September 22, 2018 started like every other Saturday matchday at Oakwell had over the last decade for Barnsley FC volunteer Steve Croft.

The 61-year-old from Royston arrived at the ground at 12.30pm and began his role as the co-ordinator of the flag-bearers, local children who welcome the players out onto the pitch.

He supervised them in a game of football in the indoor centre across the road from Oakwell then provided them with some drinks and other refreshments before taking them into the ground to watch the players warm-up before lining them up outside the tunnel ready for kick-off.

What happened next shocked everyone in the ground, made national headlines, provided some extra motivation for Barnsley’s promotion push, bonded the Reds and Burton Albion together, and very nearly claimed Steve’s life.

“The strange thing is I didn’t feel unwell at all,” Steve told the Chronicle nearly five months on as he makes what is expected to be a full recovery.

“I remember looking at my watch and thinking that I had time to pick up the cones which show the kids where to stand. I walked down the line of cones then bent down to pick the last one up, and the next thing I remember is waking up in hospital four days later.”

Steve’s heart – which had never given him any problems before – had stopped, causing him to collapse next to the pitch. An air ambulance helicopter landed on the pitch and the match, which had been seconds away from starting, was called off and is due to be played on Tuesday.

When he fell, Burton players warming up yards away alerted their medical staff who were followed by the Barnsley physios Craig Sedgwick and Vikki Stevens and paramedics who had attended in extra numbers to demonstrate resuscitation techniques as part of the ‘Kickstart a Heart’ scheme.

“Several people saw me fall and thought I had just tripped up. My wife Linda saw it and thought ‘get up you silly sod, there are 12,000 people watching.’ When I didn’t get up and people gathered around she realised something was wrong.

“To be honest, I think for a few seconds my heart had stopped and I was dead. But I was given one shock with a defibrillator and that was sufficient. I count myself lucky that it happened somewhere where there were three groups of fully qualified people who could treat me straight away.

“If it had happened at home or when I was in town shopping a few hours before, who knows what would have happened. Also I fell on grass so I didn’t injure my head. I was still seriously unwell and they had to care for me until I could get to hospital. The paramedics realised that I needed to go to Northern General in Sheffield because that is the specialist hospital in our area.

“The helicopter pilot was told to land in the centre circle because it was thought it would take too long to move me onto the training pitches. There were a lot of quick, correct decisions made. “I was breathing for myself when the ambulance came and I was sedated. When I got to hospital, they put me in a medically-induced coma.”

Earlier that day, Steve had dropped his son Matthew – also a Reds fan who usually helps his father with the flag-bearers on matchday – off in Barnsley town centre to get a train to Blackpool for the weekend.

Steve said: “He went on his phone to check the score and it kept saying ‘delayed start’ so he rang me and his mum to see what was happening but we didn’t answer. He didn’t suspect anything had happened to me but my brother-in-law rang him and told him. He got a taxi to Sheffield and joined us at the hospital.”

Steve spent two and a half weeks at Northern General and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) which will restart his heart with a shock if the same happens again.

“I am told I will make a full recovery. I am up and about and quite active. I am probably better off than most people now because I have something looking after me inside me. There are days when I don’t feel any different to how I felt before but other days I feel tired if I have been active. The biggest problem so far has been the very cold weather which I am feeling a lot more.”

Steve’s spirits were lifted a week after the incident when Barnsley won their next match at Fleetwood Town and the players held up a shirt with his name on it.

He said: “I was in hospital and I was shown this photo of Kieffer Moore holding the shirt up to the away fans. It really gave me a lift because, at that point, it was seven days after the incident and I didn’t know what the future would hold and even the doctors didn’t know for sure.”

Reds striker Moore had his own serious medical problem on Saturday when he was knocked unconscious during the 4-1 win in Gillingham and spent a night in hospital. Croft said: “I was following the match from home and I thought ‘here we go again, not another one.’

"I was very worried but it sounds as though he is better now which is great news. Kieffer is a good lad and one of the players who took the lead in organising that shirt for me. Hopefully I will see him at one of the games in the next week and have a good chat.”

Steve has been overwhelmed by the reaction of people at the abandoned Burton game. He said: “Everyone I have spoken to who was there says they never picked up on one bad vibe or one complaint that the game had been called off.

“People were just totally respectful, which I think is brilliant because they had turned up to see a football match and 35 minutes is a long time to wait without knowing what’s going on.

“Everyone has said the right decision was made to call it off. I feel so grateful to all the players, medical staff and the fans for the way they reacted – it couldn’t have been any better. I don’t really know how I can possibly thank everyone. I took Vikki a bunch of flowers and Sedgey a bottle of wine but it doesn’t seem enough.”

Another person Steve has thanked is Barnsley fan Lisa King, who also works as a nurse at Northern General. She was at the abandoned match then cared for Steve the following day and throughout his recovery.

“I wanted to thank her for helping me so, for the Charlton match in December, I upgraded her and her partner’s season tickets to hospitality for the day and bought myself a hospitality ticket. We went on a sponsor’s tour as well so they got to see the dressing room and board room. They really enjoyed it and it was the least I could do.”

Steve and his family had more bad news last month when they returned from the home game against Rochdale to discover that their house had been burgled and their car stolen. He said: “It was another shock, and I felt for my family because they’ve been through a lot. I was just focusing on not getting too upset because of my health.”

Steve recently was approached by Neerav Parekh, the Indian who part-owns the club. “He knew me, which I couldn’t believe. He was asking how I was and telling me the club would do something special for the Burton game.”

Overall, Steve believes the terrifying experience has ‘brought the best out of people’.He added: “It’s shown Barnsley Football Club for what it is – a really nice, friendly club that cares about their fans and their staff. As a volunteer, I always felt appreciated anyway but, when something like this happens, you realise how much you are appreciated. They have treated me like I am a full-time paid employee, not just a volunteer. I really appreciate it.”