Danny Wilson’s appointment at Barnsley saw him return to the club where he is already accepted as their greatest manager, based on a poll among the club’s fans conducted as part of The Football League's 125th Anniversary celebrations.
Wilson, now 54, returned for a second spell in charge at Oakwell but has already gone down in legend for the achievements in his first.
He took over as player-manager in 1994 before hanging up his boots a year later and concentrating solely on the top job – a move that paid dividends in 1996/97.
Wilson led Barnsley to the top flight of English football for the first time when they finished as runners-up in the First Division to Bolton Wanderers, a season that was also voted as the club’s greatest with 56% of all votes cast – ahead of the 1997/98 Premier League campaign which received 27%.
Wilson collected 62% of the votes to become the club’s top boss, beating off the challenge of Allan Clarke, Arthur Fairclough, Norman Hunter and Dave Bassett.
He now sits alongside legends of the game including Brian Clough, Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Tom Finney, Billy Wright, Sir Stanley Matthews, Trevor Francis, Billy Bremner and Herbert Chapman who have all been named in a list of the greatest contributors to clubs’ league history in a vote as part of The Football League’s 125th Anniversary celebrations.
The names feature in lists for each of the current 72 Football League clubs’ greatest in various categories including managers, players, captains, fan favourites, matches and seasons. The polls were run by The Football League to celebrate each club’s own contribution to the last 125 years of league football. The results have been announced on the anniversary of The Football League’s formation on 17th April 1888 to bring down the curtain on a year of activity celebrating the start of the world’s original league football competition.
Nearly 100,000 votes were cast in the polls after clubs were first invited to compile their own shortlist for each category based on fans’ nominations via social media.
A list of the winners in each category can be seen here, and a club-by-club breakdown for each vote with more detail on the winners can be seen here.
Supporters can find out more about The Football League’s 125th Anniversary at here. Fans also still have a chance to visit a special exhibition called ‘Game Changers’ at the National Football Museum in Manchester celebrating 125 years of The Football League, with contributions from every club.
The exhibition is free to enter and open 7 days a week – for more details visit here.
The exhibition is free to enter and open 7 days a week – for more details visit here.
