Barnsley have attempted to appease supporters disappointed at the cancellation of the pre-season friendly with Dutch giants Feyenoord, by bringing the “mighty” Grimsby Town from the Blue Square Premier to Oakwell on Saturday 23rd July.
Reds fans have displayed their anger and disappointment at the cancellation of the match with 14 time Ere Divisie champions Feyenoord on social networking website Facebook, but the club have only been able to attract North Lincolnshire’s Grimsby Town- who finished last season in 11th place in the Blue Square Premier in their first ever season outside the Football League- to replace them. And the club have bizarrely stated that tickets purchased for the Feyenoord game cannot be used to attend the Grimsby match, and that fans must gain a refund and then purchase Grimsby tickets which have been priced at £12 for adults and £6 for concessions. The last time the two sides met was in the 2003-2004 season in what is now League One when the Mariners thumped Gudjon Thordarson’s Barnsley 6-1 at Blundell Park.
Barnsley’s first friendly of the 2011-2012 season arrives this Saturday when they travel to Edinburgh to face Hibernian, with their first friendly in this country arriving three days later when they travel to Hartlepool.