Welcome to Barrow

[Howjy04]

Very pleased for them.Barrow has had one the worst Covid outbreaks.Some good news.Marvellous fish and chips.

[darren1810]

18 minutes ago, Jacko51 said:

If you look at Crewe's record before automatic relegation from the League was introduced, they had to apply for re-election to the league on ten occasions.  If only the Football League chairmen had done the right thing!

How flawed and biased was that system. Staggering really when you think. 

I'm not 100% on this but didn't Hereford only get in because of their FA cup heroics, sure I read previously that they didn't even win their league. 

I can't remember that much about re-election but I'm sure Crewe, Rochdale and possibly Hartlepool seemed to be in the bottom 4 every season. 

Extremely political and financially based I'd imagine the voting was . 

[Jacko51]

I seem to recall the Gateshead directors were devastated when they were voted out.  Apparently they hadn't understood the "culture" of the re-election process.

[TheSage]

Hereford finished 2nd to Chelmsford City but those were the days when a number of non league clubs could not afford to spend money on their grounds and do the upgrades that would satisfy the FL and so they declined to apply. Looks daft to us now.

The year Barrow dropped out they were 3rd from bottom and several points ahead of the bottom two, with Crewe at the base (yet again). But applying then for re-election was nearly always a done deal between chairman who had been sharing a cream sherry or two for donkey's years. But to finish 3rd from bottom and get relegated while the bottom two stayed in seems remarkable now.

Thankfully the old boys' network saved us in the mid sixties so we'd better be careful what we say!

[RailwayRowdy]

For a town with a population of only around 50,000,  Barrow is quite a sporty town.

Barrow Raiders compete, albeit on a semi professional basis,  in the second tier of the Rugby League pyramid system and until the mid 80’s the Barrow Bombers speedway team used Holker Street as their home track. 

But the town’s real claim to fame will be its historic association with shipbuilding, which will include the majority of nuclear submarines In service with the Royal Navy.

In total, in excess of 700 merchant ships, submarines and naval vessels have been constructed in this corner of England for numerous countries worldwide.

So quite an important town, despite its image.

[Playa Amodores]

I’ll be looking forward to seeing how Dior adjusts to life L2, not sure we gave him enough time and I feel that our previous owner used him as a pawn for his own greedy ends.

Quigley didn’t impress me and when Richie Bennett was on the pitch, I thought it was Quigley in disguise.

[CambridgeDon]

Yes, welcome back Barrow. It's been a pleasure following them last season, especially as they have one or two Vale players. I'd really like to get over to see them at the Vale, so here's hoping it's a weekend game. Nice away game too, but a bit too far for me these days. 

[darren1810]

On 18/06/2020 at 13:15, Playa Amodores said:

I’ll be looking forward to seeing how Dior adjusts to life L2, not sure we gave him enough time and I feel that our previous owner used him as a pawn for his own greedy ends.

Quigley didn’t impress me and when Richie Bennett was on the pitch, I thought it was Quigley in disguise.

Hope that's tongue in cheek 🤔, despite the fact he's left us Bennett was way better than Quigley although now Bennett is non league and Quigley is a League 2 player. No comparison for me, Bennett wasn't as bad as people made out and filling Pope's spot in the team was like a millstone around his neck with our resident boo boys. 

[points-with-bone]

On 17/06/2020 at 22:15, TheSage said:

Fair point, my friend.

I was really commenting on how it's a little awkward to get there - out on a limb on the n-west coast.

But, yes, a great many towns in the midlands and the north have struggled since the eighties.  And I guess we both share that problem.

I did also add that I was pleased to see one of the older traditional teams back in the League.

Now for Workington, Bradford PA and Southport!

Bradford PA were doing well [in the league below the conference], but this [truncated season] they were having a bad time, so I'm presuming they've been relegated?

Their old ground was the subject of an unusual book called 'Breaking Ground', which was nominated for 'Sports book of the year'. Apparently their old ground had a legal order on it that meant it couldn't be used for housing, shopping developments etc and so it just stayed there with trees etc overgrowing it [from 1974 onwards]. The book chronicles an archaeological dig that took place at Park Avenue and the fascinating things it revealed, as the ground was brought back to life

My favourite bit was the discovery of lots of marbles in one of the goal mouths. This puzzled the archaeologists, until an old fan came forward and confessed that in his younger days he used to chuck marbles at the away teams' goalkeepers

The discovery of nappy pins in one of the goal mouths was equally puzzling, but was explained by the daughter of Chick Farr Bradford PA's goalkeeper. The elastic in his shorts split and the trainer used a nappy pin to repair them. Fans never let him forget the incident by showering him in subsequent games with nappy pins

The old ground [across the road from the Great Mosque] has now been redeveloped by the council into a cricket training facility

Would love to see them back in the football league even if just to hear their name read out on Final Score

Points-with-Bone

[Howjy04]

Popey played for Barrow at one time.

[RailwayRowdy]

On 17/06/2020 at 22:15, TheSage said:

I did also add that I was pleased to see one of the older traditional teams back in the League.

Now for Workington, Bradford PA and Southport

Barrow’s near neighbours Workington were one team badly hit by the suspension of football due to the pandemic.

When the Northern Premier League called an end to all their divisions seasons, Workington were 10 points clear at the top of the North West Division with only 9 games to play. But the season was declared null and void so a more than likely automatic promotion to NPL Premier Division was denied. 

Add to that, when plans for a new 8,000 capacity stadium which was due to open in 2021 and to be shared with the towns Rugby League team were shelved over financial fears, a year that promised so much eventually produced so little. 

Life in football’s basements eh ?

[TheSage]

Nice stories, thanks.

I give praise to the good lord that we have managed to avoid the trapdoor - a few times since the early sixties in fact - because we know how hard it can be to get back.

I lived near Hereford for years and they were my second team for a decade. Luckily it coincided with the halcyon days of McNeil, Phillips, Harvey and Price, but now they've sunk like a stone and the ground is an awful mess. It might have been us. 
How many years is it since Workington Town (was it?) and Southport and Halifax were in the FL? 

Scarboro sunk. York haven't bounced back. Nor Stockport or Torquay or Kidderminster.

It's tough once you drop out and very easy to sink without trace.

I look back fondly at all these teams. I've been to all their grounds and they hold memories for me, mostly good ones I have to say.

[RailwayRowdy]

1 hour ago, TheSage said:

How many years is it since Workington Town (was it?) and Southport and Halifax were in the FL? 

Workington failed to get re-elected in ‘77 and Southport in ‘78 to be replaced by Wimbledon and Wigan respectively. Particularly galling for Southport as they won the Fourth Division title in ‘73.

Torquay (2007 & 2014), Halifax (1993 & 2002) and York (2004 & 2016) have been relegated out of the league, managed promotion back to the EFL , only to then get relegated once more. That must be frustrating.

Although not what we would regard as a “traditional” league side, Barnet have had THREE promotions into the Football League (‘91,‘05,‘15) and a similar number of exits to the Conference (‘01,‘13,‘18) ! 

But what is quite scary is that our old adversaries Wrexham ( of Eddie May, Arfon Griffiths & Mel Sutton fame) have been in the 5th tier of English football for 12 seasons !

[points-with-bone]

Comedian Mike Harding once quipped that Barrow was at the end of a 50 mile long cul-de-sac.................

Would be up for a visit though, surely it can't be as bad as a day out to watch Albion Rovers, though I hasten to add that the home fans there were delightful....

Points-with-Bone

[points-with-bone]

13 hours ago, points-with-bone said:

Bradford PA were doing well [in the league below the conference], but this [truncated season] they were having a bad time, so I'm presuming they've been relegated?

Their old ground was the subject of an unusual book called 'Breaking Ground', which was nominated for 'Sports book of the year'. Apparently their old ground had a legal order on it that meant it couldn't be used for housing, shopping developments etc and so it just stayed there with trees etc overgrowing it [from 1974 onwards]. The book chronicles an archaeological dig that took place at Park Avenue and the fascinating things it revealed, as the ground was brought back to life

My favourite bit was the discovery of lots of marbles in one of the goal mouths. This puzzled the archaeologists, until an old fan came forward and confessed that in his younger days he used to chuck marbles at the away teams' goalkeepers

The discovery of nappy pins in one of the goal mouths was equally puzzling, but was explained by the daughter of Chick Farr Bradford PA's goalkeeper. The elastic in his shorts split and the trainer used a nappy pin to repair them. Fans never let him forget the incident by showering him in subsequent games with nappy pins

The old ground [across the road from the Great Mosque] has now been redeveloped by the council into a cricket training facility

Would love to see them back in the football league even if just to hear their name read out on Final Score

Points-with-Bone

Got motivated to investigate and, although bottom of the National League North when football was suspended [though their recent form had been encouraging] Bradford Park Avenue are NOT being relegated. The top team in the division are being promoted to the Conference, but below that level all promotion and relegation ceases

So, theoretically, Bradford PA are just 2 seasons away from a return to the Football League

Points-with-Bone