List of Barnsley F.C. seasons

Barnsley Football Club is an English association football club based in the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley. Founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St Peter's, the team played in the Sheffield & District League from the 1890–91 season and first entered the FA Cup in 1893–94. Two years later, they were accepted into the Midland League. The club changed its name to Barnsley F.C. in 1897; its team finished as Midland League runners-up in the first season under the new name, and were elected to the newly expanded Second Division of the Football League for the 1898–99 season.^[1] A 16th-place finish in their second season meant they had to apply for re-election; the application was successful, and Barnsley continued safely in mid-table until 1911, when they again needed to be re-elected to the League.^[2] Their cup form was rather better: either side of that poor League placing, they reached the FA Cup final. In 1909–10, they drew 1–1 with Newcastle United in the final at Crystal Palace, but lost 1–0 in the replay at Everton's Goodison Park ground.^[3] Two seasons later, after taking three replays to get through the quarter-final, they played out a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion at Crystal Palace; this time Barnsley won the replay, at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground, by one goal to nil.^[3]

In the remaining years before competitive football was suspended for the duration of the First World War, Barnsley established themselves as one of the stronger sides in the Second Division, placing third in 1914–15. The First Division was to be expanded by two teams for the first post-war season. Traditionally, existing top-flight teams were reprieved from relegation when such an expansion took place, but when the League chose to relegate Tottenham Hotspur, who had finished bottom, Barnsley had expectations of promotion. Instead of promoting the top three from the Second Division, the top two went up and the League opted to ballot its members as to the third candidate; Arsenal, who had finished fifth in 1915, won the ballot.^[4] Barnsley missed out on promotion in 1921–22 on goal average, and continued in the Second Division until 1931–32 when they went down to the Third Division North, also on goal average. They returned to the second tier as champions two years later, were relegated in 1938, and won another Third Division title in 1939.^[3]

After relegation in 1953, Barnsley won the Third Division championship for a third time in 1955, but ten years later they were in the Fourth Division. They moved between fourth and third tiers before two promotions in three years took them back to the Second Division in 1981, in which they remained for the next sixteen seasons.^[3] With two matches left to play in the 1996–97 season, to the accompaniment of chants of "It's just like watching Brazil", Danny Wilson had managed Barnsley to within one win of promotion to the Premier League. At home to Bradford City, Paul Wilkinson gave them a first-half lead, and with three minutes to go, Clint Marcelle scored the goal that made sure of the win.^[5][6] Barnsley's visit to the top flight was brief; they finished 19th, five points short of safety. They came close to a return in 2000 via the play-offs, losing 4–2 in the final after Ipswich Town's goalkeeper had saved a penalty and made a late save to deny them an equaliser.^[7]

Two years later, they were relegated to the third tier, which combined with the loss of revenue following the failure of ITV Digital and its broadcasting deal with the Football League made Barnsley one of some thirty clubs driven into administration.^[8][9] They recovered, and went on to beat Swansea City in a penalty shoot-out in the 2006 play-off final and return to the second tier, by then renamed the Football League Championship.^[10] Despite finishing no higher than 17th place, they retained their second-tier status for eight seasons. Relegated in 2014, they returned via the play-offs, beating Millwall 4–1 in the 2016 final.^[11] Also in 2015–16, Barnsley beat Oxford United 3–2 in the final to win the Football League Trophy, a cup competition open to teams from the lower two divisions of the Football League, for the first time.^[12]

As of the end of the 2015–16 season, Barnsley have spent 10 seasons in the fourth tier of the English football league system, 23 in the third, 73 in the second and 1 in the top tier. The table details the team's achievements and the top goalscorer in senior first-team competitions from their first season in the Sheffield & District League in 1890–91 to the end of the most recently completed season.

Key

Key to league record: P – Played W – Games won D – Games drawn L – Games lost F – Goals for A – Goals against Pts – Points Pos – Final position Key to colours and symbols: Symbol Meaning 1st or W Winners 2nd or F Runners-up Promoted Relegated ♦ Top league scorer in Barnsley's division

Key to divisions: Sheff – Sheffield & District League Sheff 2 – Sheffield & District League Second Division Sheff C – Sheffield & District League Central Division Midland – Midland League Yorks – Yorkshire League Div 1 – Football League First Division Div 2 – Football League Second Division Div 3 – Football League Third Division Div 3N – Football League Third Division North Div 4 – Football League Fourth Division Prem – Premier League Champ – Football League Championship League 1 – Football League One

Key to rounds: Prelim – Preliminary round QR1 – First qualifying round QR2 – Second qualifying round, etc. Inter – Intermediate round (between qualifying rounds and rounds proper) R1 – First round R2 – Second round, etc. QF – Quarter-final SF – Semi-final F – Final W – Winners (N) – Northern section of regionalised stage DNE – Did not enter

Details of the abandoned 1939–40 Football League season are shown in italics and appropriately footnoted.

Seasons

Season	League[3]									FA Cup[13]	League Cup[3]	Other[3][14]		Top league scorer(s)[15]
	Division[lower-alpha 1]	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos			Competition	Result	Name	Goals
1890–91	Sheff	14	3	4	7	22	38	10	6th[16]	& —	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1890–91	Sheff	18	11	2	5	50	37	24	3rd[17]	& —	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1892–93	Sheff	26	15	3	8	84	45	33	4th	& —	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1893–94	Sheff 2	8	4	3	1	19	8	11	2nd	QR1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1894–95	Sheff C	10	4	5	1	19	21	9	4th[lower-alpha 2]	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1895–96	Midland	28	13	3	12	62	52	29	8th	QR1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1896–97	Midland	28	10	4	14	57	71	24	11th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1897–98	Midland Yorks	22 18	14 11	3 3	5 4	47 62	29 27	31 25	2nd 3rd	QR3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1898–99	Div 2	34	12	7	15	52	56	31	11th	QR5	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1899–1900	Div 2	34	8	7	19	46	79	23	16th[lower-alpha 3]	QR4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1900–01	Div 2	34	11	5	18	47	60	27	15th	QR5	& —	—	& —	Swann, AndrewAndrew Swann[20]	18 ♦
1901–02	Div 2	34	12	6	16	51	63	30	11th	QR5	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1902–03	Div 2	34	13	8	13	55	51	34	8th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1903–04	Div 2	34	11	10	13	38	57	32	8th	R0 !Inter	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1904–05	Div 2	34	14	5	15	38	56	33	7th	R0 !Inter	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1905–06	Div 2	38	12	9	17	60	62	33	12th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1906–07	Div 2	38	15	8	15	73	55	38	8th	R6 !QF	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1907–08	Div 2	38	12	6	20	54	68	30	16th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1908–09	Div 2	38	11	10	17	48	57	32	17th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1909–10	Div 2	38	16	7	15	62	59	39	9th	U !F[lower-alpha 4]	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1910–11	Div 2	38	7	14	17	52	62	28	19th[lower-alpha 3]	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1911–12	Div 2	38	15	12	11	45	42	42	6th	W[lower-alpha 5]	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1912–13	Div 2	38	19	7	12	57	47	45	4th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1913–14	Div 2	38	19	7	12	51	45	45	5th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1914–15	Div 2	38	22	3	13	51	51	47	3rd	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1915–19	é The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.	&	&	&	&	&	&	&	é	&	&	é	&	é	&
1919–20	Div 2	42	15	10	17	61	55	40	12th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1920–21	Div 2	42	10	16	16	48	50	36	16th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1921–22	Div 2	42	22	8	12	67	52	52	3rd	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1922–23	Div 2	42	17	11	14	62	51	45	9th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1923–24	Div 2	42	16	11	15	57	61	43	11th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1924–25	Div 2	42	13	12	17	46	59	38	15th	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1925–26	Div 2	42	12	12	18	58	84	36	18th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1926–27	Div 2	42	17	9	16	88	87	43	11th	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1927–28	Div 2	42	14	11	17	65	85	39	13th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1928–29	Div 2	42	16	6	20	69	66	38	16th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1929–30	Div 2	42	14	8	20	56	71	36	17th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1930–31	Div 2	42	13	9	20	59	79	35	19th	R5	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1931–32	Div 2	42	12	9	21	55	91	33	21st	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1932–33	Div 3N	42	19	8	15	92	80	46	8th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1933–34	Div 3N	42	27	8	7	118	61	62	1st	R1	& —	Third Division North Cup	R1	zz !Not known	—
1934–35	Div 2	42	13	12	17	60	83	38	16th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1935–36	Div 2	42	12	9	21	54	80	33	20th	R6 !QF	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1936–37	Div 2	42	16	9	17	50	64	41	14th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1937–38	Div 2	42	11	14	17	50	64	36	21st	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1938–39	Div 3N	42	30	7	5	94	34	67	1st	R3	& —	Third Division North Cup	DNE[lower-alpha 6]	zz !Not known	—
1939–40	Div 2	3	1	0.5 !0	2	7	8	2	98 ![lower-alpha 7]	& —	& —	—	& —	Maxwell, BudBud Maxwell[22]	4
1939–45	é The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.	&	&	&	&	&	&	&	é	&	&	é	&	é	&
1945–46	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	99 !—	R5[lower-alpha 8]	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1946–47	Div 2	42	17	8	17	84	86	42	10th	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1947–48	Div 2	42	15	10	17	62	64	40	12th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1948–49	Div 2	42	14	12	16	62	61	40	9th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1949–50	Div 2	42	13	13	16	64	67	39	13th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1950–51	Div 2	42	15	10	17	74	68	40	15th	R3	& —	—	& —	McCormack, CecCec McCormack[23]	33
1951–52	Div 2	42	11	14	17	59	72	36	20th	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1952–53	Div 2	42	5	8	29	47	108	18	22nd	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1953–54	Div 3N	46	24	10	12	77	57	58	2nd	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1954–55	Div 3N	46	30	5	11	86	46	65	1st	R2	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1955–56	Div 2	42	11	12	19	47	84	34	18th	R4	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1956–57	Div 2	42	12	10	20	59	89	34	19th	R5	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1957–58	Div 2	42	14	12	16	70	74	40	14th	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1958–59	Div 2	42	10	7	25	55	91	27	22nd	R3	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1959–60	Div 3	46	15	14	17	65	66	44	17th	R1	& —	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1960–61	Div 3	46	21	7	18	83	80	49	8th	R6 !QF	R2[lower-alpha 9]	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1961–62	Div 3	46	13	12	21	71	95	38	20th	R2	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1962–63	Div 3	46	15	11	20	63	74	41	18th	R3	R3	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1963–64	Div 3	46	12	15	19	68	94	39	20th	R5	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1964–65	Div 3	46	9	11	26	54	90	29	24th	R2	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1965–66	Div 4	46	15	10	21	74	78	40	16th	R2	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1966–67	Div 4	46	13	15	18	60	64	41	16th	R3	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1967–68	Div 4	46	24	13	9	68	46	61	2nd	R1	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1968–69	Div 3	46	16	14	16	58	63	46	10th	R3	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1969–70	Div 3	46	19	15	12	68	59	53	7th	R3	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1970–71	Div 3	46	17	11	18	49	52	45	12th	R2	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1971–72	Div 3	46	9	18	19	32	64	36	22nd	R2	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1972–73	Div 4	46	14	16	16	58	60	44	14th	R1	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1973–74	Div 4	46	17	10	19	58	64	44	13th	R2	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1974–75	Div 4	46	15	11	20	62	65	41	15th	R1	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1975–76	Div 4	46	14	16	16	52	48	44	12th	R1	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1976–77	Div 4	46	23	9	14	62	39	55	6th	R2	R2	—	& —	Joicey, BrianBrian Joicey[20]	25 ♦
1977–78	Div 4	46	18	14	14	61	49	50	7th	R2	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1978–79	Div 4	46	24	13	9	73	42	61	4th	R2	R1	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1979–80	Div 3	46	16	14	16	53	56	46	11th	R2	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1980–81	Div 3	46	21	17	8	72	45	59	2nd	R5	R4	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1981–82	Div 2	42	19	10	13	59	41	67[lower-alpha 10]	6th	R3	R6 !QF	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1982–83	Div 2	42	14	15	13	57	55	57	10th	R4	R4	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1983–84	Div 2	42	15	7	20	57	53	52	14th	R3	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1984–85	Div 2	42	14	16	12	42	42	58	11th	R6 !QF	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1985–86	Div 2	42	14	14	14	47	50	56	12th	R3	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1986–87	Div 2	42	14	13	15	49	52	55	11th	R5	R2	Full Members Cup	R1	zz !Not known	—
1987–88	Div 2	44	15	12	17	61	62	57	14th	R4	R3	Full Members Cup	R1	Currie, DavidDavid Currie[20]	28 ♦
1988–89	Div 2	46	20	14	12	66	58	74	7th	R5	R2	Full Members Cup	R1	zz !Not known	—
1989–90	Div 2	46	13	15	18	49	71	54	19th	R5	R2	Full Members Cup	R1+ !R2(N)	Agnew, SteveSteve Agnew[23]	16
1990–91	Div 2	46	19	12	15	63	48	69	8th	R3	R2	Full Members Cup	R6+ !SF(N)	zz !Not known	—
1991–92	Div 2	46	16	11	19	46	57	59	16th	R3	R3	Full Members Cup	R0+ !R1(N)	zz !Not known	—
1992–93	Div 2A !Div 1[lower-alpha 11]	46	17	9	20	56	60	60	13th	R5	R1	Anglo-Italian Cup	Prelim	zz !Not known	—
1993–94	Div 2A !Div 1	46	16	7	23	55	67	55	18th	R5	R2	Anglo-Italian Cup	Prelim	zz !Not known	—
1994–95	Div 2A !Div 1	46	20	12	14	63	52	72	6th	R3	R2	—	& —	zz !Not known	—
1995–96	Div 2A !Div 1	46	14	18	14	60	66	60	10th	R3	R3	—	& —	Payton, AndyAndy Payton[24]	17
1996–97	Div 2A !Div 1	46	22	14	10	76	55	80	2nd	R4	R2	—	& —	Redfearn, NeilNeil Redfearn	17
1997–98	Div 1A !Prem	38	10	5	23	37	82	35	19th	R6 !QF	R3	—	& —	Redfearn, NeilNeil Redfearn	10
1998–99	Div 2A !Div 1	46	14	17	15	59	56	59	13th	R6 !QF	R4	—	& —	Ward, AshleyAshley Ward	12
1999–2000	Div 2A !Div 1	46	24	10	12	88	67	82	4th[lower-alpha 12]	R3	R4	—	& —	Hignett, CraigCraig Hignett	19
2000–01	Div 2A !Div 1	46	15	9	22	49	62	54	16th	R3	R3	—	& —	Dyer, BruceBruce Dyer Neil Shipperley	14
2001–02	Div 2A !Div 1	46	11	15	20	59	86	48	23rd	R3	R3	—	& —	Dyer, BruceBruce Dyer	14
2002–03	Div 3A !Div 2	46	13	13	20	51	64	52	19th	R1	R1	AssocM !Football League Trophy	R1+ !R2(N)	Dyer, BruceBruce Dyer	16
2003–04	Div 3A !Div 2	46	15	17	14	54	58	62	12th	R3	R1	AssocM !Football League Trophy	R0+ !R1(N)	Betsy, KevinKevin Betsy	10
2004–05	Div 3B !League 1[lower-alpha 13]	46	14	19	13	69	64	61	13th	R1	R2	AssocM !Football League Trophy	R0+ !R1(N)	Chopra, MichaelMichael Chopra	17
2005–06	Div 3B !League 1	46	18	18	10	62	44	72	5th[lower-alpha 14]	R3	R2	AssocM !Football League Trophy	R0+ !R1(N)	Richards, MarcMarc Richards	12
2006–07	Div 2B !Champ	46	15	5	26	53	85	50	20th	R3	R2	—	& —	Nardiello, DanielDaniel Nardiello	9
2007–08	Div 2B !Champ	46	14	13	19	52	65	55	18th	SF	R2	—	& —	Howard, BrianBrian Howard	13
2008–09	Div 2B !Champ	46	13	13	20	45	58	52	20th	R3	R1	—	& —	Campbell-Ryce, JamalJamal Campbell-Ryce Jon Macken	9
2009–10	Div 2B !Champ	46	14	12	20	53	69	54	18th	R3	R4	—	& —	Bogdanović, DanielDaniel Bogdanović	11
2010–11	Div 2B !Champ	46	14	14	18	55	66	56	17th	R3	R1	—	& —	Hammill, AdamAdam Hammill	8
2011–12	Div 2B !Champ	46	13	9	24	49	74	48	21st	R3	R1	—	& —	Davies, CraigCraig Davies	11
2012–13	Div 2B !Champ	46	14	13	19	56	70	55	21st	R6 !QF	R2	—	& —	Davies, CraigCraig Davies	8
2013–14	Div 2B !Champ	46	9	12	25	44	77	39	23rd	R3	R2	—	& —	OGrady, ChrisChris O'Grady	15
2014–15	Div 3B !League 1	46	17	11	18	62	61	62	11th	R3	R1	AssocM !Football League Trophy	R1+ !R2(N)	Hourihane, ConorConor Hourihane	13
2015–16	Div 3B !League 1	46	22	8	16	70	54	74	6th[lower-alpha 15]	R1	R2	AssocM !Football League Trophy	W[lower-alpha 16]	Winnall, SamSam Winnall	21

Notes

References

External links

• Barnsley F.C. official website

Lists of English football seasons by club
Premier League	Arsenal Bournemouth Burnley Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Hull City Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea City Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United
Championship	Aston Villa Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Burton Albion Cardiff City Derby County Fulham Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Reading Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers
League One	AFC Wimbledon Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Bristol Rovers Bury Charlton Athletic Chesterfield Coventry City Fleetwood Town Gillingham Millwall Milton Keynes Dons Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Oxford United Peterborough United Port Vale Rochdale Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swindon Town Walsall
League Two	Accrington Stanley Barnet Blackpool Cambridge United Carlisle United Cheltenham Town Colchester United Crawley Town Crewe Alexandra Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Leyton Orient Luton Town Mansfield Town Morecambe Newport County Notts County Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Stevenage Wycombe Wanderers Yeovil Town
Non-League	Aldershot Town Alfreton Town Altrincham Arlesey Town Ashford United Banbury United Bradford Park Avenue Burnham Cambridge City Chippenham Town Chesham United Cirencester Town Corby Town Dagenham & Redbridge Darlington Dartford Dover Athletic Eastbourne Borough F.C. United of Manchester Forest Green Rovers Gateshead Glossop North End Gloucester City Harrow Borough Havant & Waterlooville Hayes & Yeading United Hitchin Town Kidderminster Harriers Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Maidstone United Margate Nelson Northwich Victoria Nuneaton Town Redditch United Southport Tamworth Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walton & Hersham Welling United Weymouth Woking York City
Defunct teams	Chester City Hereford United Hinckley United Rushden & Diamonds Salisbury Scarborough Wimbledon Wigan Borough
Category