Barnsley FC produce a miracle on the pitch - but fate could be decided in court

The end-of-season league table has Gerhard Struber’s Reds – seemingly dead and buried when the season resumed after the coronavirus pandemic– one place above the relegation zone. But the regular 2019-20 campaign finished without any firm conclusions at the bottom. Clarke Oduor’s dramatic late goal secured a 2-1 win which took the Reds above Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic in the table, although the final standings will be decided not by footballers, but lawyers. Disciplinary cases involving Wigan and Sheffield Wednesday could alter the table. Now the season is over, Wigan are officially 23rd, their 12-point deduction for going into administration having now been applied. However the Latics, who drew 1-1 with Fulham, plan to appeal. Administrator Gerald Krasner revealed the case is due to be held a week on Friday. The former Leeds United chairman also said the Lancashire club had selected a preferred bidder from five parties who have made an offer for the club. Barnsley were helped by neighbours Leeds United’s emphatic 4-0 defeat of Charlton Athletic as home coach Marcelo Bielsa kept his promise of respecting the competition on the night the champions received their trophy. Sheffield Wednesday are still awaiting the outcome of their disciplinary hearing over the timing and circumstances of the sale and lease-back of their Hillsborough ground to club owner Dejphon Chansiri. Potential punishments include a deduction of up to 21 points. The Owls were beaten 2-1 at home by Middlesbrough, who thereby guaranteed their safety on the field, and finished eight points above the relegation zone. Nothing, it seems, can save Hull, who dropped out of the division with a whimper, beaten 3-0 by Cardiff City to cap a miserable and self-inflicted collapse which saw them finish bottom. Hull won just once in the league after New Year’s Day, paying a heavy price for selling top goalscorer Kamil Grosicki and Jarrod Bowen on January’s deadline day, only bringing in cut-price replacements. The future is uncertain for Grant McCann, a coach with a good track record in League One but whose position has been questioned for some time now. Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well. Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade. And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help. Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing subscriptions@jpimedia.co.uk. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available. If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country. Sincerely. Thank you. James Mitchinson Editor