List of Barrow A.F.C. seasons

Barrow Association Football Club is an English football club based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Founded in 1901, the team began in that season's Lancashire League, joined the Lancashire Combination in its newly formed Second Division for the 1903–04 season, and were promoted to its First Division in 1905.[1] In 1909, Barrow moved to the Holker Street ground where they have played ever since.[2] They won the Lancashire Combination title in 1920–21, and were invited to join the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League for 1921–22.[3]

Barrow spent most of the 19 seasons before the Football League was suspended for the Second World War in the bottom half of the table. They finished bottom of the league four times, were re-elected each time, and had three consecutive top-half finishes in the early 1930s, the best of which, fifth place in 1931–32, remains the club's highest finishing position.[1] When the regional third tier was reorganised into national Third and Fourth Divisions in 1958, Barrow were placed in the fourth tier.[1] After one bottom-placed finish and three more in the re-election positions, Barrow finished third in the 1966–67 Fourth Division and gained promotion to the third tier. They finished eighth in their first season – their highest finish in the four-tier Football League – but were relegated two years later, finished bottom in 1970–71, but in 1971–72, at the eleventh time of asking, their application for re-election proved unsuccessful after a second vote. Their place was taken by Southern League runners-up Hereford United, who had received widespread attention during an FA Cup run that included their dramatic elimination of top-flight team Newcastle United in front of the television cameras.[4][5]

Barrow struggled for seven seasons in the Northern Premier League (NPL) before joining the newly formed Alliance Premier League (APL), where they lasted four seasons before being relegated back to the NPL. They bounced straight back as 1983–84 title-winners, and yo-yoed between the two for the next 20 years, during which time the APL was renamed the Football Conference. They won further NPL titles in 1988–89 and 1997–98,[1] and won their first national silverware, the FA Trophy, in the 1989–90 season, beating Leek Town 3–0 in the final[6] they would win their second FA Trophy 20 years later, with an extra-time victory over Stevenage Borough.[7] Barrow were expelled from the Conference in 1999 after financial mismanagement forced the club into liquidation. The NPL would not initially accept the reconstituted club as a member; it finally did so, under pressure from the Football Association, eight matches into the 1999–2000 season, and it took considerably longer for issues around the club's ownership to be resolved.[8]

The non-league pyramid was restructured ahead of the 2004–05 season, and Barrow became founder members of the sixth-tier Conference North.[9] After four seasons they were promoted via the play-offs to the Conference National, from which they were relegated after five years. Barrow won the 2014–15 Conference North title,[1] and remained in the newly renamed National League until the 2019–20 season was initially suspended and then ended prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Barrow four points clear at the top of the table.[10] After protracted discussions, the clubs voted to decide the final tables on a points-per-game basis; Barrow's 70 points from 37 games made them champions, and returned them to the Football League after 48 years.[11] They retained their status for the next two seasons, albeit with bottom-four finishes, before moving into mid-table in 2022–23.[1]

Key

Key to league record:

  • P – Played
  • W – Games won
  • D – Games drawn
  • L – Games lost
  • F – Goals for
  • A – Goals against
  • Pts – Points
  • Pos – Final position
Key to colours and symbols:
Symbol Meaning
1st or W Winners
2nd or F Runners-up / losing finalists
↑ Promoted
↓ Relegated
♦ Top league scorer in Barrow's division


Key to divisions:


Key to rounds:

  • Group – Group stage
  • Prelim – Preliminary round
  • QR1 – First qualifying round
  • QR2 – Second qualifying round, etc.
  • R1 – First round
  • R2 – Second round, etc.
  • QF – Quarter-final
  • SF – Semi-final
  • F – Final
  • W – Winners
  • (N) – Northern section of regionalised stage

Details of the abandoned 1939–40 Football League season are shown in italics and appropriately footnoted.

Seasons

Season League[1] FA Cup[12] League Cup[1][13] Other[1][13][14] Top league scorer(s)[15]
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Competition Result Name Goals
1901–02 Lancs Lge 24 8 3 13 52 58 19 10th QR4 — — — Not known —
1902–03 Lancs Lge 22 14 3 5 42 24 31 3rd QR4 — — — Not known —
1903–04 Lancs C 2 34 12 9 13 51 54 33 9th Prelim — — — Not known —
1904–05 Lancs C 2 ↑ 34 22 2 10 73 43 46 2nd QR3 — — — Not known —
1905–06 Lancs C 1 38 14 7 17 75 78 35 16th R1 — — — Not known —
1906–07 Lancs C 1 38 12 4 22 73 95 28 16th QR3 — — — Not known —
1907–08 Lancs C 1 ↓ 38 8 7 23 55 102 23 20th QR1 — — — Not known —
1908–09 Lancs C 2 38 18 4 16 80 85 40 9th QR2 — — — Not known —
1909–10 Lancs C 2 38 12 8 18 60 78 32 15th QR2 — — — Not known —
1910–11 Lancs C 2 ↑ 38 27 2 9 102 47 56 2nd QR4 — — — Not known —
1911–12 Lancs C 1 32 15 9 8 66 48 39 4th QR5 — — — Not known —
1912–13 Lancs C 1 34 17 6 11 73 34 40 5th R1 — — — Not known —
1913–14 Lancs C 1 34 21 5 8 92 39 47 2nd QR5 — — — Not known —
1914–15 Lancs C 1 32 11 6 15 59 89 28 13th QR5 — — — Not known —
1915–19
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.
1919–20 Lancs C 34 20 3 11 58 37 43 5th QR4 — — — Not known —
1920–21 Lancs C 34 23 6 5 79 28 52 1st QR4 — — — Not known —
1921–22 Div 3N 38 14 5 19 42 54 33 15th QR4 — — — Bernard Sharkey 14
1922–23 Div 3N 38 13 4 21 50 60 30 18th QR6 — — — Billy Kellock 12
1923–24 Div 3N 42 8 9 25 35 80 25 22nd QR4 — — — Arthur Ormston 10
1924–25 Div 3N 42 16 7 19 51 74 39 14th R1 — — — Charlie Vowles 13
1925–26 Div 3N 42 7 4 31 50 98 18 22nd R1 — — — Jim Skillen 14
1926–27 Div 3N 42 7 8 27 34 117 22 22nd R1 — — — Alex Bosomworth 6
1927–28 Div 3N 42 10 11 21 54 102 31 19th QR4 — — — 7
1928–29 Div 3N 42 10 8 24 64 93 28 20th R2 — — — Fred Ferrari 14
1929–30 Div 3N 42 11 5 26 41 98 27 22nd R2 — — — Bobby Rock 11
1930–31 Div 3N 42 15 7 20 68 89 37 16th R1 — — — Billy Millar 25
1931–32 Div 3N 40 24 1 15 86 59 49 5th R1 — — — Billy Millar 30
1932–33 Div 3N 42 18 7 17 60 60 43 9th R1 — — — Joe Brain 17
1933–34 Div 3N 42 19 9 14 116 94 47 8th R2 — Third Division North Cup R1 Jimmy Shankly 38
1934–35 Div 3N 42 13 9 20 58 87 35 17th R2 — Third Division North Cup R1 Matt Robinson 11
1935–36 Div 3N 42 13 12 17 58 65 38 15th R2 — Third Division North Cup QF Tommy Reid 17
1936–37 Div 3N 42 13 10 19 70 86 36 16th R1 — Third Division North Cup R1 Willie Ouchterlonie 22
1937–38 Div 3N 42 11 10 21 41 71 32 21st R1 — Third Division North Cup QF Richard McIntosh 9
1938–39 Div 3N 42 16 9 17 66 65 41 13th R1 — Third Division North Cup QF Tom Harris 24
1939–40 Div 3N 3 0 2 1 4 5 2 [a] — — — —
1
1939–45
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.
1945–46 — — — — — — — — — R3[b] — — — — —
1946–47 Div 3N 42 17 7 18 54 62 41 9th R1 — — — Alf Burnett 13
1947–48 Div 3N 42 16 13 13 49 40 45 7th R3 — — —
  • Jimmy Kendall
  • Eddie Miller
 12
1948–49 Div 3N 42 14 12 16 41 48 40 13th R2 — — — Alf Burnett 10
1949–50 Div 3N 42 14 9 19 47 53 37 15th R1 — — — George King 12
1950–51 Div 3N 46 16 6 24 51 76 38 19th R1 — — — George King 19
1951–52 Div 3N 46 17 12 17 57 61 46 12th R1 — — — Billy Gordon 15
1952–53 Div 3N 46 16 12 18 66 71 44 19th R2 — — — Billy Gordon 19
1953–54 Div 3N 46 16 12 18 72 71 44 12th R3 — — — Andy McLaren 20
1954–55 Div 3N 46 17 6 23 70 89 40 17th R1 — — — Billy Gordon 18
1955–56 Div 3N 46 12 9 25 61 83 33 22nd R3 — — — Billy Gordon 19
1956–57 Div 3N 46 21 9 16 76 62 51 10th R2 — — — Billy Gordon 27
1957–58 Div 3N 46 13 15 18 66 74 41 18th R1 — — — Brian Birch 20
1958–59 Div 4[c] 46 9 10 27 51 104 28 23rd R3 — — — Jackie Robertson 12
1959–60 Div 4 46 15 11 20 77 87 41 18th R1 — — —
17
1960–61 Div 4 46 13 11 22 52 79 37 22nd R1 R1[d] — — Barry Lowes 13
1961–62 Div 4 44 17 14 13 74 58 48 9th R1 R1 — — John Kemp 15
1962–63 Div 4 46 19 12 15 82 80 50 9th R2 R3 — — Tommy Dixon 16
1963–64 Div 4 46 6 18 22 51 93 30 17th R3 R1 — —
10
1964–65 Div 4 46 12 6 28 59 105 30 24th R1 R1 — — Bobby Tait 14
1965–66 Div 4 46 16 15 15 72 76 47 13th R1 R1 — — 15
1966–67 Div 4 ↑ 46 24 11 11 76 54 59 3rd R3 R2 — — Jimmy Mulholland 18
1967–68 Div 3 46 21 8 17 65 54 50 8th R3 R3 — — David Storf 16
1968–69 Div 3 46 17 8 21 56 75 42 19th R2 R1 — — Jimmy Mulvaney 16
1969–70 Div 3 ↓ 46 8 14 24 46 81 30 23rd R2 R2 — — Jimmy Mulvaney 11
1970–71 Div 4 46 7 8 31 51 90 22 24th R1 R1 — — Eddie Garbett 14
1971–72 Div 4 ↓ 46 13 11 22 40 71 37 22nd[e] R1 R1 — — Mick Hollis 10
1972–73 NPL 46 12 6 28 52 101 30 23rd QR4 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
1973–74 NPL 46 13 7 26 46 94 33 22nd QR1 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
1974–75 NPL 46 9 15 22 45 72 33 22nd QR1 — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
1975–76 NPL 46 12 9 25 47 84 33 23rd Prelim — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
1976–77 NPL 44 14 12 20 58 61 40 21st R1 — FA Trophy QR3 Not known —
1977–78 NPL 46 14 12 20 58 61 40 18th QR1 — FA Trophy QR3 Not known —
1978–79 NPL 46 14 12 20 58 60 40 17th QR2 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
1979–80 APL 38 14 6 18 47 55 34 14th[f] Prelim — FA Trophy QF Colin Cowperthwaite 12
1980–81 APL 38 15 8 15 50 49 38 9th QR3 — FA Trophy R1 Colin Cowperthwaite 15
1981–82 APL 42 18 11 13 59 50 65[g] 8th QR1 — FA Trophy R1 Colin Cowperthwaite 16
1982–83 APL ↓ 42 8 12 22 46 74 36 21st QR4 — FA Trophy R3 Colin Cowperthwaite 12
1983–84 NPL ↑ 42 29 10 3 92 38 97 1st QR1 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
1984–85 APL 42 11 16 15 47 57 43[h] 18th QR2 — FA Trophy R1 Colin Cowperthwaite 13
1985–86 APL ↓ 46 7 8 27 41 86 24[h] 22nd QR1 — FA Trophy R1 Colin Cowperthwaite 15
1986–87 NPL 42 15 7 20 42 57 52 15th QR1 — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
1987–88 NPL P 42 21 8 13 70 41 71 5th QR4 — FA Trophy SF Not known —
1988–89 NPL P ↑ 42 26 9 7 69 35 87 1st R1 — FA Trophy R3 Not known —
1989–90 Conf 42 12 16 14 51 67 52 14th QR3 — Colin Cowperthwaite 12
1990–91 Conf 42 15 12 15 59 65 57 2nd R3 — FA Trophy R2 Colin Cowperthwaite 18
1991–92 Conf ↓ 42 8 14 20 52 72 38 22nd QR4 — FA Trophy R2 John Brady 11
1992–93 NPL P 42 18 11 13 71 55 65 8th QR4 — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
1993–94 NPL P 42 18 10 14 59 51 64 8th QR3 — FA Trophy QR3 Not known —
1994–95 NPL P 42 17 5 20 68 71 56 11th QR3 — FA Trophy QR3 Not known —
1995–96 NPL P 42 20 13 9 69 42 73 4th R2 — FA Trophy QR2 Not known —
1996–97 NPL P 44 23 11 10 71 45 80 5th QR4 — FA Trophy QR3 Neil Morton 22[20]
1997–98 NPL P ↑ 42 25 8 9 61 29 83 1st QR1 — FA Trophy QF Neil Morton 13[21]
1998–99 Conf ↓ 42 11 10 21 40 63 43 19th[j] QR3 — FA Trophy R2 Andy Mutch 8
1999–2000 NPL P 44 14 15 15 65 59 57 13th QR2 — FA Trophy R2 Nicky Peverell 19[22]
2000–01 NPL P 44 21 9 14 83 63 72 6th R1 — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
2001–02 NPL P 44 19 10 15 75 59 67 8th R1 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
2002–03 NPL P 44 24 12 8 84 52 84 2nd R2 — FA Trophy R3 Not known —
2003–04 NPL P 44 22 14 8 82 52 80 3rd[k] QR3 — FA Trophy R3 Not known —
2004–05 Conf N 42 14 10 18 50 64 52 16th QR2 — FA Trophy R4 Not known —
2005–06 Conf N 42 12 11 19 62 67 47 14th QR4 — FA Trophy R2 Not known —
2006–07 Conf N 42 12 14 16 47 48 50 16th R1 — FA Trophy R1 Not known —
2007–08 Conf N ↑ 42 21 13 18 70 39 76 5th[l] R1 — Matt Henney 14[24]
2008–09 Conf Nat 46 12 15 19 51 65 51 20th R3 — FA Trophy R2 Jason Walker 11
2009–10 Conf Nat 44 13 13 18 50 67 52 15th R3 — FA Trophy W[m] Jason Walker 14
2010–11 Conf Nat 46 12 14 20 52 67 50 18th QR4 — FA Trophy R1 Jason Walker 11
2011–12 Conf Nat 46 17 9 20 62 76 60 13th R1 — FA Trophy R2 Andy Cook 17
2012–13 Conf P ↓ 46 11 13 22 45 83 46 22nd R2 — FA Trophy QF Adam Boyes 13
2013–14 Conf N 42 14 14 14 50 56 56 11th QR4 — FA Trophy R2 Nicky Rushton 11
2014–15 Conf N ↑ 42 26 9 7 81 43 87 1st QR2 — FA Trophy QR3 Andy Cook 23
2015–16 Nat 46 17 14 15 64 71 65 11th QR4 — FA Trophy R2 Andy Cook 24
2016–17 Nat 46 20 15 11 72 53 75 7th R3 — FA Trophy QF Byron Harrison 19
2017–18 Nat 46 11 16 19 51 63 49 20th QR4 — FA Trophy R2 Byron Harrison 8
2018–19 Nat 46 17 13 16 52 51 64 11th QR4 — FA Trophy R1 Jack Hindle 12
2019–20 Nat ↑ 37 21 7 9 68 79 70 1st[n] QR4 — FA Trophy R3 Scott Quigley 20
2020–21 League 2 46 13 11 22 53 59 50 21st R1 R1 EFL Trophy Group Scott Quigley 15
2021–22 League 2 46 10 14 22 44 57 44 22nd R3 R2 EFL Trophy Group Ollie Banks 9
2022–23 League 2 46 18 8 20 47 53 62 9th R1 R2 EFL Trophy R2 (N) Josh Gordon 15

Notes

  1. ^ The 1939–40 season was abandoned with three matches played when the Second World War began.[1]
  2. ^ Although the Football League did not resume until the 1946–47 season, the FA Cup was contested in 1945–46. From the first round proper to the sixth round (quarter-final), results were determined on aggregate score over two legs.[1][12]
  3. ^ Barrow were placed in the Fourth Division when the regional sections of the Third Division were amalgamated into national third- and fourth-tier divisions.[1]
  4. ^ The League Cup competition started in the 1960–61 season.[16]
  5. ^ Barrow failed to be re-elected to the League, losing out to Southern League runners-up Hereford United.[4]
  6. ^ Barrow were one of seven Northern Premier League clubs to join the newly formed Alliance Premier League.[17]
  7. ^ The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win instead of two.
  8. ^ a b From 1983–84 to 1985–86, the Alliance Premier League experimented with a system that awarded two points for a home win and three for an away win, before reverting to three points for any game won.[18]
  9. ^ Beat Leek Town 3–0 to win their first trophy at national level.[6]
  10. ^ Expelled from Conference following liquidation.[8]
  11. ^ After the non-league pyamid was restructured, Barrow became founder members of the new sixth-tier Conference North.[9]
  12. ^ Beat A.F.C. Telford United in the semi-finals before beating Stalybridge Celtic 1–0 in the final to gain promotion to the Conference National via the play-offs.[23]
  13. ^ Beat Stevenage Borough 2–1 after extra time to win their second FA Trophy.[7]
  14. ^ The 2019–20 football season was disrupted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The National League was suspended in mid-March 2020 and the clubs voted six weeks later to end the regular season programme.[10] As teams had not all played the same number of matches, it was agreed to construct final league tables on an unweighted points per game basis. Barrow's 70 points from 37 games made them champions and returned them to the Football League after 48 years.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Barrow". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  2. ^ "General information". Barrow A.F.C. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Lancashire Combination 1920/21". Footballsite. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Yelland, Phil. "A Brief History of Barrow AFC: Chapter 4: To Division Three and back to Non League". Barrow A.F.C. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.
  5. ^ Green, Geoffrey (3 June 1972). "Hereford join League in place of Barrow". The Times. London. p. 13. Retrieved 11 July 2020 – via Times Digital Archive.
    Kay, Oliver (17 November 2000). "Wheel turning full circle for Barrow". The Times. London. p. 39. Retrieved 11 July 2020 – via Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ a b "Barrow can repeat 1990 FA Trophy success – Tony Keen". BBC Sport. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Barrow 2–1 Stevenage (aet)". BBC Sport. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  8. ^ a b Metcalf, Rupert (13 August 1999). "Football: End in sight to the Barrow saga". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
    Turnbull, Simon (12 November 2000). "The real Barrow boys". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
    Conn, David (2 November 2001). "Barrow's hate figure moves in at Chester". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b "2004–05 Conference National". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  10. ^ a b "National League clubs vote to end regular season immediately". BBC Sport. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Barrow promoted back to English Football League after National League vote". BBC Sport. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  12. ^ a b "The Emirates FA Cup: Past Results". The Football Association. Retrieved 12 December 2023. Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.
  13. ^ a b "Barrow football club match record: 2023". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  14. ^ For Third Division North Cup: "Football League Division Three North Cup Summary – Contents". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  15. ^ For the Football League up to 1971–72: "Clubs: Barrow: Season players". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
    For the Alliance Premier League/Football Conference up to 2003–04: Harman, John, ed. (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The first 25 years. Tony Williams. pp. 89–91. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.
    For 2008–09 to 2019–20: "Barrow AFC: Squad". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
    For the EFL from 2020–21 onwards: "Barrow: Squad details". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
    Other seasons sourced individually.
  16. ^ "History of the Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011.
  17. ^ "1979–80 Alliance Premier League". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  18. ^ Beresford, Jack (22 January 2020). "Fed up of VAR? Have hope: here's 7 football rules changes that didn't last". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  19. ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1990). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91 (21st ed.). Queen Anne Press. p. 919. ISBN 0-356-17911-7.
  20. ^ Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1997). Playfair Football Annual 1997–98. London: Headline. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-7472-5644-1.
  21. ^ Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1998). Playfair Football Annual 1998–99. London: Headline. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-7472-5917-6.
  22. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2000). Playfair Football Annual 2000–2001. London: Headline. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-7472-6620-4.
  23. ^ "Play-off heartbreak for Telford". BBC Sport. 4 May 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
    "Blue Square North/South play-offs". BBC Sport. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Season – 2007–08: Fixtures". BarrowFC.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

External links

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