[Lord Snooty]

March 27:

Can you believe it? Yet another FA cup semi final to report on. Anybody would think we used to be a really successful team or something.

This one was our first ever semi, played in the year of 1920, following the almost tragic circumstances of earlier in the season when the club almost ceased to be. We had worked our way up to second in the 2nd Division and after beating First Division Liverpool in the last round, we drew a fellow 2nd Division team out of the hat in Bristol City. I don't know if this was the first time that two 2nd Division teams had been drawn together at the semi final stage, but I know that Barnsley and Cardiff have done since, a few years ago.

This match was played at Stamford Bridge and Town won it to reach the Final for the first time. Sammy Taylor scored both goals in a 2-1 victory. The Final will be played on the 24th of April, also at Stamford Bridge, against Aston Villa who beat Chelsea in the other semi.

We had a 3-0 win at Highbury against the Arsenal in 1915. Frank Mann scored twice in this one and Jack Cock scored the other in this second division match, the last season that Arsenal would ever play in the 2nd tier. They were awarded Barnsley's promotion after the war. During that war, Jack Cock served in the British Army, rising to the rank of Acting Sergeant-Major and earning the Military Medal for "Bravery in the Field" and a Mentioned in Despatches for "gallantry". He was reported as 'missing, presumed dead' at one point during the war. He wasn't though and became our first England international in 1919.

There were a couple of wins in two of our Football League Champions seasons on this date. The first one was in 1924 when we won away at West Ham's Boleyn Ground. It was a 3-2 win with Billy Smith on target for the first one and Charlie Wilson scoring the other two.

Then in 1926 we beat Aston Villa 5-1 at Leeds Road. Goals that day coming from Alex Jackson (2), George Brown (2) and George Cook. Brown's goals were his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season.

The most recent game on this date came in 2011 at the Galpharm Stadium against Notts County in League One. Jordan Rhodes scored a couple in this 3-0 win, with Gary Roberts getting the other. This was game number 18 in the famous unbeaten run of "regular" league matches.