No fire breathing dragons here. No lions guardant bearing mural crowns. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Toby. (PIC 1) Toby Tyke, to grant him his full monogram is in fact a cartoon dog, based on a real dog. Local dog breeder and friend of all at Barnsley FC Arthur Braithwaite had a favourite pooch called Toby, and as you can see Toby was a bulldog. I can only imagine that after a few jars at the local the players and Arthur said: “Ay, I’ve a great idea let’s make Toby our mascot I, and let’s put him onta club badge”. So after what surely must have been a Boddington’s based decision, Toby made his first appearance in the August 19th 1967, match day program. Toby has been ever-present since, on everything pertaining to Barnsley FC. The club’s name circles Toby and this all in the club colours completes the badge, which is in the roundel.
Since I started researching for this site, writing to all the clubs and trawling through mounds of paperwork and myriads of websites, much time has passed and much has changed. I am no longer a young man and sadly Toby has passed. Toby has given way to a newer, more serious badge. (PIC 2) The present badge is directly taken from Barnsley’s coat of arms and reflects its industry and local families. It has the year of formation under the arms. (PIC 3) The arms were officially granted on 19 October 1869, and the supporters were granted on 13 August 1913. The falcon with padlock and the boar’s head with crosses is from the arms of the local families of Locke and Beckett. The griffin is the crest of the Wentworth family of Wentworth Woodhouse. The emblems in the chief or top of the shield stand for Monk Bretton Priory, a Cluniac foundation dating from 1157. Cluniac refers to a reformed Benedictine monastic order, founded at Cluny in eastern France in 910. The arms of the Priory were two silver cups and a cross on black. The shuttles, pickaxes, and the supporters of a glassblower and miner represent local industries. The motto “SPECTEMUR AGENDO” means, “Judge us by our actions“.
Thanks, go to Gaz for his help here. Toby was symbolic of the British Bulldog spirit and “The Tykes” is the club’s nickname, a tyke being a hard-working northern lad. Barnsley has a history of industry and hard-working tykes. Another nickname was “The Colliers” taken from the mining industry. Because of the colour of their shirts “The Reds” is another nickname.
Barnsley were formed in 1887, by the Reverend T.T. Preedy as Barnsley St Peter FC, this was in reflection of the church. In 1897, St Peter was dropped and in the following years, Barnsley were elected to the Second Division of the Football League. Barnsley briefly graced the Premiership in 1997, but they obviously were not impressed as they left sharpish like and have never looked like returning. It was tough to find the meaning of the name Barnsley but the local council states: “Its origins lie in the Anglo-Saxon word Berne, for barn or storehouse, and Lay, for the field”. So Barnsley started life as a barn in a field.
Barnsley play at Oakwell, a 23,287-capacity stadium, so plenty big enough for the Premiership should they return. Oakwell was built in 1887 and although it has undergone refurbishment its West Stand is probably the oldest in the country. Local rivals of Barnsley include Rotherham and the two Sheffields. Wednesday being the more ridiculed on Saturday afternoons. To get more on Barnsley then go for a walkies to barnsleyfc.co.uk
