Barnsley: Nottingham Forest, Brentford magic will go down in Oakwell folklore - View | OneFootball

The end of the 2019-2020 Championship season will forever be etched in Barnsley folklore win two stunning late victories securing survival

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 wins needed against both promotion-chasing Nottingham Forest and Brentford, not once but twice, Barnsley scored last-minute winners in each game to achieve their goal and stave off relegation to League One. In the process, Brentford missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League in their final-ever regular season game at Griffin Park.

2019/20 Championship resumed with Barnsley bottom of the Championship

The 2019/20 Championship season was halted in March 2020 due to the effects of the Covid pandemic sweeping the UK. Eventually, the EFL re-started the season in late June with Barnsley returning to action on 20th June 2020 sitting bottom of the league, seven points from safety.

Manager Gerhard Struber was appointed in November 2019, a month after Daniel Stendel had been relieved of his duties due to a poor start to life in the Championship.

The new Tykes boss had begun to turn the tide at Oakwell ahead of the enforced season break and once the second tier resumed, he breathed new life into their hopes of staying up - a 1-0 win away at QPR in the first game back the perfect way to get the survival push going again.

Barnsley's hopes of a Championship future remained alive with two games left but the odds were still against them as those two games came against sides pushing for promotion to the Premier League. Nottingham Forest were in a play-off position with Brentford hoping for automatic promotion.

The Tykes would finish their home campaign at Oakwell against Forest, then travel to face the Bees at Griffin Park, which was hosting its last season before the West Londoners moved into their new home, the Brentford Community Stadium.

Barnsley leave it late to fell Forest

Barnsley went into their penultimate game of the season at home to Forest knowing only victory would give them any chance of survival and take their fate into the last game at Brentford three days later.

Meanwhile, the visitors knew a point would secure a play-off place, but their form had deserted them in recent games, drawing three and losing two of their five games prior to the visit to Oakwell. So much was on the line for both sides.

Barnsley dominated possession and created over 20 chances, hitting the post and bar, but could not find a breakthrough as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. Struber had rolled the dice after halftime and introduced Austrian striker, Patrick Schmidt, along with top scorer Cauley Woodrow in the hope of finding a winner.

As the game went into the 93rd minute and with all hope almost lost, Schmidt became an instant hero, poking the ball home for his third goal of the season. The Barnsley bench erupted with Struber and the substitutes running onto the Oakwell turf to celebrate with Schmidt and the rest of the squad in jubilant scenes - the only negative from a Tykes perspective that the stadium wasn't full to celebrate with the team.

So Barnsley would live to fight another day and their resolve meant, from out of nowhere, they would take their fate into the final game of the 2019/20 season and a daunting trip to a Brentford side who knew victory would guarantee automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Barnsley again saved themselves at the death

A do-or-die game awaited Barnsley at Griffin Park with the Tykes going toe-to-toe with the Bees. Barnsley steadied any of their nerves in the first half when Callum Styles scored to put the Tykes a goal up going into the break. However, Brentford equalised with 17 minutes left when Josh Dasilva fired home.

Brentford had needed four points from their final two games to secure second place and promotion to the Premier League. However, four days before the Barnsley game, Brentford lost 1-0 at Stoke City, piling pressure on Thomas Frank's side. Both sides needed victory for very different reasons and as the game edged into injury time, an unlikely hero surfaced for Barnsley.

Schmidt put in a great cross into the Brentford six-yard box which evaded everyone except defender Clarke Oduor, who was unmarked at the far post and couldn't miss, to win the game for Barnsley. Scenes of jubilation from the Barnsley squad at the end of the game and disbelief that the Tykes had not once but twice scored last-gasp winning goals to stave off relegation in the last two games of the season.

Brentford were confined to the play-offs, and although they were victorious against Swansea City in the semi-finals, the Bees would be beaten at Wembley against Fulham and miss out on promotion.

The Yorkshire club had an anxious wait for confirmation of survival as Wigan Athletic appealed their 12 point deduction by the EFL due to entering administration. The Latics were unsuccessful in their appeal, meaning Barnsley stayed up, one point clear of third from bottom Charlton Athletic and two points ahead of Wigan.

No Barnsley fan will ever forget the tenure of manager Gerhard Struber and the magic ending to those final two games against Nottingham Forest and Brentford which will go down in Oakwell folklore.