Barrow Raiders
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| Barrow Raiders | |
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| Full name | Barrow Raiders Rugby League Football Club |
| Emblem | Barrow-in-Furness coat of arms |
| Colours | Blue and white |
| Founded | 1875 |
| Sport | rugby league |
| League | National League Two |
| Ground | Craven Park |
| Official website | http://www.barrowrlfc.com/ |
Barrow Raiders are a British rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. They will play the 2006 season in National League Two.
Barrow's colours are blue and white.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Barrow FC were formed in 1875. It is thought that Tom H. Baynes, a shipping clerk, was the driving force behind the club's foundation. As well as being a player, he was probably also the first Barrow team coach. Games were mainly played at Cavendish Park.
In April 1897 the team switched from rugby union to rugby league. Barrow joined the Lancashire Senior Competition Second Division and became champions in their first season. However, they lost a challenge match against Morecambe, the bottom club in the First Division, and they failed to gain promotion. They were finally promoted in the 1899/1900 Season, by defeating Tyldesley in the challenge match.
Cavendish Park was requisitioned by the authorities for the war effort in 1914, Barrow relocated to Little Park, Roose three miles away from the centre of town. The league at this time was suspended and clubs were forced to arrange their own fixtures in an unofficial war league. Barrow were champions in 1917/18, losing just twice in 22 matches.
After World War I, Barrow had mixed fortunes and when the league resumed in 1919/20, they managed to finish 5th. However, over the next decade, despite having several county and national players, Barrow’s form suffered and its league position was poor.
In 1929, it had been realised that rugby league in Barrow was approaching a precarious period, as the attendaces at Little Park were gradually decreasing. This was in part due to industrial depression but also Little Park's location.
The directors made an appeal to the town, and approached the Mayor Alderman John Whinnerah who was to be an ardent supporter. Commander G. W. Craven, a local war hero, started an appeal fund with a donation of £500. In a short time the club bought a central site, where the Jute Works stood for £2,500. Craven Park was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters, 500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground. The total cost of the building project came to £7,500 which was an unbelievable figure in those days.
1937/38 saw Barrow reach the finals of the Lancashire Cup for the first time, losing narrowly 4-8 to Warrington. That season was a time of great opportunity for the Barrow Team but was to end in disappointment. After playing seven matches in just ten days, they lost 7-4 to Salford in the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley; they also lost in the Championship play-off semi-final 13-7 against Hunslet.
[edit] Post World War two
The league was abandoned and only restarted in 1945/46. Many of the pre-war players had retired. So this was an era of rebuilding and recruiting,
The 1950's were the club's heyday. The team was captained by Willie Horne and Barrow appeared no less than three times at Wembley. In 1951, Barrow were runners-up to Wigan and beaten 10 points to nil.
During the 1954/55 season, Barrow RLFC won both the Challenge Cup 21-12 against Workington Town and the Lancashire Cup 12-2 against Oldham.
In 1957, Barrow played again in the final against Leeds and were narrowly beaten 9 points to 7. 1957 signalled the end of the golden era of the club and most of the star players retired after this time.
The league split into two divisions in 1961/62 and because of a poor finish in the previous season, Barrow was forced to play in the second division.
Their last appearance at Wembley Stadium was in 1967, where they were strongly tipped to win the Challenge Cup final again, but were beaten by Featherstone Rovers 17 points to 12. A crowd of 77,000 paid a then record £54,435 to watch the game.
1973 saw Barrow appoint former player, Frank Foster, as coach. He built a side which won the Second Division championship in 1975/76 and reached a John Player Trophy final in 1981 only to lose 5-12 to Warrington. Phil Hogan was transferred to Hull KR in 1978 for a then world record fee of £33,000. Latterly with good 'hard' forwards and fast talented ‘union’ backs this team were known as the 'Harlem Globetrotters' of rugby league, always trying to keep the ball alive and exciting to watch. The only problem was inconsistency and stabilising the club in the 'Premier league' was too difficult to achieve. Barrow fluctuated between divisions and Frank was eventually replaced by Tommy Dawes in 1983.
The season 1983/84 saw Barrow win the Second Division title and the Lancashire Cup against favourites Widnes 12-8. Tommy Dawes, despite his initial success, was sacked in 1985.
Apart from promotion in 1988/89 under Rod Reddy, the last twenty years have seen many different coaches come and go and the best of local talent were lured away by richer clubs.
[edit] Modern era
When a Rupert Murdoch funded Super League competition was proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Barrow were down to merge with Whitehaven RLFC, Workington Town and Carlisle to form a new club called Cumbria which would compete in the Super League.
Until 1995 the team was simply titled Barrow RLFC, but they adopted the nickname Barrow Braves to coincide with rugby league’s switch to a summer season. In 1997 they merged with Cumbrian rivals Carlisle Border Raiders to form Barrow Border Raiders. The new team played all its matches in Barrow; the merger was essentially a financial arrangement only. In 2002 the Border part of the name, which was never that relevant to Barrow, which is in south Cumbria, was dropped.
Under the coaching of Peter Roe, they were National League Two champions in 2004 and promoted to National League One. However, they were relegated back to National League Two at the end of the 2005 season. The financial situation at the club forced a review of the coaching structure and the position of head coach was made part-time and the club parted company with Peter Roe.
In October 2005 local ex-player Paul Crarey was recently appointed as the new head coach.
[edit] Honours
- Challenge Cup - 1954-55
- Division Two Championship - 1975-76
- Championship - 2003-04
- Lancashire Cup - 1954-55, 1983-83
| Rugby League National Leagues - National League Two |
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See also: Rugby League Championship Third Division |
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