Plymouth Argyle were disappointed with Barnsley FC transfer decision – They got robbed blind | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle were robbed blind by Barnsley over the sale of Conor Hourihane in the summer of 2014.

In the summer of 2014, Plymouth Argyle lost key man Conor Hourihane to Barnsley, and it will forever be a source of frustration for the Pilgrims to have lost the Irishman for a relative pittance.

Having come through the academy at Sunderland in the Premier League, Conor Hourihane eventually moved to Ipswich Town in 2010 but, with both teams, failed to make a first-team appearance.

Then, in the summer of 2011, he found a club that would launch his career with Plymouth, moving to Devon and almost immediately becoming a key man for the Pilgrims.

After a couple of seasons of narrowly avoiding the drop in the fourth-tier, Hourihane and Plymouth then launched a push for the top seven and the play-off places in the 2013/14 campaign, eventually missing out by just a few points.

Financial issues continued to bother the club, though, and they were eventually forced into the sale of Hourihane to Barnsley for a fee of just £200,000.

Having been instrumental for Argyle, they would have known what they were losing but it only got worse for them with what he want on to achieve at Barnsley.

Barnsley robbed Plymouth blind over Conor Hourihane

Having been relegated in the 2013/14 season, Barnsley were rebuilding themselves under the management of Danny Wilson and Hourihane was a part of a major summer overhaul of the squad.

Perhaps the standout addition still, though, despite the notable arrivals of the likes of Luke Berry, Keith Treacy, Sam Winnall and even Leroy Lita; Hourihane established himself as the fulcrum of the Barnsley midfield.

Known for his so-called ‘wand’ of a left foot, Hourihane was utterly magnificent for the Tykes as their top scorer with 13 goals from the middle of the park, despite the fact that they succumbed to a mid-table finish in League One.

Their second season in the third-tier saw Barnsley continue to play a fluent style, despite another change in management with Paul Heckingbottom replacing Bristol City-bound Lee Johnson in the February, that Hourihane was perfectly suited to, and he once again hit double figures for goals as Barnsley pulled off a rare Wembley double.

Having won the Football League Trophy final over Oxford United in early April in an entertaining 3-2 victory, Barnsley then squeezed into the play-offs on the final day with a 4-1 demolition of champions Wigan Athletic at the then DW Stadium, with Hourihane scoring his tenth of the league campaign.

Hourihane was then once again instrumental in the play-offs, playing all 90 minutes in all three matches as Barnsley gained promotion to the Championship with a 3-1 victory over Millwall back down at Wembley.

Conor Hourihane has etched himself into Barnsley history

In the first-half of the 2016/17 campaign, now back in the Championship, Hourihane was managing to standout as one of the very best midfielders in the second-tier, too.

As a newly-promoted side, Barnsley sprung a bit of a surprise upon their return to the higher level with five victories in their opening seven matches of the campaign leaving them third in the table as late-September approached. A run of form whereby Hourihane scored three and provided five assists.

Hourihane was brilliant for Barnsley throughout the first-half of the campaign before the giants of Aston Villa came knocking and eventually purchased the Barnsley man for a fee believed to be in the region of £3 million.

His final game for Barnsley had seen Hourihane score a trademark and match-winning free-kick against Yorkshire rivals Leeds United, and it was fitting for it to end that way at Oakwell.

Hourihane eventually played Premier League football with Aston Villa before moves to Swansea City, Sheffield United and then Derby County ahead of a return to Barnsley, where he began his managerial career.

Barnsley purchased themselves a future manager and cult hero who would help gain promotion back to the Championship, winning the club’s Player of the Year award in his debut campaign, too. They knew he was good but what he went on to achieve would only have rubbed salt into the wound of Plymouth.

That was for a fee of £200,000, which was then obliterated by them managing to sell him for around £2.8 million in profit – and that will only further sicken Plymouth supporters.