Beane's experience of ownership includes Oakland Athletics baseball which was the subject of the Brad Pitt film "Moneyball" and advising Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

Moneyball told the story of Billy Beane (see below) the vice-president of the OAs, who took on an ailing baseball club and used a "sabermetric approach", basically statistical analysis, to identify undervalued players, who appeared to have particular strengths which could be not be obvious to others. With a small budget, these players were scouted and brought into the Oakland side which then had a 20 long winning streak.

Manager Paul Heckingbottom, a local boy, and once Manchester United trainee. played in the Barnsley win in the League One play off against Swansea at the Millenium. He has also overseen Barnsley's victories over Oxford United in the Football League Trophy and  the Football League Play Off over Millwall; not many clubs win two Wembley finals in one season (though Grimsby did recently).

Alan Bloore, Chairman of the club's supporters has his doubts about the club moving out of local's ownership. He reminds us about the community that the club has around it, something that Heckingtbottom will appreciate. Neil Redfearn's Bar is named after one of the best known Barnsley players. The takings from that bar go half to local charities and half to the academy, that has produced many fine players who have eventually gone on to more elevated clubs. Let's hope that Beane's analysis will realise some super stars from the South Yorkshire district.

ps SaberBart is a Simpson's episode where Lisa uses the anaylsis to coach Bart's Little League Baseball team