BARNSLEY are currently trying to remove themselves from the gloom of mid-table in League One but, five years ago today, they were two wins away from the Premier League.

The Reds travelled to Swansea City on May 22, 2021 for the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final – drawing 1-1 which meant they lost 2-1 on aggregate, missing out on the Wembley final and the chance of a second top flight season in their history.

That year stands out as a glorious anomaly in the recent story of a club who have finished all the other campaigns since the year 2000 either in the third tier or the bottom half of the second. It perhaps does not stand out vividly in the memory of supporters who, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, had to watch the whole league season from home on televisions, laptops and phones. The majority of Barnsley fans never saw inspirational head coach Valerien Ismael in the flesh until he returned as West Brom manager.

But the numbers speak for themselves.

Despite having one of the smallest budgets and being tipped for relegation, Barnsley finished fifth in the Championship with 78 points, having won 23 of their 46 second tier games.

They won more away games, 11, than in any other second tier season in their history while setting a club record at any level with six straight victories on the road in the spring.

They did not go behind in more than 1,000 minutes at one point.

Some say the young Reds side only punched so far above their weight because there were no crowds putting pressure on them, home or away.

But that is disrespectful to the achievements of Ismael and his players and does not explain why there were no other significant overperformers throughout the leagues that season.

From relegation scrap to the brink of second season in top flight

The Reds had stayed in the Championship in the final seconds at Brentford in July 2020, completing a ‘great escape’.

They started the next season poorly, not winning any of the first seven league games under Gerhard Struber – who moved to New York Red Bulls – and caretaker Adam Murray.

New boss Ismael, who had last been manager of Austrian club LASK, soon led them out of the relegation zone and well into mid-table by Christmas.

They actually began 2021 with a five-match winless run but, boosted by the arrival of American striker Daryl Dike in the January window and after hosting Chelsea in the FA Cup, they embarked on a club record seven-game winning run across 20 days. Dike’s astonishing strike in a win over Birmingham put the Reds in the top six and, after drawing at home to Derby, they gained a vital win at fellow promotion-chasers Bournemouth.

Despite a 12-match unbeaten run ending at home to relegation-bound Sheffield Wednesday, and a loss at Coventry City, wins over Luton and Middlesbrough put them on the brink of the play-offs. Dike’s overhead kick in a 1-0 win at Huddersfield was followed by the same score at home to Rotherham, with Carlton Morris controversial goal – which saw goalkeeper Viktor Johansson sustain an eye injury – enough to confirm a place in the top six.

Ismael implemented his ‘vertical football’, a direct style of play, while he made good use of the new rule which allowed him to make five substitutes – often replacing the entire front line of his 3-4-3 system with three fresh strikers in one change. While their style was direct, they scored outstanding team goals at Hillsborough and Bournemouth.

It was a gruelling schedule, with the season having been pushed back after the previous campaign was delayed due to the pandemic, but the Reds thrived on a routine of playing every Saturday and Wednesday.

The play-offs were memorable not just for Barnsley being in contention for the top flight for the first time since the 2000 final, but because fans returned after more than a year away with the lockdown rules easing.

Around 4,500 who were successful in a ballot of season ticket holders witnessed a 1-0 home loss to a Swansea side which contained Conor Hourihane as well as current England centre-back Marc Guehi. Andre Ayew’s goal was marginally offside while Callum Brittain missed a glorious chance to equalise.

Five days later, during which time one of the heroes of the previous promotion to the top flight Eric Winstanley had died, the Reds travelled to Swansea and fell behind to a fine Matt Grimes goal following a disputed free-kick.

Cauley Woodrow equalised but the Reds missed out on the final in which Swansea lost to Brentford.

The Welsh club were the only side who seemed to work out Barnsley’s style that season, doing the double over them in the league.

Where are squad and staff now?

One of the more remarkable elements of Barnsley’s achievement five years ago was that very few of the squad have gone on to greater heights.

Brad Collins and Toby Sibbick both spent this season battling relegation from League One with Burton Albion along with Jasper Moon who was on Barnsley’s bench in Swansea.

Romal Palmer, who started the majority of the season under Ismael in central midfield, plays in the Irish League.

Michal Helik was relegated into League One – for the third time in his career – with Oxford, joining Mads Andersen who plays at that level now with Luton having also suffered three relegations since 2021. Cauley Woodrow remains under contract at Luton, having spent the season at their League One rivals Wycombe Wanderers.

Liam Kitching, who barely featured that season after arriving in January, has just helped Coventry to the Premier League, while Callum Brittain and Carlton Morris are Championship regulars at Middlesbrough and Derby County respectively.

Alex Mowatt, Callum Styles and Daryl Dike are all at West Brom, who just avoided a relegation battle in the Championship. Dike has been released while Styles won Player of the Year.

Jordan Williams and Conor Chaplin were both in the second tier with Portsmouth while Jack Walton, who played in the first half of the season under Ismael, has been a back-up goalkeeper at Preston. Michael Sollbauer and Dominik Frieser are back in the Austrian top flight while Aapo Halme has been without a club since 2024.

Barnsley’s story afterwards is well-known. Ismael moved to West Brom that summer, taking Mowatt and eventually Dike with him, while influential chief executive Dane Murphy went to Nottingham Forest and there was an exodus of various backroom staff. Chairman Paul Conway took over as acting chief executive, making some disastrous signings and appointing Markus Schopp who was an abject failure as head coach.

Conway said he expected the Reds to compete for promotion to the Premier League most seasons in the following five years but instead they finished bottom and have now spent their longest spell outside the top two divisions since the 1970s. They reached the play-offs twice but have come 12th and 15th in the last two seasons. Each of the last five seasons have brought lower finishes.

Ismael had a stint at Turkish giants Besiktas, before short spells with Championship sides Watford and Blackburn who sacked him this year.