Manchester United do battle against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, and there are some interesting ties between the two clubs. Barnsley’s brief sojourn into the Premier League in 1997 provided a couple of interesting results.
Manchester United recorded a staggering 7-0 win, while the same season, the Tykes knocked Sir Alex Ferguson’s side out of the FA Cup on a replay.
A few United youth team prospects have headed to Barnsley over the past decade, Ashley Fletcher and John Cofie, while the League One side’s current assistant manager Martin Devaney is the dad of United under-18s star Jacob Devaney.
But as far as connections between the two clubs go, nothing may ever top the deal Manchester United struck to sign Tommy Taylor back in 1953.
Tommy Taylor an all-time Manchester United great
Tommy Taylor is one of Manchester United’s greatest ever strikers, scoring a staggering 131 goals in 191 games for the club.
Taylor’s tally places him 16th in United’s all-time scorers list, and if not for tragedy, his goal record would be far higher.
Marcus Rashford is currently one ahead of with Taylor on 132 goals. For comparison, he has played 406 games to reach this figure.
Taylor was a very different type of player, a true old-school centre-forward, renowned for his heading prowess and power inside the penalty box.
To get an even greater understanding of his goalscoring ability, Taylor’s goals per game rate of 0.686 is near enough equal to and narrowly superior to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 0.685, from 150 goals in 219 games.
Tommy Taylor transfer fee
Manchester United paid Barnsley a fee of £29,999 – a record transfer back in 1953. The extra £1 went to Barnsley’s tea lady.
Legendary manager Sir Matt Busby came up with the idea for the unique fee, wanting not to add extra pressure on Taylor by making him football’s first £30,000 player.
Taylor was just 21 at the time and went on to win two league titles in 1956 and 1957. In the latter, he scored a career best 34 goals in 45 matches.
Munich disaster
Tommy Taylor’s life was tragically cut short when he died in the Munich air disaster in 1958.
Taylor had already scored 22 goals that season when his life was cruelly cut short, and he had begun to establish himself with England.
In 19 appearances for the Three Lions, Taylor scored 16 goals. Later that summer he would have played a starring role for England at the 1958 World Cup.
Taylor was 26 when he perished in Munich, and had achieved so much, already establishing his name as Manchester United great. But he had so much more to offer for club and country.