Barnsley

Oakwell Stadium was built in the same year that Barnsley Football Club was founded, though it didn’t officially open until the year after, 1888. Unusually for a Football League club, the ground not only hosts the first XI matches but also the club’s reserves fixtures. The name ‘Oakwell’ normally refers to the stadium itself, though officially it is also the name of the surrounding facilities that together comprise The Barnsley FC Academy. For most of its existence the stadium was owned by Barnsley Football Club themselves. However the club entered into a period of financial difficulty at the start of the millennium, eventually falling into administration. At this point Barnsley Council purchased the main Oakwell Stadium, though not the surrounding properties. This gave the club the finances it needed to be able to pay off their creditors whilst also remaining in the Football League.