Head coach Hourihane to leave Barnsley

Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane is to leave the club at the end of the season by mutual agreement.

The former Aston Villa and Derby County midfielder was appointed on an interim basis in March 2025 following the sacking of Darrell Clarke and given a two-year contract exactly 12 months ago.

This season, though, has been a disappointment with the club currently 12th in League One, 12 points outside the play-off places.

"After honest conversations between the board and Conor, it was felt that the best course of action for both parties would be to pursue a fresh start ahead of preparations for the 2026-27 season," said chief executive JonFlatman.

"We are now looking to ensure a smooth transition between Conor and our new head coach through to the end of the current campaign."

Hourihane is a club legend at Oakwell, having scored 31 goals in 135 appearances in his first spell at the club and captained them to an EFL Trophy and League One promotion double in 2016.

He won 36 caps for the Republic of Ireland during his career and returned to Barnsley as a player-coach under Clarke in the summer of 2024, but only played two games before deciding to hang up his boots.

Following Barnsley's 2-2 draw with Bradford City on Saturday, Hourihane told BBC Radio Sheffield that there would never have been a good time to make the announcement because of the team's busy schedule to the end of the season.

He said the decision to leave had come up in "general discussions" with the board about how the club will look moving forwards.

"There's great respect between me, club, board, fans, everyone involved, and we felt that at the end of the season, it was probably the right time just to part ways," he said.

"We've got a really important four games to go, I want to finish strongly and give the club the best platform to move into the summer in the best shape possible."

Hourihane's final game in charge will be a home fixture against Stockport County on 2 May, but he said he wanted to continue his career in another head coach role.

"Do I think this last 15 months is going to make me a better head coach moving forwards? Absolutely," he added.

"There's been some challenging moments, some brilliant moments, but the fire is still there to be a successful head coach."

Barnsley - who have won only 14 of their 42 league games under Hourihane in 2025-26 - are currently in their fourth successive season in the third tier of English football, having reached the play-offs in 2023 and 2024.

The club announced a net loss of more than £6.5m, external for the 12 months ended in June 2025.

They will now begin the search for their seventh head coach since Valerien Ismael left in the summer of 2021 after guiding them to the Championship play-offs, the closest they have come to a return to the Premier League since their single top-flight season in 1997-98.