THIS week it has been 20 years since Barnsley beat Swansea City in the League One play-off final and ten since they won the same match against Millwall a decade later.

On May 29, 2016, the Reds completed a remarkable season which had seen them recover from being bottom of League One in December to win both the EFL Trophy in April then the play-off final against Millwall the next month.

Ashley Fletcher scored in the second minute then Adam Hammill added a superb second.

Mark Beevers pulled one back against his hometown club but Lloyd Isgrove secured the win.

The head coach was Barnsley man Paul Heckingbottom who had taken over from Lee Johnson in February of that year.

He told the Chronicle: “All my time watching Barnsley as a fan, when I was a kid, they were always in the second tier so to get back up was huge.

“Before the last league game, we did a presentation to the players – showing them the stadiums and teams in the Championship compared to League One.

“We were a small team, regardless of how often we had been in the second tier, by the standards of those clubs, so it was a huge achievement.

“There are only three times when I have been manager when I have been aware of the fans and where I am rather than just focusing on the pitch.

“One of them was when Izzy scored the header from the corner.

“If there wasn’t that canopy stopping me getting to the crowd, I would have been in there.

“There were nice moments afterwards with Patrick (Cryne) and his family.

“It was a lot more than a business at that point – the manager was a Barnsley fan, the owner was a Barnsley fan. Everyone was just delighted.”

On May 27, 2006, Heckingbottom scored one of the penalties in a shoot-out win over Swansea following a 2-2 draw at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Paul Hayes put Andy Ritchie’s side in front then, after ex-Red Rory Fallon and Andy Robinson put the Welsh club ahead, Daniel Nardiello levelled.

Hayes, Stephen McPhail and Antony Kay netted their penalties while Nick Colgan saved from Alan Tate after Adebayo Akinfenwa had shot over the bar.

Heckingbottom said: “That was my highlight as a player, definitely.

“I remember we went to the stadium the day before, the rain was coming down, the pitch was terrible and you could smell damp because the roof had been shut.

“But then at the game that generates a different type of noise.

“I remember seeing people I went to school with in the crowd.”

On how he felt walking up to take a penalty in the shoot-out, Heckingbottom said: “It was always my dream to play for Barnsley and I had to wait until the back end of my career to get there.

“There was no doubt in my mind that, if it was penalties, I was taking one.

“I knew I would never get that chance again.

“I never contemplated not scoring.”