Barnsley FC 2024/25 Season Review: Promises, Panic & Paint Peeling Off Oakwell
Hope springs eternal (and then spills everywhere)
You know that feeling in July when you're squinting at the new squad photo thinking, "Aye, we might have a right go this year"? Yeah, that lasted all of two weeks. The 2024/25 season for Barnsley FC started with promise, stumbled into confusion, and ended with a collective shrug. It was like baking a lovely cake and realising you’d forgotten the eggs—and that the oven’s on fire.
So here it is: the mega review. Hope, horror, heroics and hair-pulling. Strap in. It's going to get emotional.
The Summer: Heroes Return and Hope Rises
Back came Conor Hourihane—now in player-coach mode (icon! beard immaculate!)—and Marc Roberts, both part of that glorious 2016 promotion gang. Add Luca Connell being handed the armband, and Neill Collins’ tactical overanalysis being firmly recycled into the bin marked “Ideas That Didn’t Work”, and you had the makings of a reset that, for once, felt grounded.
But the real headline? The spreadsheet wasn’t binned, but it did finally get nudged to the side. The club (finally) seemed to remember that experience actually matters. Summer recruitment wasn’t about discovering the next breakout resale superstar—it was about steadying the ship. Hourihane’s return felt like a nod to leadership, identity and—dare we whisper it—common sense.
And then came the statement. Boardroom promises of a bold new direction. A proper footballing identity. Better communication. We even got a literal new coat of paint. Oakwell’s interior was done up like a first-day Airbnb—shiny, fresh, vaguely hopeful. But sadly, not even Dulux could hide the cracks that were about to form.
A Season in Moments: The Good, The Bad, The Bizarre
There were glimmers. There were groans. And there were games where we weren’t sure if we were watching professional football or an unscripted Sunday league tribute act.
Early doors, we saw hope. A gritty 2–0 away win at Lincoln. A clean 3–0 dismantling of Crawley. You started to think, “Go on then…”
Then came September. Or as we like to call it: reality.
The 7–0 Carabao Cup humiliation at Old Trafford wasn’t just a beating—it was a televised trauma. For anyone watching on Sky Sports Football, it might’ve looked like training footage. For us? It was like being pummelled with our own history.
In the league, we were the definition of chaos. Cracking comebacks. Timid collapses. Last-minute heartbreaks and scrappy wins that felt like Wembley. The 4–3 win over Lincoln? Pure entertainment. The 4–3 loss at Leyton Orient? Psychological warfare.
Cup runs? Let’s not. Out of the Carabao Cup in Round Three (see above). FA Cup? Knocked out in Round Two by Bristol Rovers on penalties after a 0–0 draw so dull it could’ve been outlawed by the Geneva Convention. EFL Trophy? We barely turned up. Exit in the group stages. Even the ghost of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy was unimpressed.
Fixtures & Results
| 09 Aug | Barnsley 1-2 Mansfield | League One |
| 13 Aug | Wigan 1-1 Barnsley | Carabao Cup R1 |
| 17 Aug | Lincoln City 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 20 Aug | Barnsley 2-3 Man Utd U21s | EFL Trophy Group |
| 24 Aug | Barnsley 2-2 Northampton | League One |
| 27 Aug | Barnsley 1-0 Sheff Utd | Carabao Cup R2 |
| 31 Aug | Crawley 0-3 Barnsley | League One |
| 07 Sept | Barnsley 2-1 Bristol Rovers | League One |
| 14 Sept | Stevenage 3-0 Barnsley | League One |
| 17 Sept | Man Utd 7-0 Barnsley | Carabao Cup R3 |
| 21 Sept | Burton 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 28 Sept | Barnsley 1-1 Stockport | League One |
| 01 Oct | Barnsley 2-2 Wycombe | League One |
| 05 Oct | Huddersfield 2-0 Barnsley | League One |
| 08 Oct | Huddersfield 2-0 Barnsley | EFL Trophy Group |
| 19 Oct | Blackpool 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 22 Oct | Barnsley 2-2 Charlton | League One |
| 26 Oct | Shrewsbury 0-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 29 Oct | Barnsley 1-3 Doncaster | EFL Trophy Group |
| 02 Nov | Port Vale 1-3 Barnsley | FA Cup R1 |
| 08 Nov | Barnsley 2-0 Rotherham | League One |
| 16 Nov | Cambridge Utd 1-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 23 Nov | Barnsley 0-1 Wigan | League One |
| 26 Nov | Barnsley 2-2 Reading | League One |
| 30 Nov | Barnsley 0-0 Bristol Rovers | FA Cup R2 |
| Note: Barnsley lose on penalties 3-4 | ||
| 03 Dec | Wrexham 1-0 Barnsley | League One |
| 07 Dec | Barnsley 1-2 Birmingham | League One |
| 14 Dec | Exeter 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 21 Dec | Barnsley 0-4 Leyton Orient | League One |
| 26 Dec | Bolton 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 29 Dec | Peterborough 1-3 Barnsley | League One |
| 01 Jan | Barnsley 2-1 Wrexham | League One |
| 04 Jan | Barnsley 3-0 Crawley | League One |
| 18 Jan | Bristol Rovers 3-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 25 Jan | Barnsley 0-1 Stevenage | League One |
| 28 Jan | Wycombe 2-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 01 Feb | Barnsley 0-0 Burton | League One |
| 08 Feb | Stockport 2-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 15 Feb | Barnsley 1-2 Huddersfield | League One |
| 22 Feb | Rotherham 0-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 25 Feb | Northampton 1-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 01 Mar | Barnsley 4-3 Lincoln | League One |
| 04 Mar | Charlton 1-0 Barnsley | League One |
| 08 Mar | Barnsley 0-3 Blackpool | League One |
| 15 Mar | Mansfield 2-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 22 Mar | Barnsley 1-1 Cambridge | League One |
| 29 Mar | Wigan 1-1 Barnsley | League One |
| 01 Apr | Barnsley 1-2 Exeter | League One |
| 05 Apr | Birmingham 6-2 Barnsley | League One |
| 12 Apr | Barnsley 4-1 Bolton | League One |
| 18 Apr | Leyton Orient 4-3 Barnsley | League One |
| 21 Apr | Barnsley 1-1 Peterborough | League One |
| 26 Apr | Barnsley 1-2 Shrewsbury | League One |
| 03 May | Reading 2-4 Barnsley | League One |
The Numbers That Matter (and the Ones That Really Hurt)
- Final Position: 12th in League One
- League Record: 17 wins, 10 draws, 19 defeats
- Goals For: 69
- Goals Against: 73
- Goal Difference: –4
- Average Goals Per Game: 3.09 – highest in League One
- BTTS: Happened in 70% of matches
- Over 2.5 Goals: Also 70% – you couldn’t accuse us of being boring
- Points Dropped From Winning Positions: 9+ (conservative estimate)
- Top Scorer: Davis Keillor-Dunn (18 goals)
- Most Assists: Adam Phillips & Corey O’Keeffe (7 each)
- Most Appearances: Davis Keillor-Dunn (45)
- Most Cards: Luca Connell (13)
- Clean Sheets: Rare. Like a coherent EFL Trophy format.
- Managers Used: 2 (Clarke, then Hourihane)
- Cup Exits: Carabao (R3), FA Cup (R2 via pens), EFL Trophy (Group)
- PTSD Stat: 7–0 defeat at Old Trafford
- Hopeful Stat: 4–2 away win on final day at Reading
Loan Lads and Lost Causes
January transfer window? More “what’s in the reduced aisle?” than “let’s push for promotion.”
We signed Neil Farrugia from Shamrock Rovers, Joe Gauci between the sticks, Dexter Lembikisa to bolster the flanks, and Clément Rodrigues from Ligue 2 Bastia (filed under: “raw”, which is football code for “not ready yet”). Of those, Gauci was the only one to really register—then promptly got injured.
Meanwhile, Donovan Pines, still on the books from the previous January, continued his impression of Schrödinger’s Centre-Back: simultaneously dominant and disastrous depending on the camera angle. Built like a fortress, defended like a turnstile.
Overall? The squad felt short. Reliant on the same names. Fragile in key moments. And allergic to seeing out a lead.
Leyton Orient away in April summed it up: 3–1 up and coasting. Final score? 4–3 loss. It wasn’t just points we dropped—it was jaws, tempers, and faint hope of a playoff charge.
The Great Goalkeeping Carousel
Where do we even begin?
Liam Roberts left for Millwall before a competitive ball was kicked. Gabriel Slonina, Chelsea loanee and supposed wonderkid, impressed briefly… then vanished via injury. Ben Killip, our back-up, left mid-season for Portsmouth.
Joe Gauci, in on loan from Villa, looked decent—until he, too, found the physio’s table. Jackson Smith returned from an emergency loan at Grimsby, made his full debut, and… you guessed it, injured.
Kieren Flavell then stepped up as our fifth keeper of the season. At this point, Toby Tyke was one injury away from getting the gloves.
It was chaos. It was farcical. It was so very Barnsley.
The Boardroom: Leading From Afar
Chairman Neerav Parekh made one public statement all season—and it raised more questions than a GCSE maths paper. Fans were promised vision, direction, and transparency. What we got was… not that.
Julie Anne Quay? Missing. Presumed lurking. CEO Jon Flatman arrived with polished corporate sheen and smart soundbites. But fans wanted action, not management-speak.
Mladen Sormaz, appointed Sporting Director in February, was meant to usher in a new era of strategy. Instead, it felt like a name on a press release. Public visibility? Zero. Clear plan? Still buffering.
The club continued to fall short on engagement. Promises made. Few kept. Transparency? Mentioned often. Delivered? Not so much.
The Rise and Fall of Darrell Clarke
Darrell Clarke’s arrival at Oakwell on 23 May 2024 came with a decent dose of cautious optimism. He was a gaffer with grit, passion, and a track record of pulling teams out of slumps. Barnsley needed some of that post-Collins spark. And early on, he delivered flashes of it—games where the Reds looked organised, energised, and genuinely up for it.
But it didn’t stick.
As the autumn dragged on, results dipped and confidence sagged. Injuries didn’t help. Nor did the increasingly chaotic line-ups. But what started to really divide opinion was Clarke’s brutal post-match honesty. Not just in the dressing room, but in public. After one dire 3–0 defeat, he openly called the performance “woeful.” And that wasn’t a one-off.
Fans scrolling Facebook and post-match interviews got used to seeing Clarke take aim at his players. He didn’t mince words. He didn’t protect egos. “I won’t sugarcoat it,” he’d say. “They need to be tough enough to take it.” And while that might work in some squads, this wasn’t the sort of group that seemed to respond well to hard talk.
Some fans appreciated the no-nonsense approach. They liked a bit of fire from the touchline. Others felt it created tension, broke trust, and only made things worse when heads were already down. Whatever side you fell on, the bottom line was the same: the team stopped performing, the results stopped coming, and the atmosphere soured.
By early March, Barnsley were stuck in 15th. The playoff talk was long gone. Just two wins in twelve, heavy defeats mounting, and a squad that looked spent. The 7–0 pasting at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup had left more than bruised pride—it left a question mark over whether this team believed in its manager anymore.
On 12 March 2025, after just 293 days in charge, Clarke was shown the door. It wasn’t dramatic. No club video. No curtain call. Just a short statement thanking him for his efforts and wishing him well.
“We thank Darrell for his hard work and professionalism during his time at Oakwell. He led the side through a challenging period and leaves with our best wishes for the future.” — Club Statement
In his place stepped a familiar figure: former captain Conor Hourihane. First as caretaker. Then, very quickly, permanently.
Hourihane Takes the Helm: Romance or Revival?
Conor Hourihane was appointed interim head coach on 12 March 2025. By 18 April, the job was his for two years. It felt right. For once, something did.
Mixed early form. A tidy 1–1 vs Cambridge. A rough 3–0 at Blackpool. A rousing 4–1 over Bolton. And the obligatory 4–3 madness at Leyton Orient.
But Hourihane brought fire. Honesty. Identity. The team responded. So did the fans. He’s no miracle worker. He doesn’t need to be. He just needs to build something we can believe in.
The Final Word (for Now)
Conor Hourihane’s in the hot seat. Finally — someone with a bit of backbone. Now let’s try backing him, instead of lobbing him a garden trowel and telling him to rebuild the Colosseum.
The rebuild can’t wait until we’ve lost five on the bounce and someone upstairs notices a dip in shirt sales. It starts now. Not in October. Not when the spreadsheet tells us it’s "data-approved." Now.
This season? Draining. We were promised ambition — we got the footballing equivalent of beige wallpaper. Decisions were made, but don’t ask us why. We just watched it all unfold like a slow-motion car crash, only with more post-match interviews. But it’s not too late.
Because let’s face it: the spine’s gone. We’re not a football team right now; we’re a jellyfish in red shirts, just wobbling about while better teams stroll through the middle. The youth’s got promise, the fans are still showing up in their thousands, and all we’re missing is — oh yeah — a clue.
This club. This town. These fans. We keep turning up, week after week, while the strategy seems to have been drawn on the back of a beer mat in crayon. And we’ll keep doing it. Pint in hand. Scarf on. Voice hoarse. Hope — somehow — still clinging on by its fingertips.
You Reds!