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Revision as of 16:15, 6 August 2010
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2010) |
Club logo | |||
Full name | Barrow Association Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Bluebirds, The Ziggers (pre-1970s) | ||
Founded | 1901 | ||
Ground | Holker Street Barrow-in-Furness | ||
Capacity | 4,256 | ||
Chairman | Brian Keen | ||
Manager | David Bayliss and Darren Sheridan | ||
League | Conference National | ||
2009–10 | Conference National, 15th | ||
Website | Club website | ||
|
Barrow A.F.C. are an English football team founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have since spent their time in the top two levels of non-league football. Barrow have twice won non-league football's most prestigious cup competition, the FA Trophy - in 1990 and 2010, becoming the only non-league club to have won the trophy at both old and new Wembley stadia.
The club colours are blue and white, though the combination of these has varied over time, leading to their nickname "The Bluebirds". Attendances at the club's Holker Street ground vary - the home record of 16,874 was set against Swansea City in the FA Cup Third Round in 1954 - but during the 1990s and 2000s the average remained consistently between 800 and 1,500. Average attendance stood at 1,590 during the 2008-09 season.
History
Barrow AFC were founded on 16 July 1901 at the old Drill Hall (later the Palais) in the strand and played at The Strawberry Ground, Roosecote and Ainslie Street before moving to their current stadium, Holker Street, in 1909. After early years spent in the Lancashire Combination, the club became founder members of the Football League Third Division North in 1921.
Barrow remained in the lowest tier of the Football League for all but three seasons. During this time, they remained relatively obscure, only occasionally coming to national attention. Their third round FA Cup game against the then Football League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1958–59 season is particularly notable.
After finishing third in Division 4 in the 1966–67 season and gaining promotion, Barrow enjoyed their highest ever league finish in the 1967–68 season, ending up eighth in the Third Division, with the club briefly leading the table.
Barrow remained in the third flight of English football for another two season before returning to the basement in 1970. In 1972, Barrow were voted out of the Football League, in favour of Hereford United, and joined the Northern Premier League. They later became founder members of the Football Conference (then known as the Alliance Premier League), the only national division in non-league football. After this, Barrow spent periods of time in both the Football Conference and the Northern Premier League.
The Wilkie years
Ray Wilkie took the manager's job at Barrow part way through the 1985-86 season when the club were struggling near the foot of the Alliance Premier league. It was too late to save the team from relegation, but on Wilkie's appointment Barrow AFC embarked on their most successful period in non-league football.
Barrow eventually won promotion back to the re-named Vauxhall Conference in 1988-1989, finishing champions of the Northern Premier. Barrow achieved two respectable finishes in the Conference - 10th in 1989-1990 and 14th the season after. Unfortunately Wilkie was forced to step down during the 1991-1992 due to health problems. That season Barrow would be relegated back to the Northern Premier League.
As well as league success, Wilkie brought glory on the cup trail. In 1988, Barrow reached the FA Trophy semi-final, losing to Enfield after a replay. The first leg at Holker Street attracted 6,002 supporters – still a non-league record for the club. The season after, Barrow reached the 1st round of the FA Cup, losing out 3–1 at Rotherham's Millmoor. In early 1991, Barrow reached the third round of the FA Cup, losing 1–0 away to Third Division high fliers Bolton Wanderers, watched by thousands of travelling supporters.
In 1990, they won non-league football's most prestigious competition, the FA Trophy, beating Leek Town 3–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. Scoring the first and third goals was Kenny Gordon, a player who was not normally found on the score sheet, and who was playing his final game for his hometown club before emigrating to Australia.
Wilkie's successes can partly be attributed to getting the best out of striker Colin Cowperthwaite, who had been at the club since 1977. He scored the second goal in the FA Trophy final, but Colin had already become a legendary player at Holker Street, finishing as top scorer in each of Wilkie's five full seasons - as well as seven of the previous eight. His goalscoring exploits were coupled with a no-nonsense approach to playing the game and "Cowps" became the quintissential target man. Colin is still highly regarded at Holker Street, winning a recent poll to find Barrow supporter's favourite player in the non-league era. Cowperthwaite holds Barrow's all-time appearance record (705) and is the club's all-time leading goalscorer (282)
Recent history
Following Wilkie's departure in 1991, the club again struggled in the Conference and were back in the Northern Premier League. Following three mediocre seasons, Barrow were purchased by Stephen Vaughan, a Scouse-boxing promoter and businessman. Vaughan poured money into the club, building an all-seater stand and allowing the club to sign players of Conference-standard. The Bluebirds achieved promotion from the Northern Premier League in 1997-98, under manager Owen Brown.
However, Vaughan, who had connections with gangster Curtis Warren, was soon being inves tigated for money laundering. Vaughan left the club at the end of 1998, withdrawing his financial support that had been keeping it afloat. It transpired that the club's main asset, its Holker Street ground, had been transferred to Vaughan's company Vaughan Promotions whilst he was chairman. In January 1999, the club were the subject of a compulsory winding up order and a liquidator was appointed to run the club whilst trying to establish who the legal owner of the ground was. A new members' company was formed with the aim of providing financial support to the club and with the long term intention of taking over the running of the football club. In the summer of 1999 the club were thrown out of the Football Conference. After a long dispute and thanks to the support of the Football Association, Barrow were allowed entrance into the Northern Premier League for the 1999–2000 season, almost a month after it had commenced. This reduced time in which to play their fixtures led to the scheduling of Barrow v Winsford United on 30 December 1999, recognised as the last professional or semi-professional game in the United Kingdom of the millennium (assuming the year 2000 is considered to be part of the third millennium AD). Barrow managed to survive in the Northern Premier League under manager Kenny Lowe, despite having to create an almost entirely new squad. The team improved over the following few years despite remaining in administration. They twice missed out narrowly on promotion back to the Conference, finishing second and third in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons respectively. The legal disputes over the ownership of Holker Street were finally resolved in August 2002 and the new members company bought the Holker St Stadium from the liquidator. In 2003, the Football Association finally allowed the 'football membership' to be transferred to the new company.
In April 2004, Barrow defeated local rivals Workington in a two-legged final in the UniBond Presidents (League) Cup. The game finished 6–6 on aggregate, Barrow winning on away goals. Following their failure to gain promotion to the Conference in 2004–05, Barrow became founder members of yet another division, this time the Conference North, which replaced the Northern Premier League underneath the Conference National.
The following two seasons Barrow showed poor form in the league, narrowly escaping relegation at the end of 2006–07. Manager Lee Turnbull, who succeeded Lowe when the latter had to give up the job for work commitments, was sacked in 2005 and replaced by Phil Wilson. Compounding this was the jailing of defender James Cotterill for an assault committed on the pitch. In a first round FA Cup game Cotterill punched Bristol Rovers striker Sean Rigg, the incident being missed by the referee but caught by the Match of the Day cameras, resulting in Cotterill being the only English player in recent history to be jailed for an offence on the pitch.[1]
On 12 November 2007, after two years in the job, Phil Wilson was dismissed as manager. Although the sacking came two days after a good 1–1 draw in the FA Cup First Round against AFC Bournemouth, it was the club's continued poor league form which cost the manager his job. Barrow's first team affairs were shifted to players Paul Jones, David Bayliss and Darren Sheridan. Following a decent run of results, Bayliss and Sheridan were appointed as player-managers, whilst Jones became club captain. Bayliss and Sheridan led Barrow from 20th place in the league in December to fifth, ensuring a place in the play offs for promotion to the Conference National. Barrow won the semi-final against Telford United 4–0 on aggregate, before beating Stalybridge Celtic in the playoff final, held at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent.[2]
After an initial strong start in the Conference National, which saw Barrow top the table during the first few weeks, the club began to struggle and found themselves just above the relegation zone by January 2009. Barrow had more success in the FA Cup, beating Brentford 2-1 with goals from David Brown and Matt Henney in Round Two, their first victory over Football League opposition since their own elimination from the league in 1972. In the third round they were drawn an away tie against Middlesbrough, a Premier League team,[3] losing 2–1, with more than 7,000 Barrow fans travelling to Boro's Riverside Stadium to watch the match. Barrow managed to retain their place in the Conference, finishing twentieth.
Having made several alterations to the squad during the summer, the club started its 2nd season in Blue Square Premier in August 2009. After a tough start, the club put together a good run, losing only once in 16 games, and reaching the FA Cup 3rd round, until they were beaten 3-0 by Premier League side Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on January 2, 2010.[4]
On February 13, 2010, a mass brawl broke out on the pitch at the end of Barrow's home game against Kettering Town after a tackle from Kettering full-back James Jennings ended up putting Barrow striker Gregg Blundell in hospital. Players and Officials from both sides were both involved in the fracas, including Barrow's joint manager Dave Bayliss, and inquiries into the trouble are expected to follow.[5]
On March 13, 2010, a Gregg Blundell goal gave Barrow a 1-0 win away at Salisbury City in the 1st Leg of the FA Trophy Semi Final. A week later a Jason Walker double secured a 2-1 victory in the 2nd Leg to send the Bluebirds to Wembley where they will take on The reigning champions Stevenage Borough on May 8.
A Month later on their final home game, Barrow secured their place in the Conference National, they lost 1-0 to Salisbury City but Eastbourne Borough lost which means that Barrow will play in the highest level of non-league football in 2010–11.
On May 8th, Barrow won the FA Trophy against Stevenage Borough 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in North London, thanks to a final goal by Jason Walker during extra time.
Barrow are the first and only club to win the FA Trophy at both the old and new Wembley stadiums.
Players
- As of 6 August 2010.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers
As of 6th August 2010. Only league matches are counted.
Name | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | F | A | Win % | ||||
Jacob Fletcher | July 1901 | April 1904 | 78 | 33 | 15 | 30 | 146 | 135 | 42.31% | |
E. Freeland | April 1904 | ???? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
W. Smith | ???? | ???? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Alec Craig | ???? | May 1907 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Roger Charnley | May 1907 | ???? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Jacob Fletcher | ???? | September 1909 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
Jas P. Phillips | September 1909 | July 1913 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
John Parker | July 1913 | July 1920 | 114 | 55 | 16 | 43 | 232 | 197 | 48.25% | |
William Dickinson | July 1920 | May 1922 | 72 | 37 | 11 | 24 | 121 | 82 | 51.39% | |
Jimmy Atkinson | August 1922 | March 1923 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 44 | 43 | 36.67% | |
J.E. Moralee | April 1923 | January 1926 | 112 | 29 | 18 | 65 | 121 | 217 | 25.89% | |
Robert Greenhalgh | January 1926 | February 1926 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0% | |
William Dickinson | February 1926 | October 1927 | 67 | 12 | 12 | 43 | 61 | 182 | 17.91% | |
John S. Maconnachie | October 1927 | December 1928 | 52 | 12 | 15 | 25 | 70 | 116 | 23.08% | |
Andrew Walker | January 1929 | June 1930 | 62 | 16 | 7 | 39 | 74 | 142 | 25.81% | |
Thomas Miller | June 1930 | November 1930 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 39 | 18.75% | |
John Commins | November 1930 | May 1932 | 65 | 36 | 5 | 24 | 137 | 96 | 55.38% | |
Thomas Lowe | May 1932 | April 1937 | 204 | 73 | 47 | 84 | 351 | 378 | 35.78% | |
James Y. Bissett | April 1937 | December 1937 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 36 | 21.05% | |
Fred Pentland | January 1938 | June 1940 | 84 | 29 | 23 | 32 | 146 | 149 | 34.52% | |
John Commins | August 1945 | March 1947 | 54 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 71 | 104 | 31.48% | |
Andy Beattie | March 1947 | April 1949 | 95 | 36 | 26 | 33 | 106 | 95 | 37.89% | |
Jack Hacking | May 1949 | May 1955 | 272 | 96 | 57 | 119 | 363 | 421 | 35.29% | |
Joe Harvey | July 1955 | June 1957 | 92 | 33 | 18 | 41 | 137 | 145 | 35.87% | |
Norman Dodgin | July 1957 | May 1958 | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 66 | 74 | 28.26% | |
Bill Brown | July 1958 | August 1959 | 46 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 51 | 104 | 19.57% | |
Bill Rogers | August 1959 | October 1959 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 37 | 20% | |
Ron Staniforth | October 1959 | July 1964 | 213 | 67 | 61 | 85 | 312 | 360 | 31.46% | |
Don McEvoy | July 1964 | July 1967 | 138 | 52 | 32 | 54 | 207 | 235 | 37.68% | |
Colin Appleton | August 1967 | January 1969 | 70 | 32 | 13 | 25 | 103 | 90 | 45.71% | |
Fred Else | January 1969 | February 1969 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 0% | |
Norman Bodell | March 1969 | February 1970 | 46 | 9 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 82 | 19.57% | |
Don McEvoy | February 1970 | November 1971 | 78 | 15 | 18 | 45 | 88 | 142 | 19.23% | |
Bill Rogers | November 1971 | November 1971 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0% | |
Jack Crompton | December 1971 | June 1972 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 40 | 35.71% | |
Peter Kane | July 1972 | June 1974 | 92 | 25 | 13 | 54 | 98 | 195 | 27.17% | |
Brian Arrowsmith | July 1974 | November 1975 | 67 | 12 | 18 | 37 | 61 | 115 | 17.91% | |
Ron Yeats | December 1975 | February 1977 | 46 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 61 | 90 | 32.61% | |
Alan Coglan and Billy McAdams | February 1977 | July 1977 | 21 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 26 | 38 | 23.81% | |
David Hughes | July 1977 | July 1977 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | |
Brian McManus | July 1977 | November 1979 | 103 | 31 | 23 | 49 | 115 | 161 | 30.10% | |
Micky Taylor | November 1979 | May 1983 | 147 | 52 | 35 | 60 | 192 | 206 | 35.37% | |
Vic Halom | July 1983 | May 1984 | 42 | 29 | 10 | 3 | 92 | 38 | 69.05% | |
Peter McDonnell | July 1984 | November 1984 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 21 | 29.41% | |
Joe Wojciechowicz | November 1984 | December 1984 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0% | |
Brian Kidd | December 1984 | April 1985 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 26.32% | |
John Cooke | April 1985 | April 1985 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 33.33% | |
Bob Murphy | April 1985 | May 1985 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0% | |
Maurice Whittle | May 1985 | October 1985 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 29 | 0% | |
David Johnson | October 1985 | March 1985 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 28 | 31.25% | |
Glenn Skivington and Neil McDonald | March 1986 | March 1986 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 0% | |
Ray Wilkie | March 1986 | November 1991 | 236 | 93 | 62 | 81 | 325 | 311 | 39.41% | |
Neil McDonald | November 1991 | December 1991 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 25% | |
John King | December 1991 | May 1992 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 36 | 22.73% | |
Graham Heathcote | May 1992 | December 1992 | 23 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 40 | 31 | 43.48% | |
Richard Dinnis | December 1992 | October 1993 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 45 | 40 | 40% | |
Mick Cloudsdale | October 1993 | June 1994 | 31 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 35 | 45.16% | |
Tony Hesketh | June 1994 | March 1996 | 74 | 32 | 16 | 26 | 121 | 101 | 43.24% | |
Neil McDonald and Franny Ventre | March 1996 | March 1996 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0% | |
Mike Walsh | March 1996 | October 1996 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 20 | 55% | |
Owen Brown | October 1996 | January 1999 | 100 | 49 | 22 | 29 | 127 | 95 | 49% | |
Shane Westley | January 1999 | July 1999 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 22 | 25% | |
Greg Challender | July 1999 | August 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | |
Kenny Lowe | August 1999 | May 2003 | 176 | 78 | 46 | 52 | 307 | 233 | 44.32% | |
Lee Turnbull | May 2003 | November 2005 | 102 | 41 | 28 | 33 | 164 | 146 | 40.20% | |
Darren Edmondson | November 2005 | December 2005 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 33.33% | |
Phil Wilson | December 2005 | November 2007 | 78 | 20 | 24 | 34 | 85 | 100 | 25.64% | |
Darren Sheridan and David Bayliss | November 2007 | Present | 122 | 47 | 36 | 39 | 163 | 153 | 38.52% |
Honours
Victories
- FA Trophy - Winners (2) 1989/90, 2009/10
- Lancashire Combination Division One - Champions (1) 1920/21;
- Lancashire Senior Cup - 1954-55
- Northern Premier League - Champions (3) 1983/84, 1988/89, 1997/98
- Northern Premier League Shield - Winners (1) 1984/85
- Northern Premier League President's Cup - Winners (2) 2001/02, 2003/04
- Northern Premier League Chairman's Cup - Winners (1) 2000/01
- Lancashire Junior Cup - Winners (1) 1980/81
- Chas Kendall Trophy
Promotions/Runners-Up
- Division Four - Promotion (3) 1966/67
- Conference North Play-off Winners 2008
- Lancashire Combination Division Two - Runners up (2) 1904/05, 1910/11
- Lancashire Combination Division One - Runners up (1) 1913/14
- Northern Premier League - Runners up (1) 2002/03
- Northern Premier League Challenge Cup - Runners up (1) 1987/88
Others
- Best league performance (football league) - 8th in Division Three 1967/68
- Best league performance (non-league) - 8th in Alliance Premier League 1981/82
- FA Cup - Third Round eleven times (three times as a non-league club, last in 2009/10)
- League Cup - Third Round Twice
Music
The Barrow AFC squad from 2009/2010 recorded a song to promote their FA Trophy success, Called "All Together Now".
References
- ^ "FA Cup assault footballer jailed". BBC Online. 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Blue Square North/South play-offs". BBC Sport Online. 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Barrow handed FA Cup trip to Boro". BBC Sport. 2008-11-30. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
- ^ Clarke, Ron (2010-01-03). "Fraizer Campbell strikes roll out Barrow for Sunderland in FA Cup". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/mass_brawl_at_barrow_afc_match_against_kettering_town_1_672605?referrerPath=news
External links
- Official website
- Unofficial Fans Website and Forums
- Barrow at the Football Club History Database
- [http://www.barrowafc.com/