Worksop Town Craig Parry is looking forward to taking on hometown club Barnsley in a friendly on Saturday.
The Reds began their pre-season campaign with a 3-0 win on Tuesday at Emley AFC who play in the Northern Premier League.
Barnsley now visit two National League North sides in the East Midlands as they go to Worksop Town on Saturday from 3pm then Buxton the following Tuesday at 7pm.
Worksop gained promotion to the National League North last season, reaching that level for just the second time in their history.
Their manager Craig Parry is a Barnsley fan from Darfield.
He spent 13 years at Oakwell as an academy player then eventually was part of the first team squad without making his debut.
He said: “I was the back-up goalkeeper to Sasa Ilic (in the 20023/04 season) and Sasa is still one of my closest mates.
“I live in Darfield and, as a family, we support Barnsley and try to get to as many games we can. It’s a great experience to manage against your hometown club who you support.
“My assistant manager lives in Barnsley as well and so do a few of our players.”
Parry was in the Reds youth system with new Barnsley coaches Scott Flinders, a fellow goalkeeper, and Tom Harban – who are both working under Conor Hourihane.
“I spent many years training with Scott. He is two years younger than me.
“Tom Harban was the year below me and I trained with him every day for two or three years. They have both had good careers in different fields, Tom with coaching in the academy and Scott playing.
“I am glad they have got these opportunities with Barnsley now and I’m looking forward to seeing them on Saturday.
“Conor Hourihane was an unbelievable player. It will be a special moment to manage against him and I wish him luck with Barnsley.”
Parry thinks playing Barnsley will be a good test for his Worksop team.
“We’re all looking forward to it. It will be a big test against an established club who are full-time.
“We’re expecting a good crowd. We have to enjoy it but try to get the best out of it for us.
“We have a lot of young players so it’s a good showcase and an example of the standard they have to achieve to be a professional.
“We know we will chase the ball a lot.”
