Rotherham United fight against history as well as Barnsley in derby battle
ROTHERHAM United head to Barnsley this weekend in the hope of ending a 55-year away-day barren spell against their derby rivals.
In a winless run stretching to 16 matches, the Millers haven’t triumphed on Tykes turf since a 1-0 League Cup success back in August 1970.
“I told the lads about that the other morning,” manager Matt Hamshaw said. “Look. there's not a lot I can do about the history. I know how important the game is.”
The 16-game sequence is made up of ten defeats and six draws, and the visitors have lost on all four of their visits since 2016.
You have to go back to March 1969 for Rotherham's last league win on Barnsley soil: a 1-0 result in the old Division Three.
The two League One clubs did battle at Oakwell only two months ago, when Hamshaw's men – beset by injuries to their backline – led 1-0 at the break before being edged out 2-1 in a Carabao Cup second-round tie.
“I thought that we held ourselves really well the last time we played them there,” the boss said. “We didn't have numbers defensively on that day. However, we've got numbers back now.”
Eighteenth-placed Rotherham are unbeaten in their last four games - three of them in the third tier - while Barnsley, in tenth spot, are without a league victory since they toppled Reading on September 13.
“We're going into the match with a bit of momentum, which is nice,” Hamshaw said. “Derby matches are always hard, no matter if you're in good run of form or bad run of form. It'll be a difficult game.”
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One to watch
Davis Keillor-Dunn joined Barnsley from Mansfield Town for around £750,000 in the summer of 2024 and scored 20 goals in 49 appearances in his first year at Oakwell. Going into this week, the attacker had hit the target seven times in 15 outings in the present campaign. The Sunderland-born player, now aged 27, started out at Scottish club Ross County and went on to play for Wrexham, Oldham Athletic and Burton Albion before ending up at Mansfield for whom he bagged 22 goals in 51 matches during their 2023/24 League Two promotion season.
Form guide
Barnsley: LLLDDW
Millers: LLDWWW
Barnsley began the season well but then lost four consecutive matches before stopping the rot with a 2-2 draw at Wycombe Wanderers where they had been leading 2-0. Last Saturday, they drew 2-2 again, at Bradford City, and they followed that up on Tuesday with a 5-2 home win over Manchester United Under-21s in the Vertu Trophy.
Sixty-five games between the clubs since 1919 have brought 20 victories for Rotherham and 28 for the Tykes.
Past meetings
Aug 26 2025, Carabao Cup: Barnsley 2 Millers 1
Ar'Jany Martha
Feb 22 2024, League One: Millers 0 Barnsley 1
Nov 8 2024, League One: Barnsley 2 Millers 0
Apr 24 2021, Championship: Barnsley 1 Millers 0
Dec 29 2020, Championship: Millers 1 Barnsley 2
Michael Smith
Jan 28 2017, Championship: Millers 0 Barnsley 1
Aug 27 2016, Championship: Barnsley 4 Millers 0
Nov 19 2005, League One: Barnsley 1 Millers 1
Shaun Barker
Oct 25 2005, League One: Millers 0 Barnsley 1
Last clash
The Millers dominated the first half of the Carabao Cup second-round tie at Barnsley in late August and led at the break through Ar'Jany Martha's edge-of-the-area strike. However, the home side hit back after the interval to edge the contest 2-1 through goals from Jon Russell and Adam Phillips.
Opposition boss
Conor Hourihane is in his first job in the hot-seat after a long, distinguished career as a midfielder that included spells at Plymouth Argyle, Barnsley, Aston Villa and Derby County and saw him play in the Premier League and win 36 Republic of Ireland caps. He took over as head coach in April - after a stint as interim charge following the sacking of Darrell Clarke - and, at the age of 34, is one of the youngest bosses in the EFL.
Man in the middle
Benjamin Speedie became an EFL official in 2020 after a season in the National League and is taking charge of a Rotherham match for the fifth time. Based in Merseyside and the referee development officer for Liverpool County FA, he refereed the Millers twice last season: the 2-2 home draw with Burton Albion in September and the 1-0 New Year's Day win at Lincoln City. This term, he has issued 36 cautions and shown three red cards in 13 games.
The odds
The bookmakers make Barnsley firm favourites, offering a home win at 81/100 and an away victory at 29/10. A draw is 11/4.