Luke Steele says it has been ‘special to pull on a Barnsley shirt again’ during his stint training at Oakwell with the under 23s as he looks for a new club.
The 36-year-old goalkeeper, who played 227 games for the Reds between 2008 and 2014, has been building his fitness up after leaving Nottingham Forest in the summer and working alongside the club’s reserve goalkeepers. He played the first half of an under 23s friendly on Monday at his hometown club Peterborough United.
Steele told the Chronicle: “It’s just great to be back at the stadium and the training ground and see some old faces.
“Martin Devaney, the under 23s coach who I played with, was happy to have me in to train with them, work with the ‘keepers and play on Monday which was great. The excitement of putting on a Barnsley shirt again was really, really strong. It’s surreal because it’s been six years since my last game.
“It has been special to be back.
“The Barnsley goalkeepers are doing fantastic and I am not coming in to sign for the club. But I am out of contract and I thought: ‘what better place to train than Barnsley which is a club I love?’
“It’s more for me to get sharper so I can say to other clubs that I have been training at a Championship club and I am ready to go.”
Steele also welcomed a new child the day before playing for the under 23s.
“I had a baby boy on Sunday, he came really early but he’s a healthy young boy and everyone is doing well.”
Steele left Oakwell in 2014 and spent three years in Greece with Panathinaikos before returning to England with Bristol City then Forest and loan club Millwall.
