Three of the stars of the Barnsley team who collected the club record points tally nearly 20 years ago are hoping the current side can surpass them and claim promotion this season.
Dave Bassett’s side in the 1999/2000 season finished fourth in Division One on 82 points before missing out on a place in the Premiership after a 4-2 Wembley loss to Ipswich Town in the play-off final. That is the current club record points tally, although the club did have a handful of more successful seasons before the rules changed to award three points for a win in 1981.
Barnsley’s win over Fleetwood Town on Saturday means Daniel Stendel’s second-placed side are also on 82 points with four games left. Darren Barnard, who scored 15 goals that season but missed a penalty at Wembley, has been a radio pundit for several Barnsley games this season.
He said: “They will break our record but I have to point out they are in a lower division than we were. But that’s not taking anything away from them. I have been very impressed. They play football the right way. I think they are the best footballing team in League One this season and Barnsley, as a club, belongs in the Championship minimum.
"The team I played in scored a lot of goals but conceded a fair few as well whereas this team is more miserly in defence, but they have some really good attacking players too. I like Alex Mowatt and Cameron McGeehan in central midfield and Kieffer Moore is a really good striker who they miss quite a lot now he is injured.
“They just need to try to win the last four games and, if that’s not good enough for the top two, then at least they will go into the play-offs on good form and with momentum which is the most important thing in the play-offs.”
Craig Hignett, who is now the manager of non-league Hartlepool United, scored 21 goals in the 1999/2000 campaign including in the final. He said: “It was a bit of a funny season for us because we knew with a large period of the season still to play that we weren’t going to get in the top two but we weren’t going drop out of the play-off places.
“So we just had to make sure we were ready for the play-offs and that we kept that winning mentality. This time it will be different for Barnsley because they have been so close to the top for so long.
“But, even if they miss out, they shouldn’t look at being in the play-offs as a failure. It’s a big achievement. I have seen quite a bit of Barnsley this season and I have been really impressed. It’s tough at the top of that league with a lot of teams competing for the top two.”
Bruce Dyer, who starred in the 2000 play-off semi-final 4-0 at Birmingham City, still lives in the Barnsley area. He said: “As a player at this time in the season, you just need to stay professional and not be sidetracked by any of the drama or speculation going on around you. You need to be really disciplined and just focus on your own results and not any other team.
"Football is so important to a town like Barnsley, it’s a language everyone understands and it changes the mood of people both positively and negatively. This season it’s been massively positive but you can tell there are some nerves creeping in now as well.
“It looks like it will go down to the wire. I haven’t been to as many games as I would like this season but my son goes to most of the games and he has been telling me good things. They are a very good team, and that is shown by the fact that they had four players in the Team of the Year.
“I really hope they do it. It’s a very good club and I believe they have a fantastic opportunity in the next few years to do something really good.”
