Barrow AFC
SO Legal Stadium
Wilkie Road
Barrow-in-Furness
Cumbria
LA14 5UW

Away fans are mostly housed on one side of the Holker Street Terrace (towards the Brian Arrowsmith Stand) at one end of the ground. There is also some additional standing space available beside the Brian Arrowsmith Stand.

During the Summer of 2020, a roof was erected over the whole of the Holker Street End, providing welcome cover for visiting supporters. This should also help boost the atmosphere inside the ground.

In addition to this terraced area, a number of seats are made available to away fans in the covered Brian Arrowsmith Stand.

Getting There

By Supporters Coach – The easiest way to get there.

For full details of Away Travel: –

Click here: – FGR Away Travel – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com)

Book your coach ticket with your match ticket from FGR.

Discount for FGR Supporters Club members.

Supporters Club Members need to book by phone or in person to get their discount.

Coach Departure Times etc – Tickets & Travel: Barrow (A) | WE ARE FGR

Click – Tickets | WE ARE FGR

By phone on 0333 123 1889 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm.

Please try to book as early as you can.

By Train

The nearest station, Barrow-in-Furness (formerly called Barrow Central) is approximately 1/2 Mile away from the ground. On leaving the station, exit onto Holker Street and turn right. The ground will be on your left-hand side after a small roundabout at the top of Holker Street.

Trains wouldn’t be viable from the Stroud area on a Saturday afternoon, but this is a Tuesday evening kick off so best avoided. It’s a 6 1/2-hour rail journey and it is quite expensive, and you can’t get back on the same day, so not an option for most.

This is a shame as in the Railway Series Books by Stroud resident the late Rev W Audry and the adapted television series Thomas & Friends Barrow Central is the mainland terminus for the Fat Controller’s North West Railway, and is connected to the fictional Island of Sodor by a bridge to Vickerstown or as it is known in the books, Vicarstown.

If travelling by train, please check times carefully and be aware there may be rail strikes.

By Bus
The number 3 bus from Ormsgill/Newbarns stops right outside the ground. Ask for the Asda/Holker Street stop, with the adult fare approximately £1.50 from the Town Centre.

By Car

The 240 miles will take almost 4 and a 1/2 hours by road.
Leave the M6 at junction 36 onto the A590 and follow signposts for Barrow. You will enter Barrow via Park Road and when you pass the fire station on the right, take the next left into Wilkie Road. The ground is on the right-hand side. Post code for Sat-Nav is LA14 5UW.

Car Parking

Unfortunately, Barrow are unable to offer official parking at the stadium due to limited capacity.

However, The Soccer Club – adjacent to Main Reception – offer a limited number of spaces at a small cost on a first come first served basis on matchdays.

Alternatively, there is free parking at Liberata – LA14 2UG (see photo diagram below)

There is plenty of street parking nearby.

Liberata – Free Match Day Parking

Disabled Supporters’ Information

Barrow Association Football Club | Guide For Disabled Fans (barrowafc.com)

Food and Drink

At The Ground

The Crossbar is located at The Ground; entry is on Wilkie Road. The Bar is open before and after matches and visiting fans are welcome. The Club Shop is situated on the ground floor at the bottom of the stairs leading to the bar.

There is a brand-new catering outlet inside the ground in the Holker Street End which serves a selection of hot and cold food, as well as hot and cold drinks. This outlet is also fully licenced to serve alcoholic drinks to away supporters so you can get into the ground early and enjoy a pre-match pint of Carling, Madri or Carling Dark Fruits on draught.

Away fans are also welcome in the Fan Zone which opens from 12 noon and is, apparently, a welcoming atmosphere for fans of all ages.

Outside the Ground

There is a pub next door to the ground called the Soccer Club/Bar which is independent from the club and popular with visiting supporters as well as home fans. There is very limited car parking at the Soccer Bar at a cost.

Police designated away pub- The Newton Public House is located in Dalton-in-Furness. It is only a 10-minute drive to the stadium and has ample parking for buses and cars. Dalton train station is only a 5-minute walk from here also. Use postcode LA15 8LS.

The Ambrose Hotel (LA14 1XT) is a friendly pub and hotel only a ten-minute walk from the ground. It has all the usual satellite T.V and a pool table, with outdoor tables front and rear. If you want to book ahead, Lynda on 01229 826717.

The Furness Railway (Wetherspoons) is located just outside of Barrow railway station, on Abbey Road. Parking at this location is non-existent.

The Owl and the Pussycat (LA14 2NA) is a family friendly ‘Hungry Horse’ style pub with an extensive menu, good parking and a soft play area. Phone 01229 824334. It is 15 minutes’ walk from the ground.

Continue on the A590 past ‘The Owl and The Pussycat’ pub you will reach a retail park that has a number of eating outlets including a McDonalds and KFC as well as a Tesco Extra.

Hotel

Barrow have an exclusive partnership with the Holiday Inn Express which offers home and away fans 15% of their stay if they use this link to book

How Are They Doing

Season 22/23 Barrow finished 9^th with 62 points.

Currently they are in 4th place with 53 points.

Reverse Fixture – 24 Oct 23 – FGR 0 Barrow 2.

With the defeat at AFC Wimbledon, Barrow have ended a 2-match unbeaten run in the league. Barrow have conceded an average of 1.03 goals per game since the beginning of the season in the league. in the last 8 league matches Barrow’s average number of goals conceded per game of 1.63, which is 58.3% higher than their season’s average.

Ones to Watch

Kian Spence signed for Barrow and re-united with his old Halifax manager Pete Wild.

Kian Spence was born in Harrogate, against whom he scored this season. Spence began his career at Middlesborough, before spending time in non-league with Scarborough and Halifax, before signing for Barrow in June 2023

Spence won September 2023 L2 Goal of the Month for his goal versus Tranmere – rocketing his volley beyond ex-FGR Luke McGee, who was helpless in the Tranmere goal.

Current top scorers – Ben Whitfield 9 goals , Kian Spence 6, Emile Acquah 6.

Striker Cole Stockton joined on loan from Burton in the January transfer window.

Barrow Football Ground.

Dom Telford won L2 Golden Boot while at Newport.

Dom Telford joined Barrow from Crawley in the summer. He had a successful spell in West Sussex last season where he managed to score 15 goals, whilst also notching four assists. It was arguably his previous season which was his most impressive to date though as he bagged 25 goals for Newport County in League Two, which landed him the golden boot that season and a place in the PFA team of the season.

The 26-year-old came through the ranks at Blackpool where he played 14 times for the Tangerines in the Championship during the 2014-2015 season. After Blackpool a spell at Stoke City followed which included a loan spell at Bristol Rovers before a permanent move to Bury AFC, followed by a move to Plymouth Argyle a year later and then on to Newport.

Manager

Pete Wild is a life long fan of Oldham attending his first game at the age of six, on New Year’s Day 1991. Prior to becoming a football coach, Wild worked various jobs, such as: a tree surgeon, an apprentice car mechanic and working in his parents’ pubs. So don’t be surprised if before the match he is pulling pints or walking around with a chain saw and spanner.

Wild played amateur football before taking up coaching at the age of 18. Wild’s first job in coaching was with Oldham Council working in their sports department. Before he began coaching in Oldham’s academy, Wild worked as a development officer at the Manchester FA. Wild also managed the England Amputee football team between 2012 and 2015.

After working for the club for 10 years, including as their interim academy manager, Wild was appointed as Oldham’s caretaker manager on 27 December 2018 following the sacking of Frankie Bunn. He won his first two games in charge. On 6 January 2019 he led the club to a “famous” FA Cup victory against Premier League club Fulham his third straight win as manager. He was replaced as Oldham manager by Paul Scholes on 11 February 2019.

In March 2019, following the resignation of Scholes, Wild returned as caretaker manager. On 22 March 2019, he was appointed the club’s permanent manager, on a contract until the end of the season. He left the club in May 2019, for “personal reasons”.

On 24 July 2019, Wild was appointed the manager of Halifax. On 26 May 2022, Wild resigned from Halifax to pursue a new opportunity. The following day he was announced as the new manager of League Two club Barrow.

Pete Wild will be returning from a 2 match touch line ban.

Club History

Founded on July 16^th 1901, the Club began playing competitive football in the Lancashire League at its first home ground ‘The Strawberry’. They then moved to a new ground at Ainslie Street in the town in September 1904. A further move to Little Park, Roose in March 1905 saw the Club enjoy their first success, winning promotion to Division One of the Lancashire Combination in 1908. The following year saw the Club move to its current home, Holker Street.

Barrow’s crest tells a story – a submarine represents it’s shipbuilding heritage, particularly the building of submarines. The red rose represents its historic association with Lancashire (though it has been Cumbria’s 2nd biggest town for a while). There is a bee that looks as though it’s impaled on an arrow (B-arrow).

1901 is the year the club was formed and finally, of course, there’s a football. The club might be thinking of adding a wind turbine to the crest sometime soon as Barrow is a hub for energy generation and handling. Offshore wind farms form one of the highest concentrations of turbines in the world, including world’s 2nd largest offshore wind farm, Walney.

As a football club Barrow spent about 50 years in the football league between 1921 and 1972 without any notable success. Almost the next 50 years were spent in non-league football with the club moving between the 5th and 6th tiers on a regular basis.

In May 1990, Barrow became FA Trophy winners with a 3-0 win over Leek Town at Wembley thanks to two goals from Kenny Gordon and one from Club appearance and goal scoring record holder Colin Cowperthwaite.

At the end of the 2007/08 season the Club won its way back to the top flight of non-league football, then known as Blue Square Premier, after an absence of ten years by defeating Stalybridge Celtic 1-0 in the Play-Off Final at Burton Albion.

In 2019 Barrow’s odds on winning the National League were 50/1. Defying these odds, the Bluebirds surprised everybody by leading the league until the season was curtailed by the pandemic and Barrow were awarded automatic promotion into the football league.

Rovers Connections

Mark Cooper and George Williams at Barrow.

Mark Cooper managed both FGR (2016-2021) and Barrow (2021-2022) but is now Yeovil Manager. He was the manager who got FGR promoted to the EFL following the 3-1 win at Wembley against Tranmere.

Welsh International forward George Williams played for Rovers between 2018 and 2020 before moving to Grimsby, then joining Barrow (2021-22) and is now at Hemel Hempstead in the National League South.

Mark Ellis at Barrow.

Defender Mark Ellis played for Rovers in 2009 on loan from Torquay and then again in 2017, on loan from Carlisle. He was part of the team that got FGR promoted to EFL. He played for Barrow 2021 -23 but is now at Chorley in the National League North.

Ady Pennock at FGR.

Ady Pennock (FGR 2013-16) with his assistant Jamie Day managed Barrow from October 2017 until May 2018. Pennock joined Singapore League side Brunei DPMM FC in 2019 and led them to their 2nd Singapore Premier League title in his first season in charge.

Midfielder Jordan Stevens was a product of FGR’s academy before moving to Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds in 2018. Stevens got embroiled in a charge of breaching gambling regulations which earned him a 6-week ban from all football which seemed to end his career at Leeds. Loan spells at Swindon and Bradford followed before his move to Barrow. He left Barrow in March 2023 and joined his old FGR & Barrow manager Mark Cooper at Yeovil.

Jordan Stevens at FGR.

Luke James played for FGR 2017-18 and for Barrow 2020-22. He now plays for South Shields in the National League North.

Luke James at Barrow.

A List of Famous People From Barrow That We Prepared Earlier.

No evidence though that any of the following actually support Barrow.

Peter Purves English TV presenter and actor He went to school in Barrow. He played Steven Taylor in Doctor Who under the First Doctor, a role he continued to play in audio dramas He later became a presenter on the children’s programme Blue Peter for eleven years. He has continued to make regular television appearances, including coverage of the Crufts dog show. In 2008, Valerie Singleton revealed she had enjoyed a “brief fling” with Purves when he was “between marriages”.

Georgia Stanway is an English professional footballer who plays for Bayern Munich and the England. She was born and bred in Barrow. She played for England in their Euro 22 Final win.

Emlyn Hughes (28 August 1947 – 9 November 2004) was an English footballer. He started his career at Blackpool in 1964 before moving to Liverpool in 1967. He made 665 appearances for Liverpool and captained the side to three league titles and an FA Cup victory in the 1970s. Added to these domestic honours were two European Cups, including Liverpool’s first in 1977; and two UEFA Cup titles. He was born in Barrow. At the junction of Holker Street and Abbey Road, near the railway station, there is a statue of Emlyn Hughes.

David Myers – television presenter, best known as one half of the Hairy Bikers, along with Si King He was born and brought up in Barrow. He is also known for his appearances on the BBC celebrity talent show Strictly Come Dancing. Together, Myers and King have presented a number of television cookery series for the BBC