A season to remember – Barnsley 1997/98
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| Neil Redfearn and Clint Marcelle celebrate confirming Barnsley’s promotion to the Premiership, 26th April 1997 |
Barnsley 1997/98
Saturday 26th April 1997 may not mean a lot to some people and could just be any other date in history.
However, in a small town in south Yorkshire, that was the date that the locals could say that their football team had made it to the big time. Barnsley had beaten Bradford City 2-0 and promotion from the First Division was confirmed.
Promotion from the First Division to the Premiership meant that some big teams such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea would be coming to Barnsley’s small Oakwell Stadium. They would also be going playing at these club’s large stadiums too.
Barnsley would become everyone’s second team across the country. Everyone seemed to have a soft spot for them. They were the plucky underdogs, the tiny fish in a big pond and you couldn’t help but warm to them.
Their Premiership season started on a bright and sunny afternoon at their Oakwell home against West Ham United.
The Premiership newcomers even took the lead after 9 minutes through Neil Redfearn. They were unable to hold on to the lead as goals from John Hartson and a young Frank Lampard put an end to any ideas of a fairytale start to life in the Premiership.
In Barnsley’s second match of the season, they travelled to South London to play Crystal Palace. Neil Redfearn scored for the second game in a row and this time they held on and won the game 1-0.
The first real test then came in the form of current FA and League Cup holders Chelsea who came to Oakwell and the Sky cameras were there to televise the match.
It was a very one-sided affair with Chelsea winning the game 6-0, four of the goals coming from Gianluca Vialli.
Barnsley beat Bolton 2-1 in the next game before they lost six games on the trot, the last of those six games was a 5-0 thumping by Arsenal at Highbury.
By now, Barnsley were at the bottom of the table, exactly where they were expected to be at the start of the season by most.
A 2-0 home win over Coventry City wasn’t enough to drag them off the bottom of the table and their next fixture was away to the current champions Manchester United.
United were 4-0 up at half time and didn’t let up in the second half as they ran out 7-0 winners.
November brought along Barnsley’s most famous result of their league campaign, a 1-0 win at Anfield over Liverpool on the 22nd. Ashley Ward’s 35th minute winner gave them all three points but it was their only win.
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| Several Barnsley players celebrate their shock winner at Anfield in November |
Barnsley’s next win would come on their last league match of the year, a 1-0 win at home to Derby County. Yet again it was Ashley Ward who scored the winner.
At the start of 1998 Barnsley were rooted to the bottom of the table but they recorded a 1-0 win the FA Cup against Bolton Wanderers.
Unfortunately this was followed up with a 6-0 reverse at West Ham United. Ashley Ward scored a winner in the following game against Crystal Palace to complete a league double over the South London side.
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| John Hendrie scores in the Fifth Round replay against Manchester United |
The FA Cup was to be a welcome distraction for The Tykes and after grafting out a 1-1 draw at Tottenham, they won the replay 3-1 at Oakwell.
Any chance of a Cup run seemed to be over when they were drawn away to Manchester United in the Fifth Round.
John Hendrie scored to give Barnsley a shock lead but Teddy Sheringham equalised for United three minutes later. That was the way the score stayed and so a replay was needed to see who would reach the Quarter Final.
Manchester United fielded a weaker side than usual for the replay and Barnsley took advantage, winning 3-2 to record a famous win.
The Cup victory over United seemed to give Barnsley a much needed boost to their season as they racked up three victories on the trot. A 2-1 win at home to Wimbledon was followed up by an impressive 1-0 win at Aston Villa before Southampton were swept aside in a thrilling 4-3 win. They were now 18th in the league and there was a possibility that survival was on the cards.
Newcastle knocked Barnsley out of the Cup with a 3-1 win at St James’s Park between the victory over Wimbledon and Aston Villa. They could now concentrate on retaining their Premier League status as they had also been knocked out of the Coca Cola Cup earlier on in the season.
Three defeats in a row followed and now relegation was looking a real possibility. Victory over fellow Yorkshire club Sheffield Wednesday at Oakwell on 11th April was their last victory in the Premier League.
Four defeats and a draw in their last five games sent Barnsley down but their season in the big time will always be remembered by their fans and neutrals alike.
Manager Danny Wilson had worked miracles at the small Yorkshire club and Barnsley had entertained along the way in this season.
Over the last 21 years since their time in the top flight, Barnsley have dropped down as low as League One (England’s third tier). They haven’t shown any signs of getting back up with English football’s elite clubs and the 1997/98 season seems a distant memory now.
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