Barry Taylor 2 John Ryan 0
Written by Editor on Friday 14th August 2009

In an unlikely South Yorkshire derby, Barnsley's Barry Taylor had to stand against Doncaster's John Ryan twice in the FA Council election.

Taylor won the original election 9-8, but John Ryan, with the help of Graham Bean launched an attack on Barry Taylor citing gross misconduct and interfering with the electoral process. Legal action against The FA was threatened if the election stood and a Sunday newspaper jumped on the bandwagon calling Mr Taylor's integrity into question.

The results of the second ballot gave Barry Taylor victory again by nine votes to seven.

It will have no doubt been a stressful few months for the Barnsley FC director having to fend off a relentless campaign to bring his reputation and character into question, but Barry Taylor can take great comfort in not only beating John Ryan twice, but being exonerated by the FA against any allegations made against him.

Mr Taylor said, "The FA completely exonerated me against the allegations of misconduct and this was confirmed by the finding of an independent legal enquiry instigated by The FA. The reason the election was called for again was because of innocent voting regularities.

"This has been a very personal campaign against me by Graham Bean because Barnsley FC told him he would be no longer welcome as a non paying guest in the Directors Box. This was for comments he made in the Barnsley Chronicle. These were very unhelpful to the club about our campaign for Iain Hume. He told The Chronicle that it was a waste of time fighting the FA's mind blowing decision not to charge Sheffield United's Chris Morgan for his elbow first challenge which left Iain Hume with a fractured skull.

"We found these comments surprising coming from a person in Barnsley, an advertiser and a guest of the Club's. We did find at a later date that he would have represented Chris Morgan if he has been charged by The FA. I think that every Barnsley fan would back the board and the owner in the action that we took."

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