There may be a few United fans out there who have never heard of, or are not familiar with Frank Barson, but the Sheffield-born half-back was the quintessential hard man of football in his day. Barson played for United between 19221928, but his time at the club was plagued by injury. When he did play however he was singled out for his leadership skills and was named captain, leading us to promotion to the First Division in 1925. For this, he was honored with a pub in Manchester, and afforded cult hero status, but resenting the fame this brought, legend holds that on the opening night of his pub he gave the business to his head waiter. Barson was also known for spells at Barnsley and Aston Villa, and whoever he played for, opposing crowds loathed him. The Times once noted that "On frequent occasions Barson was escorted out of grounds by policemen to protect him from groups of angry opposition fans." Beginning his career as a blacksmith, Barson would often use his upbringing to defend his sometimes-unsavory style of play, protesting that he was "brought up to play hard and saw nothing wrong with an honest to goodness shoulder charge." Unfortunately for him, referees of the day did not share the same philosophy, and Barson was once hammered with a seven-month ban for a violent challenge in a match against Fulham. He left United to join Watford in May 1928 and stories of him are still told today in the same way Chuck Norris memes adorn Facebook walls.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
