25th February 1998, we beat Man U 3-2 in an FA Cup 5th Round Replay. I know we've discussed it here recently, but it's still good to reminisce. Hendrie with the first, then Scott Jones with a double (where did he come from). Due to Man U winning the Cup in 1999 and not appearing in 2000, we were actually a quiz question for a few years, from this game to about 2001..... "Who was the last team to beat Man U in the FA Cup" .... Barnsley. Wonderful evening full of joy, nerves and emotion....
Great stuff, thanks. I'm still half-asleep though - when that ball goes over for Nevland's chance early on I was expecting to see Brad Collins coming out to clear it!
I remember where I was. Wednesday was training night for the local team I helped run. We were listening on the radio in the clubhouse afterwards. I used to get a fair bit of stick from the Chelsea Arsenal etc fans in the club not that night. I seem to recall emember we gave Newcastle a good game in the next round but lost because the ref must have been a Shearer fan, it was a blatant push on Moses.
We might love our big centre forwards over the years, and quite rightly so, but Ashley Ward is right at the top of that list for me. Top, TOP class player.
Agreed, they played some wonderful football. I was at the game that night and it was fantastic, one of the best Reds games I've seen. 23 years though? Blimey.
I remember when we signed him from Derby and people were like "Ashley Ward?" But what a player. The female supporters were quite fond of him too, not sure why!
I got some complimentary tickets for the Newcastle game through Eldis transport who I had daily dealings with back in those days. A colleague and I went up and had to meet two of their drivers who had been given another 3 tickets as a bonus. We thought we were going to be in a box that they had for match days, oh no we were smack bang in the middle of the Gallowgate end with loads of bald tattooed geordies surrounding us. I quickly nipped to the gents to take off my Barnsley shirt and tried to keep my mouth shut. Oh how hard it was not to celebrate when Liddle pulled one back and start shouting at the ref when he sent Moses off. 1st and last time I've been to a game and not opened my mouth
He would definitely walk into a best looking Reds 11, but I personally was only appreciative of his skill and endeavour!
A reminder that success for Barnsley has always come by playing good football. It's one of the many reasons I follow my home town club.
And thanks to Mike Riley for giving us that wonderful night. Had it not been for his incredible decision not to give that penalty for the assault on Andy Liddell, we’d never have been able to experience the thrill of stuffing the Mancs in our own little town. Even Fergie said it was a pen. Riley currently serves as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited. Which perhaps goes some way to explaining the general quality of referees and their “assistants”.
Andy Gray on Sky said something like "There are over 54,000 people in this stadium and the only one who didn't think it was a penalty was Mike Riley."