Huddersfield Town handed Barnsley a club legend on a plate | OneFootball

Adam Hammill's return to Barnsley may have saved his career, as he helped the Tykes reach the Championship in dramatic fashion

Adam Hammill played for a number of teams over the course of his footballing career, but it is hard not to think of him in a Barnsley shirt when you picture him on the pitch.

The winger delighted the masses at Oakwell during his two stints as a permanent player for the Tykes, as well as in his initial loan spell from Liverpool back in 2009, where he started to make a name for himself with the Yorkshire side.

Right from the off, the pairing of player and club seemed to go hand in hand, with his performances in red earning him a shot at the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers before moving back to Yorkshire with Huddersfield Town in 2013.

While his time at the John Smith’s Stadium was pleasant enough, it was his return to his old stomping ground two years later that saw him catch fire once again, as he played a part in one of the finest days in Barnsley’s recent history.

Adam Hammill’s early Barnsley form earns Premier League move

Having come up through the ranks on the red half of Merseyside, Hammill had been at the likes of Dunfermline, Southampton and Blackpool on loan before joining Barnsley for the final part of the 08/09 campaign.

Right from the off, the former Premier League side took the wide man under their wing, with his weaving runs helping to cause mischief when the Tykes roamed forward, as they strove to stay in the second tier.

As is often the case, Barnsley were up against it at the bottom of the second tier, but Hammill’s introduction immediately gave them another threat in the final third, with his unpredictability making him an immediate star in Yorkshire.

A goal on the final day of the season was a just reward for his efforts in red, and helped ensure the Tykes’ spot in the second tier for another season, with Hammill joining them on that journey after leaving Anfield that summer.

Another 18 months of mazy meanders, dynamic dribbles and star shooting continued, before Wolves made him theirs in the January of 2011, as he waved goodbye to Oakwell for what he thought would be the final time.

Huddersfield Town stint paves the way for Adam Hammill, Barnsley reunion

As the move to Wolves only saw Hammill make 23 appearances over two-and-a-half-years, a return to Yorkshire beckoned, with Huddersfield only too happy to take the tricky playmaker in the summer of 2013 after an impressive loan spell at the John Smith’s Stadium the season before.

Back in Yorkshire, Hammill was thriving again, but it just wasn’t the same as it was at Barnsley, with off field issues blighting his career at the time, and his career looking likely to peter out as time went on.

But after two years with the Terriers his contract was up, and with no club wanting to take a punt on the pace merchant Hammill was without a club long into the season, before rumours started abounding about a return to Oakwell.

He couldn’t, could he? If anyone was going to show the player loyalty it was going to be Barnsley, with the Tykes needing the return of the player they had long heralded to galvanise their season in the third tier.

Arriving on the same day as Newcastle United loanee Ivan Toney, Hammill signed a short-term deal with his former club to prove himself to his former fanbase, and that is exactly what he did in the months to come.

Save for a few extra years in the legs, it was like he had never been away; scoring in his first match back in red during an EFL Trophy affair with York City, before scoring in back-to-back games against Wigan Athletic and Colchester United.

It didn’t take long for the Barnsley hierarchy to realise they had to get their main man tied to down to a longer deal, with a contract until the end of the season finalised in December, before the ultimately redemption story unfolded before their eyes.

While he could just as easily be the best player on the pitch or the worst - such was his erratic nature - Hammill knuckled down for the remainder of the campaign, as Barnsley launched an assault on the top six.

Two defeats in the final 16 league matches of the season saw Paul Heckingbottom’s side get over the line and into the play-offs, before Hammill took centre stage again, with Walsall despatched 6-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Millwall at Wembley was to come, with the winners earning a place back in the Championship. Two teams, one winner. It was all to play for.

Ashley Fletcher’s second minute opener saw Barnsley take an early lead, before Hammill - nine months previously a free agent and barely wanted by anyone - curls in one of the finest goals ever scored at the Home of Football to send the Tykes into ecstasy.

Carlos Edwards doesn’t know if he is coming or going as the wide man squares him up, cuts inside and unleashes an unstoppable effort into the top corner, leaving Wembley in a state of shock at what they had just witnessed.

A nonchalant run towards the corner, two thumbs pointing down at his name. Hammill. Adam Hammill. A man who had his issues off the field, but flourished in the red of Barnsley, and will forever be considered an adopted son at Oakwell.

Two more years in the Championship followed, with their mercurial talent continuing to showcase his abilities week in, week out, before eventually moving on to St Mirren in the summer of 2018.

Few would have expected things to go the way they did all the way back when the two crossed paths back in 2009, but Hammill and Barnsley brought the best out of each other, with the wide man’s career hinging on the faith the Tykes put in him when no one else would.