Adam Hammill was ‘really, really gutted’ not to be given a fourth spell as a Barnsley FC player for this season but understands the club’s reasons for not signing him and believes his former team-mates will secure an immediate return to the Championship.
The 30-year-old winger was released following May’s relegation from the second tier, where he had taken the Reds two years earlier with a stunning goal in the League One play-off final which capped a superb return to the club he had played for on loan and permanently from 2009 to 2011.
Hammill, who played 199 games for the Oakwell club, almost re-signed again for this season with chief executive Gauthier Ganaye admitting negotiations took place before the club decided not to bring him back.
Hammill told the Chronicle: “I am not going to lie, I was really, really gutted that I didn’t rejoin Barnsley. It’s a club that will always be in my heart. I was very close to coming back. The rumours I have heard that I rejected a contract are nonsense. The manager (Daniel Stendel), his assistant (Andreas Winkler) and Gauthier sat in the front room of my house and we had a discussion.
“It seemed to go well but they decided against bringing me back.”
Ganaye has said the Reds were tempted to re-sign the popular winger but chose not to veer away from the usual policy of signing players aged under 25 who have a potential sell-on value. Hammill said: “It’s a business, at the end of the day, and the board want to stick to their model. I respect that.
“If they believe in something, they have to stick to it and that’s what they are doing. There’s no hard feelings and it’s in the past now. I will always follow Barnsley and I hope to come back to the club in the future in some capacity. It just won’t be as a player now.”
Hammill, who signed for Scottish Premier League club St Mirren earlier this month, is currently studying for his coaching badges and Ganaye has said that the ‘the door is always open’ for him to return in the future.
“I would love to come back at some point. Myself and my family are settled here and my son Roman is an avid Barnsley fan. But I feel as though I still have a lot to offer playing-wise and I have never been one to doubt my ability. I have got quite a bit to offer on the pitch but, in the meantime, I will do my UEFA B and A in the summer with the view of staying in football and helping players.
“I don’t know yet whether I will be an academy coach or a first team coach. I will be looking to get some experience in community coaching and youth coaching and see where it takes me.”
With Barnsley having one of their quietest summer transfer windows in recent years, Hammill knows the vast majority of the players who have taken the Reds up to third under Stendel.
“I have been following the lads closely and they are doing fantastically. I will be keeping an eye on them and I believe they can get another promotion like we managed in 2016. They are playing a similar style of football to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and they are getting the fans out of their seats and making everyone excited with the way they are playing.
“Players are adapting to new roles like Brad Potts on the right wing instead of central midfield and he’s doing amazingly well.”
Hammill signed a contract with St Mirren until January then damaged a ligament in his shoulder on his debut. He said: “I rejected quite a few teams in England and overseas who offered me a lot more money. But St Mirren’s gaffer seemed to value me the most and gave me responsibility.
"It’s a great set of lads. Simeon Jackson, who I played with at Barnsley, is there and he’s a great lad. My intentions are to play in the next game which probably is against the doctor’s orders. I have 14 games to show what I can do until January.”
Hammill attended Barnsley’s Hall of Fame evening on Friday when he received the ‘magic moment’ award for his strike against Millwall at Wembley in the play-off final.
“It was a wonderful evening and it was good to meet some absolute legends of the cub and see what it means to the fans. I have had more clubs than Tiger Woods but Barnsley was just the right fit for me.
“I regretted leaving the first time but it was brilliant to come back. I dedicated my award to Patrick Cryne (former owner) and I was welling up because his family were just in front of me. He was the only one who took a chance on me to come back, when I was doing no training and I had fallen out of love with the sport. He was a father figure who understood me as a player and a person, because I could be mischievous. I owe him a lot.”
