Tykes keen on FA Cup payday March 10 2008
Barnsley chairman Gordon Shepherd has revealed the Tykes' fairytale FA Cup run will earn the club £2.6million if they can overcome Cardiff in the last four.
Shepherd quantified just what Simon Davey's side had achieved in financial terms following the semi-final draw which paired them with their Championship rivals.
The Tykes eclipsed their stunning last-minute win at Anfield against Liverpool in the fifth round last month by toppling Chelsea at Oakwell on Saturday in a thrilling quarter-final tie that the town will never forget.
Shepherd said: "We've probably made up to now, with winners' bonuses so far and gate receipts and things, around £1million.
"We think once we've played the semi-final it will probably be worth another £700,000.
"However, if we won the semi-final we'd get a £900,000 winners' bonus as well, so there's a lot at stake, there really is.
"A club like this can always use money because we don't generate a great deal of revenue. We have average crowds of 10,000, so we actually we do need the money just to continue."
An estimated 33,000 Tykes fans will go to Wembley for the semi-final clash over the weekend of April 5/6, with a similar number expected should they make it all the way to the final for the first time since 1912 - the year the Titanic sunk.
Davey attempted to shift his side's focus to Tuesday's league match with play-off chasing Ipswich at Oakwell, but conceded he had only just returned from dreamland.
The manager, whose side lie in 19th place in the table, four points clear of the relegation zone, said: "I had a day and a half on cloud nine, but we've got to prepare for a big game tomorrow against Ipswich.
"So that's the main priority now, to get all the press out of the stadium and start focusing on the game tomorrow night.
"But it's fantastic. To be a manager in my first full season, to be able to lead a team out at Wembley.
"I've listened to Harry Redknapp and he's not led a team out at Wembley in the all years he's been a manager, so for me to do it in my first year is a great achievement.
"It might never come again, so I'm going to relish every moment of it."
Davey added: "I think any of the four teams can win it now. There's no big-six clubs. The Liverpools, the Chelseas, the Man Uniteds, the Arsenals, the Tottenhams, the Evertons are all out.
"And that's a testament to Championship clubs - three of them in the last four and all three teams outside the Premier League will think they have a chance of winning it."
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Luke Steele, on an emergency month-to-month loan spell from West Brom, breathed a huge sigh of relief when Barnsley avoided the Baggies in the draw.
Steele, whose heroics at Anfield in his first match for the Tykes earned him the FA's player-of-the-round award, would not have been eligible to face his parent club in the last four.
Davey said: "We're pleased for him. He's worked very hard since he's come here and he's put in some fantastic performances.
"He's played the last two rounds for us and for us not to draw West Brom solves a problem, and now he'll be available to play. We just hope he doesn't get injured.
"We're in the process of talks now with West Brom to see if we can get him until the end of the season. That's the plan and we'll hear in the next couple of days."