CONOR Hourihane’s playing career with Barnsley was not always plain sailing but overall it was one of the most successful and impactful in recent decades.

The Reds – who had just been relegated from the Championship after eight years at that level – bought him aged 23 from League Two Plymouth Argyle in the summer of 2014.

Hourihane’s signing, and that of Sam Winnall, were part of a new strategy initiated by owner Patrick Cryne who took more of an active role in the club and, along with his son James, began a data-driven approach to signings focused on developing players.

But the Reds had not fully kicked the habit of signing veterans looking for a last paycheck such as Leroy Lita, Keith Treacy and Peter Ramage while, that summer, they also offered a contract to former Red Brian Howard who is now Conor’s agent.

When Hourihane arrived, Reds manager Danny Wilson said: “Conor typifies exactly want we want to do in terms of the longevity of the football club and getting in players with a longer-term view in mind.”

In Hourihane’s first interview with the club, he used almost identical language to quotes we’ve heard from him since becoming head coach in 2025.

He said: “Danny was saying he wants attractive football for the fans.

“Last year they got relegated and he wants to bring smiles back to the faces of the fans and play attacking football.”

Hourihane cancelled a planned holiday to Ibiza to focus on preparing for the new season, and it paid off as he made a spectacular start.

His first goal for the club was a long-range free-kick in a 2-2 draw against Coventry City in their temporary home at Northampton’s Sixfields ground.

All of his first four goals were from at least 25 yards as he curled in a wonderful free-kick at home to Gillingham, struck from distance at Yeovil then netted twice against MK Dons who had gone 5-0 up at Oakwell and won 5-3.

He made it six goals in as many league games in August and September then reached double figures in all competitions by mid-November and had 12 by January. He missed a penalty in a win at Rochdale but netted from the spot against Port Vale, Bristol City, Colchester United and Yeovil Town. Hourihane also racked up 15 assists that season, most memorably seeing his corner headed in by Winnall for a derby win over Sheffield United at Brammall Lane.

But Barnsley, as a team, were not as successful – languishing in the bottom half of the third tier for much of the season – and lost seven successive away league games.

Hourihane played alongside the likes of Brad Abbott and James Bailey in midfield, while he spent some of the season as a tucked-in winger on the right or left.

Wilson was eventually sacked in February – having benched Hourihane for the first time earlier that week – and replaced by Lee Johnson who, after a winning run took them into the top six, led the Reds to a mid-table finish.

Hourihane’s goals had dried up in the second half of the season, netting just once in 22 before scoring in the 5-0 final day win over Rochdale.

Fans cheered when he was replaced by Dale Jennings in a home loss to Fleetwood, while he also gave away some goals with loose passes.

But it was still a very successful first season at Barnsley and in the third tier as he finished as the Reds’ top-scorer with 14 in all competitions, having played every league game and started all but one.

The start of Hourihane’s second season at Oakwell was tough, both individually and collectively. Johnson said Conor was ‘not naturally a good defender’ and that his tackling technique was wrong. The head coach said: “He plants his feet at completely the wrong time so people just drift past him. Then he dangles a leg to try and win the ball and it gives the perception that he’s not trying or he’s not going in for tackles.”

Johnson added: “If you could have a special team kicker, like in the NFL, that’d be him.”

The head coach also infamously said that Hourihane couldn’t play in a two-man central midfield which would be totally discredited within months – although partly due to hard work by Johnson and his staff on the training ground.

Hourihane assisted two goals in a win at Bradford City but also picked up an injury which would keep him out for almost all of the eight-match league losing run in autumn 2015.

He returned as a substitute in the humiliating FA Cup loss at non-league Altrincham then scored in the league win at Oldham which meant they avoided a club record losing streak.

Hourihane was eventually trusted by Johnson to play in the middle of a 4-4-2. The head coach said he showed the midfielder clips of his idol Frank Lampard constantly looking around the pitch while play was progressing.

The Irishman scored a superb injury-time leveller at home to Sheffield United in December, but it is often forgotten he missed a penalty earlier in that game – then put another one wide against Southend that season – and the result left the Reds bottom of the third division.

Later that month, he replaced Alfie Mawson as the Reds captain.

They were still in the relegation zone by Christmas but famously won seven games in row then – after Johnson left for Bristol City and was replaced by Paul Heckingbottom – won both the EFL Trophy and League One play-off finals at Wembley with Hourihane lifting the silverware twice. He said: “I’ve dreamt about it, I’ve day-dreamed about it day-to-day in the car and to actually achieve it is fantastic.”

Off the pitch, Hourihane struck up a heart-warming friendship with Barnsley fan Aalish Naylor who was battling cancer and would tragically die in 2018 aged eight – having walked out at Wembley with Conor for the first final.

He had also shown himself to be a master of the dark arts, called ‘despicable’ by Graham Westley for winding up Peterborough’s Chris Forrester who was sent off for striking Hourihane before George Williams’ injury-time winner.

He had scored Barnsley’s goal in the EFL Trophy area final at Fleetwood, a vital free-kick on Easter Monday at Port Vale and also netted in the 4-1 win at champions Wigan on the last day of the league season.

In the promotion season, Hourihane scored 11 goals and added 18 assists.

Conor and Barnsley adapted quickly to life in the Championship, with the Reds captain winning the league’s Player of the Month award for August and being named in a provisional Republic of Ireland squad before making his international debut the next year after leaving Oakwell.

He had become an all-action, well-rounded midfielder and an inspirational leader, while statistics site Whoscored.com rated him the best player in the second tier and he was in the top ten for both tackles and interceptions.

The Reds were just outside the play-off places by January when Hourihane, Winnall and James Bree were all sold.

He had the most assists in the Championship by January, with 12, as well as six goals including fantastic long-range strikes in wins over QPR, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United – knowing he was going to leave for Aston Villa during the latter.

Before leaving, he told the Chronicle: “I think if the club had come to us in the summer, before the Championship started, a lot of us would have signed a contract. But they didn’t…

“I would have signed a long-term contract last summer but nothing was on the table.”

In total, Hourihane played 135 games for the Reds in that first spell with 31 goals and 45 assists.