Dale Jennings was sent off on the opening day of the season for the second time in as many years as Barnsley began life in League One with a 1-0 loss at home to Crawley Town.
Jennings reacted to a bad tackle by Crawley's Gwion Edwards by pushing him in the chest. The visiting player was booked by referee Jeremy Simpson who then had a long discussion with Jennings before sending him off.
Reds manager Danny Wilson said: "It was stupid. He grabbed the player by the throat and left the referee with no choice."
It was deja vu for the 21-year-old winger who was shown a red card on the first game of last season five minutes after coming on for his debut as a substitute in the 4-0 Championship loss to Wigan Athletic.
The Reds played the remaining 28 minutes with ten men and conceded with nine left as Izale McLeod headed in Conor Henderson's corner.
It was a disappointing start to the season for Wilson's team after relegation from the Championship.
Only captain Martin Cranie and striker Danny Rose remained from the final game of last season with seven players making their debuts.Adam Davies started in goal as Ross Turnbull had not recovered from his back injury while James Bailey was deemed fit enough to play.
Barnsley played the better football in the first half, with the crowd appreciative of some nice touches and passing moves around the halfway line, but their visitors had more chances.
Izale McLeod and Joe Walsh missed headed opportunities in the first quarter of an hour before Josh Simpson hit the base of the right post with a powerful 25-yard drive after Lewin Nyatanga made a mess of a clearing header.
Barnsley finally came close on 40 minutes when Jennings unleashed a superb effort from 25 yards but Brian Jensen clawed the ball out of his top right corner impressively.
The Reds started the second half on top and, after Sam Winnall tested Jensen with a 15-yard shot, Jennings headed Cranie's cross over the bar from eight yards out.
But Barnsley were derailed by Jennings' red card on 62 minutes. Crawley had struggled to make their advantage count until the 81st minute when McLeod nodded in when unmarked from a corner.
McLeod then crossed for substitute Charles Banya who should have scored with a free header five yards out but his weak effort went straight to Davies.
Barnsley's best chance of an equaliser came in the 93rd minute when 18-year-old substitute Nana Boayke-Yiadom was picked out by a superb Joe Dudgeon cross but could not get enough contact on the header when unmarked ten yards out.
