Daniel Stendel is the fourth coach to return for a second spell in the Oakwell hotseat. Danny Wilson and Allan Clarke could not repeat their earlier heroics but Arthur Fairclough achieved the club’s best honour
ARTHUR FAIRCLOUGH
If you want an example of a Barnsley manager who was truly successful in his second stint in the job, you have to go back more than a century to FA Cup winner Arthur Fairclough.
The Redbrook man’s playing career ended in his teens due to ill health then he was a local referee before becoming secretary/manager of the Reds when they joined the Football League in 1898.
He resigned in 1902 but came back two years later for an eight-year stint in which he built the side that would win the FA Cup in 1912, having lost in the final two years earlier.
His team included England internationals Tommy Boyle, Jackie Mordue, Dickie Downs and George Utley.
The then 38-year-old left within days of winning the FA Cup to join Huddersfield where he spent seven years, including the First World War, and laid the foundations of the English title-winning side of the 1920s.
Fairclough then became the second ever manager of Leeds United, where he spent eight years.
He returned for an unprecedented third spell as Barnsley manager from 1928 to 1930, before handing over to long-serving player Brough Fletcher.
ALLAN CLARKE
The former Leeds and England striker became Barnsley’s first ever player/manager when he arrived in the summer of 1978.
He is credited with taking the Reds out of the doldrums of the 1970s and beginning the rise towards the top flight in the 1990s – transforming the club’s culture and reputation.
Clarke won promotion from the fourth tier in his first season then had them on course for another when he left during his third campaign in 1980 and was replaced by Norman Hunter.
He put in place the famous side containing the likes of Mick McCarthy, Ronnie Glavin and Derrick Parker.
Clarke moved to Leeds who he relegated from the top flight then, after a spell at Scunthorpe, returned to Barnsley in 1985.
He stayed more than four years but, on a limited budget, could only manage a series of mid-table finishes in the second tier.
DANNY WILSON
The Oakwell legend took Barnsley to the top flight for the only time in their history for the 1997/98 campaign, the last of four in his first managerial role.
He then moved to Sheffield Wednesday before spells at Bristol City, MK Dons, Hartlepool, Swindon and Sheffield United.
He came back to Barnsley more than 15 years after his first spell in December 2013, replacing David Flitcroft who left them in a relegation fight in the Championship.
Wilson was not able to keep the Reds up and had them in the bottom half of League One when he was sacked in February 2015.
He was the club’s last ‘manager’ before they changed to head coaches with those above Wilson having far more say in the data-driven recruitment after the 2014 relegation.
