Wednesday will be the 100th anniversary of the death of Wilf Bartrop, the Barnsley FA Cup winner who was killed in the First World War.
Wilf was just weeks short of his 31st birthday when he died in Warcoing, Belgium on November 7, 1918 – four days before the ‘Great War’ officially ended.
Professor Peter Holland, of Oxford University, is related to Wilf who was the cousin of his grandfather Arnold Bartrop. Peter said: “My wife and I are going to Belgium for Armistice Day on November 11 which will just be a few days after the century anniversary of Wilf’s death. We think it is the right thing to do to honour him. There are a few Barnsley fans going over there as well.”
Peter’s grandfather used to tell him as a boy that there was a famous footballer in the family but it was only decades later while he was researching his family tree that he discovered Wilf’s full story. He wrote a 2009 book about Bartrop called Swifter Than The Arrow.
“It’s a pretty amazing story. He was killed on the last day of fighting on his part of the front which is very sad. We’re proud to have him in our family.”
Bartrop made his name at hometown club Worksop Town before moving to Barnsley for £25 in 1909, reaching the FA Cup final in his first season then winning the competition with the Reds two years later.
A fast and direct right winger, Wilf scored 17 goals in 178 Barnsley appearances and set up plenty for fellow Oakwell heroes such as Harry Tufnell and George Lillycrop. He moved to Liverpool along with Phil Bratley in 1914 for a combined fee of £900 but only played three games for his new club before war broke out.
He worked as a coal miner for several years then signed up in January 1918 as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. After seeing action at Bourlon Wood earlier in the year, his battery were in position to provide mortar support for attacking infantry near Warcoing when they came under heavy enemy fire. Bartrop was severely wounded across his legs and chest, dying soon after. He is buried in Warcoing Churchyard.
Bartrop’s FA Cup medal was bought 90 years later by Barnsley FC owner Patrick Cryne, who once used it to inspire the players during a dressing room speech.
His boots are now part of an exhibition in Experience Barnsley in the Town Hall about the end of the war. Peter attended the official opening on Friday and said: “It’s a really nice exhibition and I would encourage all the people of Barnsley to go to it. It’s very moving.”
