Saturday 23rd August was a day to remember for 19-year-old Brad Abbott, as the midfielder made his professional debut for the Reds.
The Doncaster-born midfielder played his part in the Reds' 4-1 victory over Gillingham, featuring for the entire 90 minutes on his first professional start, having graduated from the Reds' Academy.
"I’m obviously over the moon to make my debut," Abbott told Barnsley Player after the match. "It’s a big day for me and all my family. Since I was eight years old, this is what I’ve been working towards. Now I’ve done it, I’m over the moon but I want to kick on and get some more appearances under my belt.
"I was a bit overwhelmed with all the fans screaming. Now it’s sunk in I’m just buzzing and can’t wait for the next game.
"At the start of the game I was nervous. I felt like it took a while to get played into the game. I tried to keep it simple and play my way in. I felt in the second half I came out of my shell a little bit and I felt I played a lot better in the second half.
"I was dying to get a goal. I was shooting from any angles in the end. To be fair, I should have probably hit one when Conor (Hourihane) went running through and I played him through. Hopefully it’ll come in time."
Goals from Conor Hourihane, Sam Winnall, Devante Cole and Dale Jennings secured the victory - and the reply from the visitors was only through a rebound of a saved penalty by Adam Davies.
"I thought all the lads were brilliant," added Abbott. "We were a little bit slow out of the blocks but once we got going and put our foot on the gas, our class shone. That’s what we need to do throughout the season against every team that we play against.
"The Manager just said to go out and enjoy it. He let me deal with it how I wanted to, which I felt was good. He just wanted me to concentrate more on the team and not put too much pressure on me."
