Barrow Raiders

Barrow Raiders are an English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, who are coached by former player Darren Holt, with Phil Atkinson as his assistant. Formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club, the club is the oldest of the current professional sports teams in Cumbria.

Barrow Raiders currently compete in the Co-operative Championship 1, the third tier of European rugby league (behind only the Super League). They were demoted to the Championship One at the end of the 2011 season for a breach of salary cap rules. ^[1] They had previously won the second tier Co-operative Championship in 2009, and finished fourth in 2010.

History

Early years

Barrow Football Club 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 but also (until 1880) at the Parade Ground.

In April 1897 the team switched from rugby union to rugby league following a unanimous vote at the club. 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.

In 1914, Cavendish Park was requisitioned by the authorities for the war effort. Barrow moved to Little Park, Roose, three miles 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 fifth. 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 attendances 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 (based on average increases in earnings, this would be approximately £1,470,000 in 2009).^[2]

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.

Post World War two

Barrow dropped out of the wartime Lancashire league in 1940-41, they did not return to league competition until 1945-46. As many of the pre-war players had retired, this was an era of rebuilding and recruiting.

The 1950s were the club's heyday. The team was captained by Willie Horne and Barrow appeared no less than three times at Wembley. On 5 May 1951, Barrow made their second appearance at Wembley and were beaten 10-0 by Wigan. On Saturday 27 October 1951 13,319 spectators were at Barrow to watch the home side beat New Zealand 9-5. On 30 April 1955, Barrow made their third appearance at Wembley. This time, they won the Challenge Cup 21-12 against Workington Town, later that year they added the Lancashire Cup after a 12-2 win over Oldham.

On 11 May 1957, Barrow played again in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley against Leeds and were narrowly beaten 9-7. 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 17-12. A crowd of 77,000 paid a then record £54,435 to watch the game (based on average increases in earnings, this would be approximately £1,480,000 in 2009).^[2]

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 (based on average increases in earnings, this would be approximately £228,000 in 2009).^[2] 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 but had three consecutive years in the top flight between 1980 and 1983. Frank Foster was eventually replaced by Thomas "Tommy" Dawes in 1983.

The season 1983-84 saw Barrow win the Second Division title and the Lancashire Cup against favourites Widnes 12-8. Thomas "Tommy" Dawes, despite his initial success, was sacked in 1985.

In 1988-89, Australian Rod Reddy took on a player-coach role at Barrow in 1987. Barrow earned promotion to Division One but that campaign saw Barrow manage only one league win and suffer a club record 90-0 defeat at Leeds. Reddy was sacked and Denis Jackson took over as a caretaker coach for the rest of 1989-90.

After relegation in 1990, Barrow appointed a new coach in Steve 'Knocker' Norton but finished 17th out of 21 in Division Two.

Summer era

In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season.^[3] When the Super League competition had been proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Barrow were down to merge with Whitehaven, Workington Town and Carlisle to form a new club called Cumbria based in Workington which would compete in the Super League but ultimately this did not happen and Barrow were not part of the new competition.

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. Peter Roe was head coach for an 15-month period, ending in January 1996.

In 1997 they merged with Cumbrian rivals Carlisle to form Barrow Border Raiders. Carlisle's Paul Charlton became coach of the new team. The new team played all its matches in Barrow; the merger was essentially a financial arrangement only. Barrow enjoyed mixed fortunes under Paul Charlton with two top-ten finishes in the Northern Ford Premiership in 1999 and 2000, before the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in the 2001 season, which resulted in Paul Charlton not being offered a new contract.[1] In 2002 the "Border" part of the name, which was never that relevant to Barrow, which is in south Cumbria, was dropped.

Under Peter Roe's second spell at Craven Park, they were National League Two champions in 2004, their first trophy for 20 years. They were promoted to National League One. However, they were relegated back to National League Two at the end of the 2005 season after winning just one of their 18 matches. 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 appointed as head coach. In his first season as coach of the Raiders he guided them to the National League Two play-offs on a very limited budget. After the end of the 2007 season Paul Crarey controversially resigned from Barrow Raiders, after guiding them to a second succsesive play-off position.

Barrow initially had lined up former Widnes coach Steve McCormack to take over but after receiving a better position with struggling Super League club Hull KR. On Thursday 2 November 2007 Barrow Raiders announced that former player Welsh-born Aussie Dave Clarke would take over, with Dean Marwood as his assistant. On 23 August 2008, Raiders gained automatic promotion from National League Two by beating Swinton 12-32 to clinch second place in National League Two. On 5 April 2009, Barrow played Wigan of the Super League in one of the biggest matches to be played at Craven Park, and pushed the Warriors all the way in a titanic struggle with Ian Lenagan, Wigan's owner, admitting later that he had been worried about a shock cup exit for his side. On 21 July Despite the club being 2nd in the league and having made The Northern Rail Cup Final coach Dave Clark stepped down and became assistant to new head coach Steve Deakin

On 31 August 2009, after just 6 weeks in charge, Steve Deakin left the club and Dave Clark reclaimed the head coach role, leading the club to the 2009 Co-Op Championship league leaders trophy and a grand final appearance versus Halifax. In the 2009 Co-Op Championship Grand Final, a closely matched game was fought between Barrow and Halifax, but a try in the 77th minute settled the game once and for all in Barrow's favour. The final score was Barrow 26-18 Halifax.

Barrow finished fourth in 2010 with coach Steve McCormack leaving the club to take up a teaching post. After a lengthy search for a new coach, Barrow plumped for Garry Schofield. Schofield was sacked as coach after only five games in 2011 and his assistant Nigel Wright was appointed as head coach. With 6 games to go in July Barrow sacked Nigel Wright and appointed old coach Dave Clark as their manager for the rest of the season. The on-field problems were matched by off-field difficulties, with the club accused of breaking salary cap rules. This was eventually found to be so and all of Barrow's points were deducted for the 2011 season, relegating them to the Co-operative Championship 1 for the 2012 season.

2012 Squad

Players earning international caps while at Barrow

Other notable players

These players have either; won or played in the final of Challenge Cup, Rugby Football League Championship, Lancashire Cup, Lancashire League, have received a Testimonial match, were international representatives before, or after, their time at Barrow, or are notable outside of rugby league.

The club launched their Hall of Fame in 2001 with 1950s legends Willie Horne, Phil Jackson and Jimmy Lewthwaite its inaugural inductees.

Honours

• Rugby League Challenge Cup - 1954-55
• Division Two Championship
  • Champions - 1975-76, 2009
  • Minor premiership - 2009
• Rugby League National League Two Championship - 2003-04
• Lancashire Cup - 1954-55, 1983-83

External links

• Official site
• Barrow Raiders forum on rlfans.com
• National League website
• Barrow Raiders Fans Forums - RugbyLeague.org

References

 Barrow Raiders · 
 Doncaster · 
 Gateshead Thunder ·  
 London Skolars ·  
 North Wales Crusaders · 
 Oldham Roughyeds ·  
 Rochdale Hornets ·  
 South Wales Scorpions ·  

 Workington Town ·