If you asked any football fan to name a Welsh international footballer with a tremendous left foot, they’d probably say Gareth Bale or Ryan Giggs. Ask the same question in Barnsley and there would, undoubtedly, be only one answer; Darren Barnard.
And it was former Barnsley wing-back Darren Barnard’s left boot that scored one of the greatest goals ever seen at Oakwell - a stunning volley from the corner of the penalty area which seemed to defy the laws of physics as it swerved into the top corner.
The same Tykes supporters will probably raise their eyebrows when informed that it is in fact a whole 20 years ago today when ‘that’ goal sent Barnsley six goals up before half-time against Huddersfield Town on November 27th, 1998.
Speaking to the Chronicle, the former Welsh international reflected on how quickly those two decades have flown by; just as quickly as that audacious volley flew past Terriers ‘keeper Nico Vaesen and into the top corner.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “It’s frightening that it’s that long ago but I’m still always reminded of it.
“I knew I had the ability to do it, but maybe if it was nil-nil, I might have controlled it and laid it across. I think I definitely went for it because we were 5-0 up. But if you asked a few of my old team-mates, they used to get sick of me in training because I’d shoot from ridiculous angles and score ridiculous goals in training. But none of that is ever documented.
“It was a fantastic experience. The whole game was surreal and it was probably the most dominant performance I’ve seen in a game of football. Had we won that game 12-1 it would have been a fair result. They were a decent team but we absolutely destroyed them that night.
“It had everything and it lives long in the memory. It’s a game I’ll never forget.”
The Tykes went on to secure a 7-1 victory against Huddersfield and it was the only game where Craig Hignett, Bruce Dyer and Ashley Ward all played together as striker Ward was sold to Blackburn Rovers for a club record £4.5million days later.As Barnard puts it, ‘the stars were aligned’ having only just rejected a move to Southampton. His return to South Yorkshire was a welcome one, scoring that stunning goal in a Yorkshire derby in front of the Sky cameras.
“I didn’t feel wanted and it didn’t feel right,” he remembers of the potential move to the south coast. “The fact that I didn’t go, the game live on Sky on Friday night against your rivals, what better way to show Southampton what they were missing?”
Barnard turns 47 at the end of the month, but he was back in Barnsley recently to roll back the years in his ‘northern home’ as he puts it, for the launch of the film ‘Daydream Believers’ on DVD. The documentary recounts the town’s struggles during the miner’s strike in the mid-1980s and how the football club’s success a decade later brought hope and joy back to the area.
“It’s really nice to be remembered and be part of the club’s history,” he continued. “The film has captured everyone’s hearts in the community. It’s made younger generations realise what the people in the town went through.
“It was a brilliant film in terms of watching how people in the area were struggling and how a football club brought the community together, culminating in an incredible season. I’d like to think it will be repeated again in the future, but to be part of that was fantastic.”
