Jumble Lane
Words: Ian Parker
Images: Ian Parker
The only guarantee on a matchday at Oakwell would be the trains delaying the path back into town for thousands of Barnsley fans.
A 16:55 post-match pint, home cooked tea and bus home, halted by trains heading to the bright lights of Leeds and Sheffield.
Many Reds had to sprint under the descending railway crossing barriers. They would be cheered on by the barrier alarm that sounded like a malfunctioning Dalek. The barriers would crunch to the ground and the backlog would begin.
A road into the transport interchange engulfed by football supporters, whose patience would be controlled by the result from at Oakwell ten minutes earlier. People stood shoulder to shoulder with Yorkshire traction and Stagecoach buses that were trying to edge through the masses. “Mind your toes” they had a service to provide.
Silence would fall until the rumble of the trains had passed. Then a brief pause and the wait was over.
The unofficial Barnsley limbo contest could begin, as some locals tried to get under the barriers as they inched slowly skyward. And on to those pints, that bus home and the plate of spaghetti bolognese.
©Ian Parker/ Terrace Edition. Barnsley FC.
The post match entertainment at Jumble Lane crossing ended in March 2019. A temporary and unsuitable footbridge was installed but it was closed before and after games. The poor thing wouldn’t have been able to cope under the strain of stomping Spezials on the feet of disgruntled Reds at five pm on a Saturday.
This meant supporters having to take the long way round (how they longed to be stuck at the crossing now).
A new footbridge is currently being constructed and will fit in with the new town centre developments that are nearing completion. The modern and no doubt overpriced construction will give fans a birds-eye view of the railway lines that were once trodden by the thousands of football loving supporters and lift them above the 16:55 to Leeds.
The walk from Oakwell to the town centres pubs, bus stands and car parks will never be the same. The offside decisions discussed whilst trying to avoid getting your boots stuck whilst between rail track and concrete are filed away in the ‘when watching football was better’ file.
The post-match tidal wave of reds washing over the tracks is no more. Whether you walked with your head hanging low after a dismal performance or you danced across in celebration after a promotion to the Premier League.
A Barnsley FC matchday institution is gone. But like a Darren Barnard volley, a Clint Marcelle trip, stumble and promotion clinching finish against Bradford or a last minute cup win at Anfield, it will never be forgotten.
©Ian Parker/ Terrace Edition. Barnsley FC.
You can find Ian on Twitter and Instagram: @_TheSaturdayboy
