A sporting review of 2024 in Barnsley.
JANUARY
The year began with some of the best snooker players in the world, including Ronnie O’Sullivan, competing at the Metrodome for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cyclist Imogen Wolff, from Silkstone Common, finished on the podium in her age category at the National Cyclocross Championships. Jenson Young, from Hemingfield, was 14th in the men’s race.
Penistone motorsport star Oliver Rowland came third in the third race of the Formula E season in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia after starting on pole.
It was a good month for the town’s young runners.
Penistone Footpath Runner Graihagh Turner was crowned Yorkshire under 15 girls cross country champion, winning by a second.
Jonson Hughes won the under 17 title at the Yorkshire Championships then the Northern Championships. His brothers Marshall and Sonnyboy were part of the under 20 team which won a bronze medal.
Barnsley AC runner Eleanor Baker, from Barugh Green, broke the women’s course record at the Heaton Park Half Marathon in Manchester as she was first woman by more than six minutes.
FEBRUARY
Skier Elliott Bennett, from Gawber, represented Great Britain in the Alpine World Junior Championships in France.
The 20-year-old finished 26th in the downhill race and 36th in the Super G.
Runner Maya Schofield, from Royston, won the under 15 800m at the Northern Indoor Championships.
MARCH
Wath RUFC were promoted to Yorkshire Division One for the first time in almost a decade.
Darfield darts player Carl Wilkinson ended a six-year wait for a second WDF ranking title when he won the Isle of Man Masters.
Runners Graihagh Turner and Maya Schofield helped England win team golds at the Schools Cross Country Internationals in Ireland.
Jonson Hughes won gold at under 17 level at the Northern Road Relay Championships in Manchester over 5k.
It was a good month for junior football teams.
Barnsley Schoolboys under 12s and under 14s won their leagues.
Lacewood Primary School lifted the Totty Cup then the national Pokemon Cup.
Wath C of E beat near neighbours Wath Victoria in the 50th anniversary final of the Barlow-Salmons Shield.
APRIL
Barnsley RUFC stayed in Yorkshire League Three on the final day of the season despite beginning it in the relegation zone. A 50-5 win at home to Wheatley Hills took the Shaw Laners – who had lost the first seven games of the season – up to ninth, three points and two places clear of the drop zone.
Barnsley Hockey Club completed a season in which they won Yorkshire Peak and Wold Division One.
Cyclist Damien Clayton, from Cawthorne, won the Danum Trophy in Doncaster then also won the Proper Northern Road Race in Oakenclough with Jenson Young completing a Barnsley one, two. Clayton topped the national rankings despite no longer being professional.
Oliver Rowland moved briefly into first place in the Formula E championship standings but missed out on a second victory of the weekend when he ran out of battery power on the final lap of the second race in Misano, Italy.
At the English Karate Championships, Barnsley Karate Centre’s Bobby Perry and Jonny Burden won gold with Shoany Hudson taking silver and her daughter Steph Hudson bronze.
Jake Li also took bronze.
MAY
Barnsley women Bethany England and Amy Turner played for Tottenham in the FA Cup final, as they lost 4-0 to Manchester United.
Lachlan Moorhead, from Penistone, was knocked out in the second round of the World Judo Championship, which meant he did not qualify for the Paris Olympics.
He competed with a serious elbow injury which required surgery later in the year.
Runner Eleanor Baker won the women’s race at the Great Manchester Run Half Marathon and returned to the top of the UK rankings for the under 20 category.
Richard Cottam became the latest Penistone Footpath Runner to complete the Bob Graham Round challenge which involves running up and down 42 summits in the Lake District in less than 24 hours.
At the Yorkshire Championships at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium in Cudworth, there were golds for sprinter Joe Ferguson, from Darton, Maya Schofield, Jonson Hughes and Vanessa Ndambakuwa.
JUNE
Katherine Brunt, from Dodworth, was awarded an OBE for services to cricket following a 19-year career with England.
Oliver Rowland’s chances of winning the Formula E title were all but over after illness ruled him out of the penultimate meeting in Portland, USA.
Boxer Dempsey Wale won at the Metrodome against Mexico’s Ramiro Garcia Lopez on points following an 11-month lay-off due to a shoulder injury.
Half a dozen players from Barnsley Ladies RUFC played as Yorkshire won the County Championship title at Twickenham.
Beth Arnold, Dannie Green, Alix Taylor-Roberts, Lauren Bolger, Jasmin Brankin and Becky Patrick helped the team win 37-7 against Surrey.
Sprinter Joe Ferguson’s dreams of reaching the Paris Olympics ended when he finished seventh in the 200m final of the British Championships.
Graihagh Turner won gold in the under 17 girls’ category at the British Inter Counties fell running championships and came 15th at the World Mountain Running Championships in Spain.
More than 1,000 runners took part in the all-new Barnsley 10k, with people from Barugh Green winning both the men’s and women’s races – Scott Hinchcliffe and Eleanor Baker.
At the Northern Masters, Amanda Potter won both the 100m and 200m.
Barnsley Schoolgirls under 12s football team took the Yorkshire Federation Cup with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield.
JULY
Thurlstone man John Stones played in a European Championships final for a second time but suffered another loss with the England men’s football team.
The former Barnsley youngster was an ever-present in the run to the final in which they lost to Spain in Berlin.
Stones and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford both broke former defender Ashley Cole’s record by making 23 consecutive starts in major tournaments for England.
Tennis coach Calvin Betton, from New Lodge, coached Henry Patten to victory in the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon.
Barnsley Tennis Club women’s first team and mixed first team won promotion.
Oliver Rowland finished the Formula E season with victory in the final race in London, putting him fourth in the overall standings – his best ever result.
Vanessa Ndambakuwa took silver over 200m at the English Schools Championships in Birmingham. She then won the English Championships as did Maya Schofield over 800m.
Penistone Footpath Runner Dawn Broom’s time at the Great North 10k meant she can represent England Masters at that distance next year.
Richard Price, of Barnsley AC, qualified for the World Standard Distance Triathlon Championships.
Karate coach John Tumman joined his father Jed by being awarded an ‘eighth dan’ black belt by the English Karate Federation – on his 60th birthday.
Barnsley only had one competitor in the Paris Olympics but Ian Horsley was one of team GB’s physios while Kyle Quigley was a coach for the Nigeria women’s football team.
AUGUST
The first Saturday in August was among the best sporting days in Barnsley’s history.
Callum Simpson won the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles at Oakwell, with a victory over champion Zak Chelli in front of 7,000 raucous fans on a famous night.
Earlier that day, Becky Moody was part of the Great Britain dressage team which won bronze at the Paris Olympics. The Gunthwaite woman and her horse Jagerbomb had been brought into the team after three-time Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin was banned from the sport following the emergence of a video of her mistreating a horse.
Caden Cunningham, who had trained at Oxspring club Quest Taekwondo, also won silver at the Olympics.
The successful month then continued with cyclist Imogen Wolff winning two gold medals representing Great Britain at the World Junior Track Championships in China. She followed a team pursuit win with individual glory in the points race.
SEPTEMBER
The Tour of Britain cycling race visited Barnsley, with a stage finishing on County Way. Some of the biggest names in the sport rode through the borough.
Later in the month, Imogen Wolff took bronze in the time-trial at the World Junior Road Cycling Championships in Zurich, Switzerland. She also crashed in the road race and finished sixth.
Runner Vanessa Ndambakuwa added another gold medal to her brilliant 2024 with victory over 300m at the UK Schools Games. Cross country star Graihagh Turner won individual and team gold for England at the Home International in Ireland.
Rugby league side Dodworth MW missed out on their league title with defeat to rivals Bramley on the last day but then beat them in the play-off final at Featherstone Rovers’ ground and were promoted. They also launched a women’s team who played their first game.
Barnsley Tennis Club’s women’s team were crowned champions of Sheffield and District Tennis League Division Three.
NOVEMBER
Skier Finlay Parr, from Wombwell, won the under 19 title at the UK Schools Outdoor Championships on a dry slope.
Dempsey Wale made it 13 wins from 13 professional fights as boxing returned to the Metrodome, with debutant Jake Jon Cleary also winning.
Barnsley club Combat Academy took 33 medals from the World Kickboxing Championship in Vienna, then their fighter Charlie Herbert became an English champion.
DECEMBER
Louie Ennis broke a Borough of Barnsley Swimming Club record at the Swim England Winter Nationals Championships.
Barnsley RUFC men ended a ten-game losing run by defeating Rotherham Phoenix in their final game of the year.
Oliver Rowland started the Formula E season in São Paulo. The Penistone man, who is hoping to compete for the title, was leading before a time penalty saw him finish 14th.
