"The Season": Barnsley FC 2004/05 (a CM story)

[ice4277]

ESPN PRESS RELEASE

ESPN International Announces a Second Go-Around of “The Season”

Bristol—ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, today confirmed that production of a second year of the hit reality show “The Season” is underway. While the first, award-winning year of “The Season” followed the exploits of Italian football giants Juventus through an entire Serie A and Champions’ League campaign, the second “Season” will begin by following the exploits of one of the lesser lights of European football, English Second Division side Barnsley. Far removed from the bright lights and big money of European nights and Cup finals, viewers will follow this cash-strapped club and its supporters on this season-long quest for glory. As the program’s hallmark, Barnsley FC have granted unrestricted access to ESPN cameras as the club makes its way through the lower reaches of the English game. Worldwide viewers can tune in each and every Wednesday night, following Sportscenter or ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the UEFA Champions' League, with the show opening slated for September 15, 2004.

[ice4277]

The idea for this CM dynasty is that the ESPN cameras, for some f'ed up reason or another, decided to follow my club, Barnsley, for a season-long documentary show (most of you probably are aware of this show on ESPN here in the States, I don't think there is an international version IRL though). I will provide weekly (game-time) updates of how the season progresses, along with an interview or two by me (the manager) and a player/chairman/fan/etc. The first "episode" will be a recap of how the team fared my first season in charge, and a recap of the beginning of the 2004/05 season.

I may not have a ton of time to work on this dynasty right now, so updates may come in fits and starts. I will try my best to update it as much as possible.

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After the show's opening graphics, the screen slowly fades up from black to reveal a mist-covered training ground. Visible in silhouette are a number of men in training outfits running various drills. At the center of this group of players we see a handful of men with clipboards and whistles. The mood appears light, but focused.

Narrator: As the mist of a late summer morning begins to fade, you could find this scene repeated on hundreds of training pitches across Europe and the world. Not for these players, though is the lifestyle of the rich and famous (cut to shot of David Beckham getting out of his latest luxury car) or the glory of a continental champion (cut to shot of Dynamo Kiev captain Valentin Belkevich receiving the Champions' League trophy from the UEFA President after his side's unlikely triumph on penalties in the 2004 Final over Inter Milan). This weekend will not see them take the field on one of the hallowed fields of Europe (cut to rapid-fire shots of the Bernebaeu, Old Trafford, and the San Siro). Rather, this group of journeyman veterans and youngsters looking for their next big break, will be taking the journey to Boundary Park, in Oldham, for a key Second Division matchup. For this is not a team featuring a Russian's millions; no, this is the life of a player at Barnsley FC, where the club recently sold its best player in order to keep finances in order.

A world away from the Premiership and Serie A, perhaps, but if there is one thing all professional athletes around the world have in common, it is the desire to perform to the best of their abilities. And there is no coddling of the athletes here to make that happen. For this is a team that, having enjoyed just one season in the Premier League, has struggled for years both on the pitch and off of it. From near relegation to the Third Division, to nearly being dissolved due to unstable finances, it has been a rollercoaster ride for all involved with the club. However, a new hope has sprung. You can feel it in the air, around the players, staff, and fans. Barnsley are on the cusp of rejuvination, but at this level, there is no such thing as a sure thing? Can the team turn its fortunes around and begin the ride back up the divisions? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, you will be there with them to witness it. Each week until the season ends in May, you will be there with this team through good and bad, alongside its quest to regain stability, and respectability.

When we come back, we examine how the team has got where it has, and talk about the man helping to lead the way back.

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(After the break, we see various images and movies of Barnsley highlights from the past, with commentary provided by the narrator.)

Narrator: Like many English clubs, Barnsley were founded late in the 19th century, and soon thereafter found themselves playing league football. Joining the old Second Division in for the 1898/99 season, the club finished 11th of 18 clubs. The early years were kind to the club, as they reached the F.A. cup final twice, winning the Cup in 1912. However, poor league form in those years caused the side to nearly be kicked out of the league on a number of occasions, only for a vote by league chairmen to keep them in each time. The club did finish near the top of the old Second Division table twice, in 1915 and 1922, both times narrowly missing out on promotion to the top flight. By the eve of World War II, a solid squad had been assembled, but by the end of the long conflict, the team had essentially been disassembled.

A long period on mediocrity followed, during which the team fell all the way to the old Fourth Division. Finally things turned around as, under new Chairmanship, the team finished second in 1968 and was promoted back to the old Third Division. The club then yo-yoed between divisions until, in 1981, a victory over local rivals Rotherham, in front of over 26,000 screaming fans, put them back into the old Second Division for the first time since 1958. After almost reaching the promotion playoffs the following year, the team endured relgation battle after relegation battle. Beginning the 96/97 season, with the team still struggling in the new First Division, few would have thought a jump to the still-new Premier League would have been in the cards. When Clint Marcelle scored for Barnsley, sealing a victory, and promotion to the top flight, over Bradford in front of a raucous Oakwell home crowd, few thought it could have been any better. At the time, it couldn't possibly have been better. Twelve months later, things could have hardly been worse.

(Cut to commercial)

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(Fade up to scenes of screaming, happy fans, followed by images from Barnsley's Premier League season.)

Narrator: After securing promotion at the end of the 96/97 season, the club and fans of Barnsley FC spent the summer on a euphoric high. A solid start to the seaon, with 6 points from their first four games, kept the fans happy. However, a televised home match versus Chelsea saw the wheels come off early, as the Blues hit for six against the overmatched Reds. Barnsley then won just one of their following ten matches, during which a number of overpaid and underperforming new players failed to make their mark. The club featured a revolving door of new players as manager Danny Wilson continued to try to buy survival in the top flight. Despite limited success, it all went belly-up for Barnsley in a home match against Liverpool, when referee Gary Willard controversially sent off two Barnsley players, then left the field himself. When the game was restarted, Barnsley equallized, only to Liverpool to score a controversial late winner. This was the last straw, and the club went on the win just one of their final nine matches.

After all was said and done, it had been an exciting season for the club and its fans. Despite coming close to promotion the next couple of years, under Wilson, then Dave Bassett, the team failed to get back into the top flight, while continuing to bleed money on new players. Then, in the 2001/02 season, came the unthinkable: relegation to Division Two, Barnsley's first foray into the lower reaches of the league in twenty years. Combined with crippling debts from their Premiership expedition as well as heavily reduced income playing in the lower leagues, things became even more bleak as the club was placed in administration on October 3, 2002.
(Cut to scenes of bewildered, teary Barnsley fans)
With the club falling apart at the seams, most fans would be forgiven for thinking that the future was hopeless. Would they go down in infamy as the first league club in decades to fold?

December brought new ownership from Peter Doyle, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that all most fans wanted from St. Nick was their club to be solvent again. The rest of the season was never going to be easy though, and the club went into its penultimate game of the season needing to defeat Brentford to stay out of Division Three. It took 92 minutes of heart-stopping football before Isaiah Rankin became the golden boy, scoring the goal that stopped the bleeding.

Interim manager Glyn Hodges had done a decent job of keeping the club up, but the new ownership felt a different direction was needed for the 2003/2004 campaign. Many fans had been hoping for the appointment of an experienced lower division manager who could help guide the club out of the the Second Division wilderness. However, they would end up with a boss who not only lacked the credentials, but lacked any management experience. And who was American.

Clearly, this would take some getting used to.
(Fade to black.)

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(As we return from the break, we are back at Barnsley's training ground; this time, however, the team is sitting in a circle around manager Joe Mazeika, who is discussing strategy for the upcoming game against Oldham.)

Narrator: One of the more interesting managerial appointments of the last couple years occurred here at Barnsley, when a 34-year old American with no managerial experience, Joe Mazeika, was picked to lead the club back from the brink.

As a player, Mazeika's first taste of the English game came shortly after his collegiate playing career ended, with Wimbledon, where the central defender helped the Dons to their famous FA Cup triumph over Liverpool in 1988. (Shot of Mazeika with the FA Cup). Solid play in the Premiership earned him a spot on the U.S. 1994 World Cup roster, when he played a pivotal role in the defeat of Columbia, propelling the States into the second round of the competition for the first time. However, a series of successive knee injuries in early 1995 forced him to retire at the age of 28.

Desiring to remain in football, Mazeika took a role with the under-19 squad at Wimbledon, a position he held for two years, until a return to the America saw him help out with the national squad's youth teams. Following the U.S. debacle at World Cup '98, Mazeika left the national team set-up in order to return to the club level, taking a coaching role with Sunderland. He remained with the Black Cats until the summer of 2000, when U.S. national coach Bruce Arena asked him to come back to the national team to help prepare for World Cup 2002. Following the U.S. success, Mazeika again took his show on the road, returning to England, this time to Ipswich and George Burley's staff.

Shortly after being offered a promotion to the assistant manager's position, the managerial position came on offer from Barnsley. As Mazeika says, it would have been tough to pass up.

Mazeika: Well, it was difficult in that I got along great with George at Portman Road, but it would have been very hard to pass up the opportunity to take on a club of my own. I knew Barnsley had had its share of problems recently, but the new ownership had taken care of its most pressing matters, and they made it clear to me that football was going to be the number one priority. The thing that impressed me most about the club was its infrastructure: Oakwell is a great stadium, better than almost all other Division 2 stadiums, and the set-up at the club is great, with very good training facilities and youth programs. In the end, it was a no-brainer really.

N: For him, perhaps it was. Many fans, though, were a bit wary of what the unknown commodity would bring to the table.

M: (Laughs) For sure, I heard from plenty of fans who wanted me to know that I wasn't their first choice. All I told them was, give us a year, and we'll see. Even though the club had gotten out of administration, we were still on shaky footing. Most fans would have been happy to just avoid relegation. Heck, the board basically told me the same thing!

N: When we return, we'll take a look back at Mazeika's first season in charge, as well as the dramatic events that have occured both on, and off, the pitch for Barnsley this year.