Barnsley travel and pub guide

Barnsley
Carling Cup Third Round
Tuesday October 27 at 19:45
Oakwell, Barnsley

Tickets
Oakwell holds 23,009 and, for this Carling Cup tie, United have got about 5,800 tickets in the North Stand (pictured), which can hold 6,000 people.

Tickets cost £25 for adults and £15 for concessions. All tickets have now been sold. Home supporters are paying the same prices.

You can enter via turnstiles 42 to 51, which open at 18:15.

TV

Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports 2HD will screen the match live, with the show starting at 19:30.

You can also watch the match via a number of live internet video streams. Links will appear here two hours before the match.

BBC1 will screen a highlights show the day after the match at a time to be confirmed. The highlights will also be on the BBC iPlayer two days afterwards.

Weather
Thankfully, the rain will stay away. It'll be a clear night and about 8C during the game, which is pretty mild for this time of year.

Travel

Car - £10

If you use a route planner use the postcode S71 1ET for the stadium.

Petrol should cost about £5 each way.

There are two possible routes:

1. The shortest route is via the A628 (the Woodhead Pass), onto Wesley Street, Lambra Road in Barnsley town centre and then back onto the A628 before turning left onto Grove Street (see illustration below).

It takes 65 minutes and is 36 miles. But this road is often closed when weather gets bad and can be totally rammed close to Denton and Hyde at evening rush hour.

2. The most straightforward route is via the M62 and M1. Leave the M62 at Junction 29 and join the M1. Then leave the M1 at Junction 37 and follow the road signs to the ground – directly to the away fans' car park (see illustration below).

It takes 75 minutes and is 59 miles.

Parking
There's a 500-capacity away fans' car park behind the North Stand. We're not sure how much it costs but the Barnsley website said there is “a small charge”. You can pay on the night. Arrive early, though.

There is also plenty of free parking on street around Coniston Road, Elm Row and Oakwell View.

Train - £15
There and back, you have to change at Huddersfield, Sheffield (pictured below) or Leeds. The total journey time either way is about 1 hour 40 minutes.

If you buy an off peak return on the day, it will cost £15.

Manchester Piccadilly to Barnsley
Travel after 10:00 else the price jumps up.

From 10:20, there are four trains an hour to Barnsley.

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: xx:20
Arrive in Sheffield: 48 minutes later
Leave: 10 minutes later (58 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)
Arrive Barnsley: 22 minutes later (80 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: xx:27
Arrive Huddersfield: 29 minutes later
Leave: 12 minutes later (41 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)
Arrive Barnsley: 52 minutes later (93 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: xx:43
Arrive in Sheffield: 52 minutes later
Leave: 16 minutes later (68 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)
Arrive Barnsley: 20 minutes later (88 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)

Leave Manchester Piccadilly: xx:57
Arrive in Leeds: 55 minutes later
Leave: 13 minutes later (68 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)
Arrive Barnsley: 34 minutes later (88 minutes after leaving Piccadilly)

The last services you can get to make kick off leaves Piccadilly at 17:43.

To get to the ground, cross over the A61 and follow the floodlights onto Belgrave Road.

Barnsley to Manchester
There are two trains available and only one of them is realistically catchable and the other one would be impossible to get should the match go to extra time, let alone penalties.

Leave Barnsley: 21:36
Arrive Leeds: 22:28
Leave: 22:40
Arrive Manchester Piccadilly: 23:37

Leave Barnsley: 22:08
Arrive Huddersfield: 23:00
Leave: 23:05
Arrive Manchester Victoria: 23:53

Coach - £15

United are running coaches to this game, with places costing £20 per person.

They depart from the Old Trafford N2 car park at 16:30 and will arrive back at Old Trafford at 23:00, subject to extra time and penalties. Call 0161 868 8000 to book.

Red Army Travel is running three coach, with places costing £15 per person.

It departs from the Spread Eagle Pub in Royal Green Road Northernden (time to be announced) and at the Bishops Blaize pub in Chester Road at 16:00. To book, email prem@redarmytravel.com

The two Betty Bus coaches are now sold out. They leaves Chorlton Street Coach Station at 16:30.

Megabus does not serve Barnsley. National Express runs services between Manchester and Barnsley, but they all require lengthy stops in Sheffield, so the journey time is a whopping 4 hours and 25 minutes.

Pubs
The town centre is only a five-minute walk from the ground, so take your pick if you're going by two train.

If you're looking for a bargain tipple, call into either one of the JD Wetherspoons pubs. The first is a Lloyds No.1 bar called the The Joseph Bramah (pictured above), at 15 Market Hill.

It opened in 2006 and named after the 18th-century Barnsley locksmith who invented the hydraulic press.

The best feature about this pub is that there's a big beer garden, so it'll be a good meeting place for reds. You probably won't get it in with colours though.

Get there by turning left out of the train station and walking down Eldon Street. Then take the first left. It's open from 09:00 to 01:00.

The other JD Wetherspoons pub lies at the back of the Alhambra Shopping Centre. It's called the Silkstone Inn (pictured above), at 64 Market Street.

It opened just 13 months back and has its own mini library and lots of nice furnishing – this is a place to have a pre-match sit down rather than a sing song, but it's pretty decent all the same.

The nearest pub to the ground is probably the Manx Arms, at 32 Sheffield Road. It's a gay pub, rather than a football fans' paradise, but it still serves a good pint and is an easy five-minute walk to the ground.