Football Season Review

Barnsley are coming from an incredibly successful season that saw them not only win promotion via the play-offs, but also win the JP trophy. What makes their campaign even more remarkable is the fact that they have badly struggled in the first half of the season and were at the bottom of the table as late as December, with the low point of their season coming on October and November, when they had an eight-game losing streak in the league. Their then-manager Lee Johnson arguably saved his job with a 2:1 win at Oldham at November the 21st and that win was indeed the turning point of Barnsley's season, as they started playing like a promotion-chasing side rather than a relegation candidate, while the Tykes' six-game winning run in January as well as their overall improvement earned Johnson the call from Bristol City, who he joined in the first week of February. The Tykes' fans were very disappointed to see the young manager leave shortly after turning their fortunes around, but Paul Heckingbottom, who eventually spent the entire remainder of the season in the interim role, has taken over from Johnson effortlessly, first going on to win the JP Trophy with the Tykes with a tight Wembley win over Oxford and then leading them to the play-offs with an impressive 4:1 final day win at champions Wigan. The Tykes' play-off performances were nothing short of extraordinary, as they first made light work of Walsall, who they crushed with an 6:1 aggregate scoreline, and then dominated Millwall in the final and went on to claim a well-deserved 3:1 victory to seal their return to the Championship after two years in the second tier. Heckingbottom is set to have contract talks with the club over the closing days, and it is hard to see him not getting the opportunity to lead Barnsley next season after doing such an excellent job after taking over from Johnson.

Player of the Season: Sam Winnall