Mick McCarthy: Barnsley's Ironclad Export

There’s tough, and then there’s Barnsley tough. And if you want a walking definition of the latter, you don’t need to look much further than Mick McCarthy — defender, captain, gaffer, and all-round no-nonsense Yorkshireman with a jaw you could sharpen chisels on.

Born and bred in Barnsley on 7 February 1959, Michael Joseph McCarthy came into the world the same year the Mini rolled off the line, Tamla started spinning records, and Cliff Richard hit the charts with ‘Living Doll’. But while...