The end of the 2019/20 Championship season will forever be etched in Barnsley folklore despite being worldwide disruptions meaning supporters were unable to see the heroics of Gerhard Strubers’ side in person.
With two games remaining and victories needed against promotion-chasing Nottingham Forest and Brentford, Barnsley earned last-minute victory in both games to avoid relegation to League One. Brentford missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League during their last regular season game at Griffin Park.
2019/20 Championship resumed with Barnsley bottom of the Championship
The 2019/20 Championship season was suspended in March 2020 as a result of the Covid epidemic sweeping the United Kingdom. The EFL eventually restarted the season in late June, with Barnsley returning to action on June 20, 2020, lying bottom of the league and seven points from safety.
Manager Gerhard Struber was appointed in November 2019, a month after Daniel Stendel was released of his duties following a dismal start in the Championship.
The new Tykes manager had began to turn the tide at Oakwell ahead of the forced season break, and when the second tier resumed, he breathed fresh life into their chances of staying up, with a 1-0 win away at QPR in the first game back being the ideal way to restart the survival push.
Barnsley’s hopes for a Championship future remained alive with two games remaining, but the odds were still stacked against them, given those two games were against teams vying for Premier League promotion. Nottingham Forest were in a play-off place, while Brentford hoped for automatic promotion.
The Tykes would end their home season at Oakwell against Forest before travelling to Griffin Park to face the Bees, who were in their final season before moving to their new home, the Brentford Community Stadium.
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