It was either tears or beaming smiles at many Football League venues on Saturday. For David Flitcroft, it was both.
A win for Hull at Oakwell would have sent them up and relegated Barnsley, but Flitcroft’s rejuvenated side live to fight another day after spectacular goals from Jacob Mellis and Chris O’Grady deservedly gave them the points.
Pride was mixed with poignancy for the Barnsley manager, though, as he reflected on a stunning revival since he took charge and described spending time at his father John’s graveside in Bolton en route to the game.
‘Anything I have done here is down to my upbringing,’ said the 39-year old, who has won nine and drawn six of 20 League games so far. ‘I had an incredible leader in my dad. My mum is an incredible woman. I’ve got a brilliant family, the best in the world.
‘My dad taught me work ethic, courage, never give up and if someone wants to fight you, fight them. If you don’t beat them, find another way to fight them. He always maintained that.
‘He died on this day five years ago, and I visited his grave this morning and spent some time with him before coming here for the game.
Emotional: Flitcroft hailed his late father after the game was over
Championship table
It has been an emotional day, but every day is special when my dad is around and in my thoughts. I do all this for my dad and my family.
‘He is still my driving force. He leads the family still. I have just got to make sure I do him proud and become the dad he was.
‘When you have been taught by great people, you can teach people yourself. That is what I want to do. I don’t just want to improve footballers. I think it is my challenge and my goal to improve people as human beings. I am close to the players, and I can see in their eyes they are giving everything.
‘A lot of Championship clubs have groups of players where there are factions or cliques, but not here. Ever since I arrived, I have been breeding that and making sure we bring the right characters to the club.
'If you get the right characters and lead them right, you get performances like today. When you’ve got the resources we’ve got, you have to have something different, and our difference is spirit. It is a team performance. It has to be. Teams at the top end of the division might have won games with individuals, but we haven’t got individuals who you can give 20 or 30 grand to.
‘We’ve got players who have come up from League Two or One and are fighting for the chance to stay in the Championship.
Pure delight: Barnsley fans run on to the pitch after the crucial win
'Today was supposed to be party time for Hull, but we simply wouldn’t allow it.’ Hull could never compete with that resolve and now need to at least match Watford’s result next weekend to go up automatically.‘We’re not mentally shot,’ said defiant manager Steve Bruce. ‘We’ve had a bad week, but to call them mentally shot is an insult to them. We haven’t handled the situation as well as I’d like, but I’m quietly confident we’ll still produce a performance next week to get over the line