Relegated Barnsley FC name former Burnley defender Michael Duff as new manager

Barnsley FC have appointed former Burnley defender Michael Duff as their head coach for the new season.

Having been relegated from the Championship last season, Duff will take the helm at Oakwell under a new leadership structure and is likely to oversee plenty of changes in his playing staff too.

Beginning his career at Darlington, Duff got his first team breakthrough at Cheltenham, racking up 300 appearances before spending 12 years at Turf Moor with Burnley.

Duff said: "I’m really looking forward to it. It’s taken a little bit of time to get things done and box things off but now I’m here, in the stadium, wearing the kit, I can’t wait to get going now and meet the players."

He added: "I’m ambitious, I want to progress. I just saw it as the next step, and I think me and the club can work hand in hand to hopefully move forward again."

The 44-year-old will have one friendly face to reacquaint himself with on arrival at Oakwell, as former Cheltenham teammate Martin Devaney is likely to form part of his coaching staff.

Winning the League Two title with Cheltenham as manager in 2021, he also helped them secure promotion to the Football League as a player, with a 93rd-minute winner in a 3-2 win over Yeovil in 1999. 

Duff boasts a unique record in playing in each of the top eight tiers of English football from the Hellenic League to the Premier League with Burnley. 

The former Northern Ireland international was raised in Bedale, North Yorkshire, and becomes Barnsley’s sixth manager in three years after Poya Asbaghi left the club in April.

Barnsley will find out their first opponents of the new season on Thursday June 23 as they return to League One just 12 months after being two games away from the Premier League.