NOT many footballers outside the top level can say they’ve played at Wembley twice, but two Warrington players are about to achieve that in just one season.
Goalkeeper Adam Davies, 23, and 20-year-old midfielder Josh Brownhill helped Barnsley beat Walsall 6-1 on aggregate last week to secure a place in the League One play-off final at the national stadium.
Former Birchwood Community High School student Brownhill, who is on loan at the Tykes from Preston North End, scored the third goal in a 3-1 second-leg win on Thursday evening to seal their progression after they had won the first leg 3-0 at Oakwell earlier in the week.
They will face either Bradford City or Millwall for a place in the Championship on Sunday, May 29.
The pair both featured in the Yorkshire side’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final win over Oxford United at Wembley last month and are set to play there for the second time in as many months.
Promotion would cap a stunning turnaround in Barnsley’s season and ex-Great Sankey High pupil Davies has seen it all after joining from Sheffield Wednesday in 2014.
His side were bottom of the league in December, but they have belied the departure of manager Lee Johnson to Bristol City to stand just one game away from a return to English football’s second tier.
Davies, who was born in Germany, also played rugby league at high school and featured in the same team as former Warrington Wolves half-back Gareth O’Brien before focusing on football and his exploits saw him named the Warrington Under-16 Sports Personality of the Year in 2007.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here