Football history project collects fans' memories

Barnsley FC fans have been invited to send in their old photos and memorabilia for a new book

Barnsley FC fans have been invited to share their old photos and memorabilia of the club for a "digital archive" book.

The project is being led by artist Julian Germain, who said he wanted to photograph possessions such as scarves and tickets.

The book, called Barnsley FC: The People's Visual History, is scheduled to be published in November.

Mr Germain said it would "shine a light on the connection people have with their club".

Mr Germain said the project would show people's individual connections to football

So far Mr Germain has been given a photo of a fan with player Neil Redfearn in 1992; an album of pictures taken by Barnsley Chronicle sports reporter Selwyn Dunford in the early 1960s; and a completed "progress chart" for the 1973-4 team cut out from Shoot magazine.

The project is supported by the club, its fan advisory board, and club sponsor Parliament.

Mr Germain said it also explored the value of what could be seen as throwaway items, which people had instead chosen to keep.

"A lot of the items that come along, in some way, are marked by the individual that owns them," he said.

Some of the donated match programmes have been annotated with details of the size of the crowd or the scorers on the day, or have tickets taped to the cover.

Mr Germain has previously published a visual history of Sunderland AFC's FA Cup win in 1973.

However, he said Barnsley FC had "fantastic history".

"It has always survived, even in the dark days of the 1970s when they were in Division Four for seven consecutive seasons."

He added he would be particularly interested in meeting a fan who had supported the club during this period.

One of Mr Germain's favourite items is a "season progress chart" for 1973-74

On the season progress chart, which had results filled in, he said he was "amazed" it had survived.

"There are quite a lot of valuable bits of memorabilia out there, and a lot of them are very lovely.

"But something that was just in a kids' football magazine can be of just as much interest to me."

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