2005–06 Barnsley F.C. season

Having appointed Andy Ritchie as manager after a successful spell as caretaker manager,[1] the Reds started the season in mixed form, picking up 14 points in their first 11 games.[2] A run of 10 games unbeaten followed, as Barnsley found themselves in 4th place and 3 points off the promotion places.[3] Barnsley continued their strong form into the second half of the season, finishing fifth in the league, on 72 points.[4] This meant Barnsley would face Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town in a play-off semi-final.

After losing the first leg at home 1–0 it appeared that Barnsley were resigned to another season in League One.[5] However, Barnsley took the lead in the away leg, with Paul Hayes scoring a penalty after being fouled by Danny Schofield. Huddersfield went on to equalise but goals from captain Paul Reid and a 77th-minute winner from Daniel Nardiello meant Barnsley would be playing in the play-off final against Swansea City who had beaten third placed Brentford. This was also the first time in the history of the playoffs in all three divisions that a side had overturned a first leg deficit after losing the first leg at home.

The final was played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 27 May 2006 in front of a crowd of 55,419.[6] Barnsley took the lead through a Paul Hayes opener but Swansea replied with goals from ex-Red Rory Fallon and Andy Robinson following a blunder by keeper Nick Colgan.[6] A Barnsley equaliser came from a Daniel Nardiello free kick, but neither team could find a winner in either normal time or extra time, despite Swansea's Lee Trundle coming close late on.[6]

As the match was tied 2-2, it was decided on penalties, with Nick Colgan redeeming himself for his earlier mistake and saving Swansea's final penalty from Alan Tate, to give the Reds a 4–3 shootout victory and a place in the Championship.[7]

As of 22 August 2018

[11][12]

No.	Name	Date of birth	Signed from	Nat	Place of birth	Note
Goalkeepers
1	Nick Colgan	19 September 1973	Hibernian		Drogheda
22	Scott Flinders	12 June 1986	none		Rotherham
30	David Scarsella	12 October 1982			Adelaide	On loan at Tooting & Mitcham United
Defenders
2	Bobby Hassell	4 June 1980	Mansfield Town		Derby
3	Steven Watt	1 May 1985	Chelsea		Aberdeen	On loan from Chelsea
3	Paul Heckingbottom	17 July 1977	Sheffield Wednesday		Barnsley	Signed from Sheffield Wednesday
4	Paul Reid	18 February 1982	Northampton Town		Carlisle
5	Matt Carbon	8 June 1975	Walsall		Nottingham
6	Tony Vaughan	11 October 1975	Mansfield Town		Manchester	On loan at Stockport County
14	Neil Austin	26 April 1983	none		Barnsley
15	Antony Kay	21 October 1982	none		Barnsley
20	Robbie Williams	2 October 1984	none		Pontefract
31	Rob Atkinson	29 April 1987	none		Barnsley
32	Ryan Laight	16 November 1985	none		Barnsley
33	Thomas Harban	12 November 1985	none		Barnsley
Midfielders
7	Jacob Burns	21 April 1978	Leeds United		Sydney	Signed for Wisla Krakow
10	Stephen McPhail	9 December 1979	Leeds United		Westminster
11	Brian Howard	23 January 1983	Swindon Town		Winchester
12	Anthony McParland	20 September 1982	Celtic		Rutherglen
16	Richard Kell	15 September 1979	Scunthorpe United		Bishop Auckland
17	Nicky Wroe	28 September 1985	none		Sheffield
19	Dale Tonge	7 May 1985	none		Barnsley
25	Martin Devaney	1 June 1980	Watford		Cheltenham
26	Simon Heslop	1 May 1987	none		York
34	Kyle Nix	21 January 1986	Sheffield United		Sydney	On loan from Sheffield United
Forwards
8	Paul Hayes	20 September 1983	Scunthorpe United		Dagenham
9	Barry Conlon	1 October 1978	Darlington		Drogheda
18	Chris Shuker	9 May 1982	Manchester City		Huyton
21	Marc Richards	8 July 1982	Northampton Town		Wolverhampton
23	Daniel Nardiello	22 October 1982	Manchester United		Coventry
27	Nathan Jarman	19 September 1986	none		Scunthorpe
28	Nathan Joynes	7 August 1985	none		Barnsley
29	Tommy Wright	28 September 1984	Leicester City		Kirby Muxloe