|
The
curious case of the flightless Bluebirds
by
Paul Davidson
The
name of Barrow AFC will be known to most serious non-league football
fans as one to be admired. What might not be quite so well known
to these fans is the perilous plight the club now find themselves
in and the consternation it is causing in the north of England.
Barrow you see are in a spot of financial bother. Not so much a
spot as an ocean of financial trouble actually.
Approximately
half way through last season, they went broke. The Conference chose
not to expel them immediately due to the fixture chaos it would
cause and anyway, they were bottom of the league at the time and
the expected relegation for them would mean that the problem would
pass on to someone else, i.e. the Northern Premier League.
Of
course, as we all know, football is a funny old game and sure enough
Barrow put on an almighty spurt late in the season to pull out of
the relegation zone and push Leek Town into it. That was when the
fun really started. Barrow AFC (1901) were reformed as Barrow AFC
(1999) but the Conference refused to re-admit them on the grounds
that they would not accept a newly formed company. They stated that
Barrow would have to rejoin the Northern Premier League instead.
The
Northern Premier League, having already accepted Leek Town as the
relegated club from the Conference, refused to accept Barrow as
well as they had not finished in a relegation position. With the
matter going back and forth, the FA were brought in to adjudicate
between the leagues. Now it started to get really confusing. The
FA backed the Conference, unsurprisingly and said that the Northern
Premier League would have to accept Barrow into a Premier Division
of 23 teams.
Barrow,
meanwhile, not knowing what their fate would be, had applied and
been admitted to the North West Counties League, the league below
the Northern Premier. The fixtures for the North West Counties League
were duly issued showing Barrow away to Formby on the first day
of the season, Saturday 14th August. August arrived with the FA
still insisting that Barrow should be playing in the Northern Premier
League, who still steadfastly refused to accept them.
Barrow,
having been assured by the FA that they would be playing in the
Northern Premier League, were so confident that they resigned from
the North West Counties League, leaving them very unhappy and with
their fixtures in disarray. With no sign of a breakthrough in sight,
the FA threatened, on the 5th August, to suspend the Northern Premier
League unless they provide written proof that they would after all
accept Barrow for the forthcoming season.
This
written proof was not received and the season kicked off on Saturday
August 14th with Barrow having no fixture at all and their fans
(average gate over 1,000) not knowing who, what, where or when their
first fixture would be played and what competition it would be in.
The Northern Premier League's point of view was that Barrow should
be treated in the same way that Aldershot and Wealdstone were treated
by the Ryman League and that they should start again at the same
equivalent level as the Ryman League Division three i.e. the North
West Counties League Division Two.
However, the entire farce came to a head at a special meeting of
the Northern Premier League on Sunday 22nd August when under extreme
pressure from the FA, the NPL buckled under and admitted Barrow
to the Premier Division and they were due to play their first game
five days later against Guiseley.
My
solution to all this. Easy. Make David Graveney Chairman of the
FA and make the entire FA committee pick the next England cricket
team. Neither of them could do a worse job and you never know, things
just might improve on all fronts.
|
