The following story appeared in the Non-League Paper.
Non-League football will have a new name among its ranks next term after disillusioned fans broke away from Nationwide League Second Division Barnsley to form AFC Barnsley.
Led by law student Paul Bestall, the group, fed-up at the way their club was being run by Mayor of Barnsley, Peter Doyle, have created their own club and have even targeted former Tyke Clint Marcelle (pictured), who was with UniBond Legaue Premier Division side Hucknall Town last season, as their first signing.
And the dream, which was first mooted by Bestall on a website forum after a 4-0 home defeat by Bristol City last November, turned into reality last Tuesday when AFC Barnsley were accepted into the Kit CLuB Central Midlands League.
Doyle took control of the administration-run Nationwide League outfit last December and promptly removed all board members and shareholders, apart from chairman John Dennis.
Six months on, the Oakwell outfit are still in administration because the CVA has not been settled, are under a transfer embargo and only avoided falling from the Premiership to Third Division in five seasons by five points.
On top of all this, local media reported that most of the first-team squad were paid their April salaries late because Doyle was in the Ukraine on mayoral business and paid staff with personal cheques.
For Bestall, 30, and fellow season-ticket holders Paul Hodgkinson, Don McCarron and Robert Holt enough was enough - AFC Barnsley was born. "We've been called every name under the sun this season and we are sick of it," said Bestall. "We have been called the 'slime that crawls from under bricks' by Peter Doyle since he bought the club on December 12th.
"For the first month he was saying to us 'you don't deserve a club'. We were getting 10,000 and we were third-bottom in the Second Division. If that's not supporting a club I don't know what is.
"In January we were told that £10 million investment was coming into the club, but he wouldn't say any more because he was sick of 'mischievous fans causing him problems'.
"As yet the £10 million hasn't arrived, but that was our fault because apparently our negativity was scaring off potential investors. So we've done something about it."
Bestall has registered AFC with the Sheffield & Hallamshire FA, has another fan looking into a kit deal with Reebok and has contacted previous sponsors of Barnsley for financial support.
He will hold talks with Northern Counties East League side Worsbrough Bridge about sharing their Park Road ground.
"We are chuffed to bits that the Central Midlands have accepted us," added Bestall. "The chairman Frank Harwood was very positive about what we could bring to the league.
"He said the average gate is between 50 and 100, and I told him we are looking at between 250 and 1,000. Last season we had 8,000 season ticket holders and now no-one has said they'll get one.
"AFC Wimbledon have been brilliant as well. They have sent us ideas, told us how they went through it, what they did.
"We are in the process of setting all the supporters' trust up, getting forms from Companies House. But is it going to be run with everything we make going back into the club.
"We are trying to track down one of our old players, Clint Marcelle, who played for Harrogate Town and Hucknall last season. We'd like to make him our first signing - so if he's out there, get in touch!"