The Burning Question Pt. 2

The next question has been posted on the official website, and again I'll use it to fill the gap between now and our weekend skirmish with the runaway leaders Newcastle United.

What has been the highpoint for you whilst supporting Barnsley? And the low point?

Both are very difficult questions and I'm sure the chap putting this book together will get quite a varied bunch of answers for this section. Many people will have different answers for very different reasons. I'll chuck my two cents in, although again I won't be sending this in, just as a bit of fun really.

My lowest moment is probably the 93 minutes before Isaiah Rankin finally secured our League 1 status in the 2002/03 season, at home against Brentford. The whole match was a sickener from the beginning right until that dramatic, dramatic finish. After the disappointment of the previous season, when we seemed to just accept our relegation without so much as a fight, I think most people feared the worst and I was no different. It felt like the shortest game I've ever sat through; the minutes flew away and it seemed inevitable that we'd need something from champions Wigan Athletic on the final day to secure our place for another season. Thankfully, we nicked that precious goal right at the death, and staved off the threat of relegation with virtually the last kick of our final home game. Can you imagine what could have happened to us had that not gone in? Would we be back at our current level now? Would we we have fallen even further into the depths of the Football League? It doesn't even bear thinking about really. As good as that winner felt, the whole match before that was very, very low, to see our club in such a dreadful state and staring into the abyss.

And the highest? Promotion to the top flight of English football is always going to take some beating, along with a few others, but for me it's our playoff final against Ipswich Town in the 1999/00 season. It wins out for many different reasons in my eyes. It was the first time I'd watched the Reds in anything other than a league or cup game. And since that glorious day at the old Wembley, I've seen us win at the Millennium Stadium and lose the FA Cup Semi Final at the new, updated version of the famous twin towers not so long ago, and nothing has come close.

The whole day was amazing from start to finish. The sun was beaming down throughout, and I always remember walking up Wembley Way, already knowing that the first sight of the pitch was going to be a breathtaking moment. I wasn't disappointed either; I don't think I'll ever love a stadium as much as I do the Wembley of old (Oakwell excluded, obviously). The towers, the general feel of the place, the way could could almost feel the history of the place jumping out of the walls, and the beautiful green grass bathed in the sunlight; it was perfection. The Old Wembley vs. the New Wembley? Insulting to even consider it a contest, in my opinion.

Of course, we lost the game 4-2, despite being agonisingly close to returning to the promised land. After Hignetts rather... ahem... lucky opener, we seemed so close but it wasn't destined to be that day. Maybe, had Barnard converted that penalty or if Georgi could have hit the back of the net with that header just before their 4th, things could have been different. Overall, given our results against the Tractor Boys in that campaign, it's difficult to argue with their promotion. In fact, the following season they won a place in Europe, and then went on to beat Inter Milan, so they didn't do too bad out of it. And us? Well, things went a bit downhill for us after that...

I still remember sitting feeling proud of our performance, and yet gutted that we had just fallen short when that final whistle blew. I also remember being proud of the Reds fans staying behind to applaud our team and our opponents who'd beaten us fairly and squarely. Relations between us on Ipswich have always been pleasant since that day, as I think they recognised the amount of respect we showed to them. It's how football should be. Afterwards, the journey home was surprisingly upbeat and totally out of place with the result. There aren't many defeats that leave you still feeling positive, but that was one of them. Overall, for the whole day and experience, it always sticks in my mind as my greatest day of being a Reds fan.

Thanks for reading.