September’s international break usually brings a period of frustration for football fans. No sooner has the Premier League returned and it is rudely interrupted, as the often monotonous international game briefly returns.
Things have been different this time around.
Social media has exploded with the Barclaysman trend, pushed into stratospheric territory by the Cultras Football Podcast. Unless you’ve been living under a social media rock across the last week, you’ve probably seen compilation tributes to Premier League fan favourites of yesteryear.
So what exactly is a Barclaysman?
The name derives from the long-running partnership between Barclays bank and the Premier League. Between 2001 and 2016, Barclays was the title sponsor of England’s top flight and the ‘Barclaysmen’ are players who defined that era.
We’re not talking about the best players per se, but those who left an indelible mark on the Premier League and, more pertinently, fan culture.
Barclaysmen must be distinctive. Whether they specialised in scoring long-range thunderbastards, had a unique look or style, or an iconic celebration, Barclaysmen must have achieved something in the Premier League that makes you exclaim at random moments in conversation ‘Remember him!?’
Throw together a compilation and noughties Indie banger into the background and voila, you have Barclaysman heritage.
