Former Barnsley captain Brian Howard has revealed he would love to return to the club as he looks to resolve his future this month.
The 27 year old who scored 27 goals in 121 games for The Reds between 2005 and 2008 left the club in acrimonious circumstances to join local rivals Sheffield United four years ago.
But the former skipper who led the club to an FA Cup Semi-Final in the 2007-2008 season and scored the memorable last minute winner to knock out Liverpool at Anfield, as well as being part of the side that won promotion to the Championship in 2006 has seen his career stall.
He lasted just one season at Bramall Lane, before moving onto Reading and is currently on loan at Millwall, who won 3-1 at Oakwell on Saturday.
Speaking prior to that game, which he was unable to feature in due to a delay in extending his loan with the Lions, he told the Barnsley Chronicle that he would love a return to the club where he had his most successful time.
He said:
“I have unfinished business at Barnsley and would love to come back. I already have offers for next season but I’d definitely think about coming back if Barnsley were interested. I feel I’ve never really had the opportunity to say thank you to the fans and I was very upset in the manner in which I left the club.
Other players were offered new contracts but despite the club always telling me how valued and important I was, they never offered me one. It was a very tough time. I got perceived as the bad man and the Judas, but it wasn’t like that.
I left Barnsley for footballing reasons because I wanted to have a better chance of playing in the Premiership. I had a great rapport with the fans and my time at Barnsley has been the best of my career. I came back to Barnsley recently and was with Antony Kay and Paul Reid and we were talking about our time together at the club. We were a bunch of lads who did everything together, on and off the pitch and none of us have ever been in a team with such a spirit since.”
Meanwhile Barnsley Under 18 side extended their winless run in the FA Premier Academy League Group D to six matches with a 1-0 defeat at local rivals Leeds United on Saturday morning.
The single goal reverse keeps The young Reds in second place, but four points behind the leaders Newcastle who now have two games in hand after their clash with Middlesbrough was postponed. The win for Leeds moved them up to third, a point behind Barnsley.