Fred Else

[McMark]

Never had the pleasure of seeing Fred play, but talk to anyone over thirty five years old about Barrow AFC and Fred Else will come into the conversation and rightly acclaimed as a Barrow icon!

[Down The Park]

Here’s a little tale that chills me somewhat and relates to Fred and also another top footballer:

In April 2008 the Emlyn Hughes statue was unveiled. Fred Else was there as an observer. Also there was Brian Hall, representing Liverpool Football Club and a former team-mate of Emlyn’s. Brian played for Liverpool from the late 60’s to the mid 70’s, winning two League titles, two UEFA cups and one FA Cup. Brian was known as “Little Bamber” and his team-mate, Steve Heighway, was “Big Bamber”. These nicknames arose from the fact that they both had university degrees and the TV programme University Challenge was chaired by one Bamber Gascoigne. Brian actually played against Barrow twice at Holker Street; once was in a pre-season friendly in August 1969 when he was in Liverpool reserves and before he had broken into the first team. Then, in the twilight of his career he turned out for Northwich Vics in 1981.

At the unveiling, Fred went up to have a chat with Brian and introduced himself. I was amused by Brian’s astonishment. “Fred Else? I can’t believe it” was the tone of the greeting! Brian lived in Preston and knew the legend of Fred Else only too well, but clearly didn’t expect to bump into him in Barrow that day.

I tend to squirm at the cliché “he was a true gentleman” after someone has died; it seems these days that every bloke who ever lived and died just happened to be a “true gentleman”. The difficulty here for me though is that it is probably true in the case of these two. Certainly I can vouch that it is true of Brian Hall; in the case of Fred, despite watching him with no small amount of hero-worship through his years at Barrow from behind the Holker Street wall, I did not personally know him and I have only the words of others about his true human nature. However, I can readily believe that he was the immensely decent individual that others have confirmed him to be from the way he carried himself and conducted himself.

Why the chills that I mentioned at the start? Brian Hall passed away on 16th July at the relatively young age of 68. Fred passed away on the 20th July.

Whenever I go past that Emlyn Hughes statue I think about the day those two footballing greats met there. From now, I will also think about the fact that they left this world within a few short days of each other.

Nice story that.

I knew Fred Else when I was a youngster he took Barrow Boys training at the youth fields with Joe Humphreys. I do recall him being patient and effective as a coach / trainer. Also remember Brian Hall what a good player he was very sad to hear he also passed away. RIP to both.

[Nigel Bamford]

More from the NWEM including comments from Colin Appleton and Paul Casson: http://www.nwemail.co.uk/Further-tribut ... 4be5712-ds

[Lancaster Branch]

Decent thread on the PNE forum too.

http://www.pne-online.net/forum/showthr ... -Fred-Else

[The Tomahawk Kid]

More from the NWEM including comments from Colin Appleton and Paul Casson: http://www.nwemail.co.uk/Further-tribut ... 4be5712-ds

Fred Else AND Colin Appleton! What a team we had!

[barrowfan]

I gather someone attending the funeral tomorrow is landing their helicopter on the practice area at Barrow golf Club.

[barrowfan]

The man in the helicopter was Dave Whelan - photos from the Evening Mail website.

[boyliegladbach]

The man in the plane was Dave Whelan

That's a helicopter

[barrowfan]

[

[barrowfan]

The man in the plane was Dave Whelan

That's a helicopter

Agreed - well spotted. Post altered.

[Ralph]

If you’d like to send a condolence card to the late Fred Else’s family, then this is the address to post it to: Mrs Marjorie Else and family, 14 lkley Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

[pjdaly]

It was good that the tribute to Fred was handled impeccably by the club yesterday. I have been very critical of the way these things have been done in the past but it was handled excellently yesterday.

Included is a photo of some of the former players at Fred's funeral. Just out of interest, does anyone know any names? Clearly, some will be former Preston and Blackburn players but I wondered if that could be Mick Hartland on the extreme right of the photo. Anyone with any info?

[Stu1]

Harry Gregg to right of Mike Heyes ?

[Ralph]

FRED ELSE – A WONDERFUL GOALKEEPER, A WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING
By Phil Yelland, from the Barrow v Dover Athletic programme.

After former goalkeeper Fred Else passed away on Monday July 20, there were fantastic tributes to him both on the unofficial Forum and on Facebook.

Fred touched many lives, not just as Barrow AFC’s goalkeeper in the 1966-67 promotion-winning side but also when he worked as a teacher and in the shipyard. Sadly, I never saw Fred play. I first met him in August 1970, shortly after injury had seen him retire from playing, but I know from what I have read in books and from press cuttings that not only at Barrow but also at his previous clubs - Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End – he was highly regarded on and off the field.

It was Fred, along with the secretary, the late Wilf Livingstone, who really got me interested in the club in the late 1960s and when I made my first trip to Barrow in August 1970 as a 12-year-old, it was Wilf and Fred and his family that looked after my Dad and I. Tea at the Else house in Carlton Avenue, after a 1-0 defeat by Crewe Alexandra, was a memory I would never forget as, after we had eaten, Fred produced cuttings and photos of his career at Barrow and he talked warmly about his playing colleagues, as well as some of the earlier days at Preston and Blackburn.

You might have thought that as Fred had retired from playing he would have dropped out of the picture, but not a bit of it. He had the great idea to send me the North West Evening Mail match reports each week and he did that for over ten years, including after we dropped into non-League football. We also phoned him every month or so for a catch up – that was a big deal in the early 1970s when you had to make what was called a “trunk call” involving being connected by the BT operator. Even though he had retired from playing, Fred kept up with his old playing contacts. He told some great tales of Nottingham Forest trainer Jimmy Gordon, whom he knew well, and of Brian Clough, Forest’s charismatic manager.

In October 1974, Fred took me and his son Gary – who sadly died a couple of years ago – on, for me, a day trip of a lifetime all because of his connections. In the morning, we pitched up at The Cliff, then the training ground of Manchester United where we watched the first team go through their paces, and then it was on to Old Trafford where we met United manager Tommy Docherty, who had played with Fred at Preston. We went onto the Old Trafford pitch – I still have the photographic evidence. In the evening, Fred took us to his former club Preston North End, where he was warmly greeted and he introduced us to the then North End boss Bobby Charlton. North End won 1-0 on the night. I admit I was totally star struck.

Fred simply never changed. He always had time to speak to you and in this world in which we live, he always remembered to say thanks – whatever it was; we could all probably learn from that.

At the end of August 2008, I came down to Barrow for the evening of the launch of 17-0 – What A Score, the book written by Darren Gardner to celebrate Fred’s career and the fact that in 17 years as a professional footballer, he had never been booked. Fred and wife Marjorie spent nine years living in Cyprus, but returned home in 2007 and Fred came back to Holker Street on many occasions after that to watch, when he was fit. The book launch evening at Hawcoat Park involved a number of top-table guests and a question-and-answer session; it was a trip down memory lane for young and old with stories that everyone enjoyed – and Fred certainly did.

To, Marjorie, his son Michael, daughter Debbie and to their families and those of son Gary, we all send our sympathies. Fred was a wonderful goalkeeper, a wonderful human being and the world will be a lot worse off for his passing.

[Ralph]

OUR GREATEST KEEPER
From the Barrow v Dover Athletic programme.

In the opinion of many people, Fred Else was the greatest keeper to have ever played for Barrow AFC.

He wasn’t tall in stature, compared with the keepers of today, but he was agile and put his success down to his great positional sense. A real gentleman on and off the pitch, he was regarded by many as the best uncapped goalkeeper of his era, although he did play for the England ‘B’ team. He joined Barrow at the start of the 1966-67 season, as manager Don McEvoy put together a team that eventually won promotion to Division 3 (now League One). In all, Fred made 173 appearances for Barrow before a troublesome knee injury led to his retirement in the summer of 1970. Fred's career started with Preston and he made 238 appearances for North End during the 1950s in the top flight of English football, as his great friendship with Sir Tom Finney flourished. A dispute over his contract led to Fred leaving Deepdale in 1961 and he moved on to Blackburn Rovers, where he made over 200 appearances over five seasons. He took up teaching in Barrow in 1973 and while maths and geography were his subjects, sports masters always took advantage of his footballing background to get him involved in after-school games and coaching. He was too much of a gentleman to say “No”.

Fred had not enjoyed the best of health before his death on Sunday at St George’s Nursing Home in Barrow. Fred will be sorely missed by his many friends, family and former colleagues. Our sincere condolences go to his widow Marjorie and his family.