Barnsley Ban Wednesday Fan

A club statement has emerged from Barnsley’s Official Website regarding the prevention of a Sheffield Wednesday supporter from attending tonight’s friendly match at Oakwell.

The statement, which can be viewed here, states that the decision was taken, on request from South Yorkshire Police, to ban Sheffield Wednesday supporter Paul Gregory from Oakwell for the match tonight.

Gregory, also known as ‘Tango Man’ is one of the louder supporters at Sheffield Wednesday and is known to regularly start off songs and chants, but he will not be there to do so at Oakwell tonight.

Barnsley General Manager Don Rowing told The Star that Mr Gregory ‘has attended the ground on a number of occasions and has failed to respond to requests made by stewards about ground regulations.’

In my opinion the stewards at Oakwell can be a little bit over-zealous with their handling of certain situations, even in the home end, so I sympathise on this occasion with Tango Man, who claims ‘I’m being branded a hooligan by them, but I just go to enjoy the football. I’m totally confused about why they have banned me.’

It has sparked controversy among football fans and writers about what should and shouldn’t be allowed at football grounds.

What are your thoughts?