Long lost footage of the legendary Tommy Taylor and Mark Jones, both victims of the Munich air disaster, playing for Barnsley on home soil has been found at Oakwell.
Reds owner Patrick Cryne has snapped up the first copy of the film for an undisclosed sum while the original is to be preserved and made available to supporters in a museum that could open at Oakwell within the next two years.
Club statistician Arthur Bower discovered the images.
He said: "There was a small cupboard at the back of the boardroom and I opened the door to find cardboard boxes stacked up to the roof, champagne bottles, old programmes and minutes from meetings dating back to the Fifties"
"I had no idea that this film existed and when I saw the tin under one of the boxes and found out what it was it came as a big surprise."
Taylor had spent two seasons with Barnsley before joining Manchester United for a then record fee of £29,999 in 1953. Jones, a bricklayer's apprentice from Darfield, went straight to Old Trafford.
Both were killed in the Munich air disaster 46 years ago.
The film was shown in public at the club's annual Player of the Year dinner on Monday for the first time.
It also featured narration from its manager at the time, Tim Ward, and offered a glimpse into life behind the scenes at Oakwell in the Fifties.
The game was arranged to raise funds for players' benefits and took place on Thursday, April 26, 1956.
Former players, or even those with local connections, had been invited to take on the Barnsley side of the day.
Taylor and Jones inspired the "Ex-Barnsley All-Stars" to a convincing 6-0 victory. Nearly 8,500 people turned up to watch the action and gate receipts reached £918.