Barnsley FC player Barry Cotter shared a video of the fire on social media after the bus had been safely evacuated
Barnsley manager Neill Collins has expressed his relief that nobody was hurt in the fire that destroyed the League One side’s team bus.
Players and staff lost kit and personal items as the fire engulfed the bus after players noticed flames.
“First and foremost, we’re very fortunate that everyone’s fine - everyone’s good,” said Collins. external-link
“From our point of view, when you look back at these things, they say that things can always be worse, and it’s definitely true in this case.
“No one foresees anything like that happening, but thankfully everyone was able to stay calm and get off the bus.”
League One rivals Cheltenham allowed the Tykes to use their bus in order to get home after a dramatic end to their day.
“The boys at the back said the bus was on fire and the engine lights were coming on, so the bus driver did an excellent job of getting pulled over as quickly as possible enabling us to get off the bus as quickly as possible,” Collins told the club website.
“It all happened, I’d say, within a minute. There was a problem, we pulled over and got everyone off the bus and got everyone to safety, and before you know it the bus was on fire - it was as quick as that.”
‘Some players lost three or four pairs of boots’
John McAtee’s late winner meant Barnsley came away with a 1-0 win at Exeter before their bus caught fire
While everyone on board was safe, the damage the fire caused has had an effect on the club - who do not play until 21 October after their game with Bolton was called off because of international call-ups.
“You start with the most basic things like football boots - I think some players lost three or four pairs of boots and anyone who buys them know they’re very expensive,” added Collins.
“There’s the fitness side of it and their equipment, the coaching staff and media staff have lost laptops, I’ve lost my phone that’s got everything on it, my hard drive with all my work. There’s some painful lessons.
“In hindsight, you can say you wish you’d grabbed this or that, but I think everyone did a really good job.
“It was certainly not the way we expected to spend our Saturday night.”
