National Sporting Heritage Day is an annual celebration of all things sport in the heritage world.

We start our new online resource by paying tribute to Dickie Bird MBE OBE who died in September 2025, since his death was announced tributes to the legendry English cricketer and international cricket umpire have been flooding in from around the globe 

Dickie Bird in the exhibition space stood next to case containing memorabilia and his This is Your Life folder

Dickie Bird My Life In Cricket

In 2017 there was an exhibition in Experience Barnsley all about Dickie's impressive career. We also interviewed him about growing up in Barnsley and what the town means to him.

 

The exhibition in 2017 included a new film, in conversation with Harry Gration

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Dickie Bird is remembered in Experience Barnsley with objects in the sporting Barnsley section and just behind the town hall, on the way to Churchfield's Peace Garden is the iconic sculpture by Barnsley born Graham Ibbeson MBE.

Sporting Objects

A collection of brightly colored tennis balls arranged in a grid. The balls display various brand names and logos, including Slazenger and Dunlop, and come in yellow, orange, red, green, purple, and blue.

We have put together a page of objects from our sporting collections

Dorothy Hyman

A collection of Olympic memorabilia, including black-and-white sports photos, London 2012 shirt, Tokyo 1964 poster, badges, an engraved plaque, and embroidered patches from Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletics.

Dorothy went from Cudworth to Olympic Glory, winning an Olympic sprint medal in the 100m and 200m. She went on to win the BBC Sports Personality of the year award and even has a stadium named after her

Read our blog an listen to an interview

Alan Hydes

A blue jacket with "ENGLAND" on the back is displayed with a red table tennis paddle, a ping pong ball, and two black-and-white photos, one showing people signing papers and another showing a handshake.

Alan Hydes is a 4 times Commonwealth and English Champion table tennis player originally from New Lodge. He was competing in Japan when the Chinese government invited the UK and USA teams to China to play table tennis. China was very much closed to the West at this time and Alan can remember being escorted by UK soldiers across the ‘no man’s land’ bridge that linked Hong Kong to China. Read more about 'ping pong diplomacy' in our blog

 

Frieda Stoner

A vintage black-and-white photo of a women's soccer team and two men standing outdoors in front of a goalpost. The women wear uniforms and headbands, while the men are dressed in suits and hats.

On display in Experience Barnsley is a t-shirt made in the 1920s by Frieda Stoner, which maybe the oldest surviving t-shirt by a female football player!

She was part of the Monk Bretton Ladies' football team which was set up in 1926 to support a community struggling to make ends meet during the General Strike. Read more about Frieda Stoner

One Minute Treasures: Barnsley F.C rattle

Geoffrey Ambler’s prized Barnsley F.C. rattle is hand-painted red and white in the club’s colours. It is inscribed with ‘Tyke’, the name of Barnsley’s mascot and unofficial name for local fans.

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Barnsley Archives films

Footage of a football and cricket match in the 1960, a game of nipsy in the 1960s and a woman's football match from Pogmoor Feast

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