The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Barrow summation…
After finishing 21st and 22nd in their first couple of years back in the Football League, Pete Wild turned Barrow into play-off contenders this season
Sunday 18 June 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield - Saturday 22 July, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Lincoln (in Spain!) - Friday 7 July, 4pm (Click here for our away day guide)
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Barrow supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Sunday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Only two sides managed to do the double over County last season. We’ve already featured Grimsby in our 2022-23 review; the other was Barrow. Bluebirds fan Sam Spragg joins us today for a look back at his side’s campaign – their highest league position since 1969-70.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Paul and all the team at Colourtone for sponsoring today’s edition. See below for further details on what they have to offer.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Had King Charles invited you to his coronation celebrations, and insisted you brought him the best food you’d experienced inside a League Two ground this season, what would you have treated him to?
I’d be lying if I said Barrow's pies weren’t the best in the league, so Charlie can have one of those (as long as he pays full price).
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Holker Street, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
The king has to be Pete Wild. He’s done so much for the club and the fans, transforming an underperforming team the season before into one that finished 9th this year.
There’s a lot of people I could throw in the tower but the one I’ll mention is the staff member who proposed under-15s should not be able to attend the game unsupervised, which I strongly disagree with. Practically destroying a large percentage of our future fanbase.
Best moment of 2022-23?
Coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Mansfield in January, replacing them in the play-offs.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
Losing 5-0 at Stevenage in December, then 5-1 in January at Carlisle, of all places.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
In my opinion, Tom White falling over the stand. I appreciate you probably had to be there for that one.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 19th. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 24th. You finished 9th. Discuss.
I think people expect teams from the big cities to do well and those from the small towns to struggle. Barrow completely subverted this view. Yes, we’ve had a couple of bad seasons since returning to the Football League, but some might say that just made us bigger underdogs, which was clearly shown in the predictions. People underestimated Barrow at the start of the season and it took them a long time to realise we were capable of beating big teams like County, Bradford and Blackpool. I think this season has shown what we're capable of, and if we’re underestimated again next season, it may just be in our favour.
County 2 Barrow 3 in July. Barrow 1 County 0 in February. Thoughts?
County are a decent team but from what I saw in pre-season, I think our passion and togetherness pushed us over the line for our victory on the opening day, although the penalty incident in the last minute was a real heart-in-mouth moment.
The victory at Holker Street was down to sheer hunger. County were in a decent position, pushing for automatic promotion, but we were fighting for the play-offs and that’s what helped us complete the double over you.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
Best was Bradford; good atmosphere, hopes were high, and the players delivered.
Worst has to be Carlisle. Every Barrow fan’s nightmare. A big shoutout to one of our fans, Leanne Harrison, who broke their knee on the bus, yet still sat through a match you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
After decades travelling around the world, Sir David Attenborough’s most recent BBC documentary covered Great Britain. Let’s imagine David and his crew have been filming Barrow fans throughout the 2022-23 season. In that famous voice of his, how would he describe them?
“And from this never seen before footage, we see the courageous Barrow fans blaming the referee in their post-match ritual.”
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams coming into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
MK: “Sorry to hear about your relegation… again!”
Wrexham: “Just because you've been promoted doesn't give you authority to steal more of our players. Good luck coping in League Two. I’m sure with your egos you’ll come unstuck at some point.”
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Carlisle / Colchester / Crawley / Gillingham / Grimsby / Leyton Orient / Mansfield / Newport / Northampton / Rochdale / Sutton / Swindon / Tranmere / Walsall / Wimbledon
Give your car a lick of paint
Granted, Stockport used to be a little rough around the edges. But the town’s getting a good old lick of paint these days, with fancy new offices, apartments, bars and restaurants springing up. You can’t be driving up and down the A6 in a tatty car with chipped paintwork, so give your car a nice lick of paint too. Colourtone is your go-to company for that. They’ve been servicing the automotive and industrial markets in Cheshire and Greater Manchester for decades, and carry an extensive range of car paint and industrial paints.
Visit colourtone.com for further details.
Photo of the day
Edgeley Park, Stockport
A photo oozing with County nostalgia.
Today in SK
🍔 Food and drink 🍔
Mac’s Shack are taking over the kitchen at the Andrew Arms (SK6) for Father’s Day.
Take your dad to TRUNK (SK7) today for brunch, lunch or dinner and he’ll receive a free beer as well as a £5 voucher.
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