Barnsley are currently enjoying arguably the best season they have had during the 2000s with the Tykes battling it out for a place in the play-offs in the Championship.

The Tykes have been operating mainly between the bottom half of the Championship and top half of League One since the start of the 2000s and the Tykes have managed to achieve promotion to the English second tier on three occasions during that period. However, they have never really been able to challenge for promotion to the top-flight in that time until this term.

Barnsley have had many talented strikers over the period who have played a key role in helping to wither keep the club in the Championship or fire them to promotion from League One. There have been some who have gone onto bigger and better things since leaving Oakwell and others who have done less well since they left the club.

Here then, we rank the top 10 best strikers the Tykes have had since the year 2000. Click ‘next’ to scroll through the list…

Before we start this list it is worth noting the likes of Daniel Bogdanović, Neil Shipperley, Daniel Nardiello and John Macken as players who could have made the list. While both Ivan Toney and Ashley Fletcher are also worthy of a mention.

However, starting off the list is Marc Richards, who is considered here because of the important impact he had for the Tykes during their promotion season from League One in 2005/06. The forward managed to register 12 league goals in 48 appearances in all competitions for them that term and also started in the play-off final win against Swansea City.

The following season, Richards managed to score six goals in 31 Championship appearances as the Tykes managed to secure their survival in the second tier. However, he left at the end of the campaign and was nearly allowed to leave the club before that when a move to Port Vale fell through in January 2007.

In ninth place on this list is Oli McBurnie, who like both Toney and Fletcher enjoyed a decent period on loan at Oakwell before going on to impress elsewhere. The forward was signed by the Tykes on loan from Swansea City in January 2018 as Paul Heckingbottom searched for more goals upfront.

McBurnie proved to be a very astute signing and made an almost immediate impact for the Tykes going on to the have an excellent period of scoring six goals in his opening eight matches for the club. That was enough to earn the forward the Championship’s Player of the Month award for February and also a call up to the Scotland squad. While he also went on to win the club’s Player of the Year award.

The forward finished off his impressive loan spell with the Tykes with a record of nine goals in 17 Championship appearances. He then returned to Swansea and helped to fire in 22 league goals in 2018/19, which persuaded Sheffield United to bring him to the Premier League in the summer of 2019 after their promotion.

In terms of quality strikers, the club have had since the 2000s he is arguably one of the best, but he is only 9^th here because he was only with the Tykes for a brief period.

In eighth place on this list is Craig Davies, who makes the list having managed to display some good form for the Tykes in the Championship during his time at Oakwell.

Davies was signed by Barnsley from Chesterfield on the back of a strong 2010/11 campaign that had seen him register 23 league goals in 41 appearances in League Two. The forward took nine games until he registered his first goal for the club in a defeat against Bristol City. However, he went onto score eight goals in eight games after that and finished the season with 11 goals in 40 league games.

The following season, Davies scored four goals in a memorable 5-0 win at Birmingham City for the Tykes, but spent a brief period on the injury table before returning to action and ending up with nine goals in 22 appearances in all competitions in the first half of the 2012/13 campaign. That January, Bolton Wanderers managed to secure a move for him for around £300,000.

In seventh place on this list is Tom Bradshaw, who makes it into this list quite comfortably for some of the periods of good form he enjoyed for the Tykes during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns in the Championship.

The forward looked like an excellent signing for Barnsley when they brought him into the club in the summer of 2016 from Walsall, where he had been an impressive performer in 2015/16 managing to fire in 17 league goals in League One. Bradshaw managed to enjoy a decent first season at Oakwell in the second tier and scored eight goals in 42 league appearances as they finished in 14^th place.

The following campaign, Bradshaw managed to perform decently in a side that were struggling against relegation to League One. He managed to register 12 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions meaning he finished as the club’s top scorer. However, following their relegation he was sold to Millwall for a fee of around £800,000.

Just about edging out Bradshaw to sixth place in this list is Chris O’Grady, who does so having managed to enjoy an impressive season in front of goal for the Tykes in the Championship during the 2013/14 campaign.

O’Grady was signed by Barnsley on a permanent basis from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 2013, that came after he had enjoyed a good loan spell with the club during the second half of the 2012/13 season where he had managed to fire in six goals in 16 Championship appearances to help the club to just about survive in the league. Indeed, he scored on the final day of the season as they held Huddersfield to stay up.

The following campaign, O’Grady displayed good form for Barnsley in front of goal, despite the Tykes struggling again in the Championship. The forward managed to fire in 15 goals in 40 Championship appearances but it was not enough to keep them in the division and they finished in 23^rd place. Brighton decided to make a move for him in the summer of 2014 signing him for around half a million.

Making it into the list in 5^th place is Kieffer Moore, who could have been higher had he managed to spend a little more time at Oakwell than he did. However, he was still a very good performer for the Tykes during his spell with the club.

Moore was signed by Barnsley in January 2018, with the forward having been an impressive performer for Rotherham United in the first half of the 2017/18 campaign firing in 13 goals. The Wales international’s form did now continue to be as prolific for the Tykes in the second half of the season and he managed four goals in 20 league games as they were relegated.

In the 2018/19 season, Moore was an excellent performer for the Tykes in League One and was a key reason why they were able to immediately earn promotion back to the Championship under Daniel Stendel. He fired in 19 goals in all competitions and 17 in 31 appearances in the league to help them to automatic promotion and earn a place in the league’s Team of the Year.

The forward left Oakwell the following summer signing for Wigan Athletic and is now in excellent form for Cardiff City in the Championship this term.

Coming in at number four on this list is another player, who like McBurnie, managed to enjoy an excellent spell with the Tykes on loan and was able to show his potential.

Chopra was signed on loan by Barnsley from Newcastle United ahead of the 2004/05 campaign and the forward was able to impress with the Tykes in a way he had not done in previous short loan spells with both Watford and Nottingham Forest. The striker was able to be a quality player for them in League One that season and was a constant threat to opposing defences.

Overall, Chopra managed to fire in 17 league goals in 39 appearances, which included two hat-tricks and that was enough to convince the club the try and sign him permanently the following summer. However, ultimately those attempts proved to be unsuccessful and that is a shame considering how well he did for the likes of Cardiff City and Ipswich Town after leaving Oakwell.

In third place on this list is Bruce Dyer, who arguably could be placed even higher on this list due to the consistency he displayed for the Tykes in front of goal during the first few years of the 2000s.

Dyer was into his third season with the club at the start of the 2000/01 season and the forward had already scored seven and six league goals in his first two campaigns with the club. During the 2000/01 campaign, the striker managed to enjoy an excellent individual season with him firing in 15 goals in 38 appearances in the English second tier.

The following season, Dyer was again able to find form in front of goal and he was on target 18 times in all competitions and 14 times in the league, despite the Tykes suffering relegation. The 2002/03 season was his last with the club and he fired in 17 goals in the third tier to help keep them in the division. He then left for Watford.

In second place on this list is Sam Winnall, who makes it so high on this list because of the excellent season he enjoyed during the 2015/16 campaign as the Tykes earned promotion back to the Championship.

Winnall was signed by the Tykes in the summer of 2014 fresh from an impressive campaign with Scunthorpe United in which he had scored 23 goals in 45 League One appearances in the 2013/14 season. In his first year with Barnsley, the forward was not able to be as prolific, but he did still manage to fire home 13 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions.

The following campaign, Winnall came alive and was Barnsley’s most important player in their 2015/16 promotion campaign managing to fire in an impressive tally of 21 goals in 43 League One appearances. Then after 11 goals in 22 games in the Championship he was signed by Sheffield Wednesday in January 2017.

Woodrow deserves his place at the top of this list and could go onto prove that even more, especially if his goals prove to be the difference between them going up in the play-offs.

He was signed by Barnsley in the summer of 2018 initially on loan from Fulham and he managed to earn himself a permanent move to Oakwell in January 2019 after firing in four goals in ten League One appearances in the first half of the campaign. After making his move a permanent one he scored a further 12 league goals to help the club earn promotion.

Last term, Woodrow showed his quality to adapt to the Championship and still be a key performer for the Tykes with him registering an impressive tally of 14 goals in 40 league appearances. While so far this term, the forward has continued to lead the line well and fire in important goals and he could be on course to play a major role in them earning promotion.