 After being released by OB, Preece returned to England by joining Barnsley free on a one-year contract, with the option to extend the contract by a further year, and was expected to compete with Luke Steele.After spending the first half of the season on the bench, Preece's big chance of his first team came when he made his debut for the club (and first team in English football for 10 years) in a 1–0 loss against Watford on 12 September 2009 and continued in goal for three consecutive games until Steele returned.At the end of the season, Preece signed another one-year deal despite being Barnsley's back-up goalkeeper.