50 years ago today: Promoted to Division 3

[pjdaly]

Precisely half a century ago today, at 3.15 pm on Saturday 6th May 1967, Tony Field scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win against Brentford at Holker Street.

Trust me, it wasn't just any old goal. Below is THAT goal . . . the most momentous goal in our 116 year history. It took us up to Division 3. Let's hope that Paul Casson, who we all know cherishes those times as I do, and is by his own admission motivated to recreate them, can take us forward in the next few years to a moment to sit alongside it . . . . .

[pjdaly]

Purely by coincidence, May 6th 1967 fell on a Saturday just as it does today in 2017.

And so it was that it came to pass that at 3.15pm on Saturday May 6th 1967 in the land of Furness Tony Field swept the ball home at the Steelworks (now Crossbar) End as we clinched promotion to Division 3 with a 1-0 victory. The match itself did not have the same gladiatorial feel as the one in which we beat Crewe twelve days before, and as I recall we were always dominant against Brentford. Nevertheless, at 1-0 nobody could ever be too sure. However, if the match itself wasn't the epic that the Crewe game had been the occasion was of course unparalleled for it meant we were promoted to Division 3.

The rainfall against Crewe was a tsunami from the skies; on this day against Brentford, the weather was also bizarre, with sunny spells being interspersed with thunder and lightning and heavy downpours. I was just a kid but I remember being aware that this was dangerous stuff as the lightning bolts pierced the dark skies above Holker Street, and we can be sure the players wouldn't be staying on the field in this day and age in conditions like that. The conditions presented a suitable metaphor for our club's history, with lots of very dark, bleak moments, angry rumbling noises, and the occasional dazzle of sunshine. Aptly, the sun was shining as Tony Field scored the only goal of the game in the fifteenth minute.

I vividly remember running on the pitch with countless others as the final whistle blew. It was the first time I had done this (almost the first time there was reason to do this!) and I can remember the squelching of the muddy pitch beneath my feet and almost falling over once or twice on the very slippery mudheap that was our sacred turf. I ran towards the centre of the field and gathered in the crowd that congregated around the tunnel which, in those days, was in the traditional position in the middle of the old wooden stand. I know my blue and white rosette somehow got ripped in the mad melee but my rattle survived intact. I also struggled, as a small boy, to see above and between the masses of folk in front of me . . . but, that said, I can easily pick out the top of my head, complete with blue and white bobble hat, at the back of the pack in the memorable picture of that jubilant crowd gathered in front of the stand! I also remember the calls for manager Don McEvoy to stay . . . of course he didn't and he was very soon the new manager of Grimsby. George Smith also played his last League match for us that day as he was transferred to Portsmouth for £20,000 (a decent sum back in those days). Apparently George never at any time agitated to leave and was happy at Barrow but the club cashed in anyway. I remember there was an article in the Evening Mail, probably in the summer of 1971, which showed a picture of Don McEvoy (who had by that time returned to have a second, but this time very unsuccessful, crack at managing Barrow) and George Smith. The great George had popped back in to Holker Street (about 4 years after leaving) to see McEvoy and thank him and the club for giving him his start in League football, before his climb to the top flight. Smith, and Tony Field also, were both young (in their very early 20's) when they left Barrow and both eventually ended up playing in the top flight of English football for several years.

At the other end of the age-scale Brian Pilkington retired from full time professional football after the 1966-67 season ended, finishing with a Division 4 promotion medal to add to his solitary England cap and his Champions of England medal that he had won with Burnley back in 1960. Irish international Bill McAdams did play on but only mustered something like a dozen games in 67-68 before injuries led him to call it a day. The rest of the team stayed and saw through our highest ever finish on the football pyramid in Division 3 the following season. The glory days lasted little more than eighteen months. Then the slide began . . . . .





Below is a photo of the 66-67 squad, including the reserves and the board:

Back row, l-r: M.Marsh, Alan Lappin, Kevin Morrell, Mike Knox, Lionel Duffin, Roger Lappin, M.Kendall, B.Pearce

Billy Gordon (trainer), Don Davison, Eric Harrison, Bill McAdams, Peter Barton, Alec Alston, Bobby Knox, D.Weavers, Jack Baggett (physio)

Don McEvoy (manager), Ron Stephenson, Jim Mulholland, George Smith, Jim Mallon, Fred Else, Malcolm Edwards, Roy McCarthy, Tony Field, Brian Pilkington, Diickie Robinson (trainer)

Wilf Livingstone (secretary), J.Inman, T.Law, Sammy Morgan, Brian Arrowsmith (captain), J.Richardson (Chairman), Don McCalman (club captain), M.Harper, W.Reed, H.Roche, W.Rogers

Mascots Jim Caldwell and P.Roache (where are they now? . . . those lads had privileged roles . . . I haven't had any eye-teeth since 1966 as I got the pliers, ripped them out and handed them to the club, but still didn't get the job)

Not in photo but also played during season: Mick Hartland, Ron McGarry, Larry Carberry, Peter Marshall

[pjdaly]

Here are a few more pictures from the match against Brentford:

[pjdaly]

And here's a couple of post-match crowd scenes:

[pjdaly]

The following is the Evening Mail article written by Bob Herbert for the Monday edition released two days after the match.


BARROW 1 BRENTFORD 0 (6th MAY 1967)

By BOB HERBERT

It’s a dream come true, promotion for Barrow AFC at last. And that’s why there were unusual scenes at Holker Street on Saturday.

The normally reserved Furness area football fans let their emotions run away with them. The players were mobbed as soon as the whistle came to signal the victory over Brentford. But it was to manager Don McEvoy that the supporters really wanted to show their appreciation.

Eventually he emerged from the dressing room – but he wasn’t prepared to take the credit for moving Barrow out of the lowest division of the Football League after 46 years of waiting. He called his players out with him – and that’s been the secret behind this season’s success.

It’s the tremendous team spirit that has existed that has produced promotion on a shoe-string. Individual skills have played their part but it’s the way the manager and the team have worked so well together that has been so impressive and that led to the reward they so richly deserved.

And it was yet another example of this spirit that enabled the double to be completed over the Griffin Park side – and Barrow finish off the season with four wins in a row.

However, considering just what it achieved, the performance did not quite match the occasion.

And yet, I suppose, that was only to be expected.

LOT AT STAKE
With so much at stake the players could hardly have appreciated this game just like any other. They knew Barrow fans had been let down too often in the past, and this time the players were determined not to let the chance slip.

As it turned out Barrow would have still gone up had they been beaten because Crewe could only draw while Southend went down – but it is so much nicer to finish third in the table than to be looked on as the side that just scraped its way into the final place in the top four.

However, a draw was never a probability, never mind defeat.

And the single goal victory margin only flattered a Brentford side that was never in the same class as Barrow.

In fact the Londoners could have just as easily gone down by half a dozen goals. Had it been any other game then I’m sure Jim Mulholland would have had a hat-trick instead of nothing to show for his work.

He worked his way through the defence but just couldn’t get the ball into the net and while visiting goalkeeper Gordon Phillips made some good saves he had to admit that he had luck on his side to be beaten only once.

That came after 15 minutes when Jimmy Mallon shoved a perfect 40-yard ball through to Tony Field and the opportunist inside-forward swept his way through a couple of tackles before getting back on the goal-scoring trail.

NO SHIRKERS
It was a goal he deserved, for no-one worked harder in the first half – though there was not a single shirker in the ranks.

There was Brian Pilkington determined to make it a game to remember as far as he was concerned; Roy McCarthy skipping round the cover on his flank as if it never existed; McGarry and Smith patrolling the middle of the field, and that dependable defensive line of Mallon, Arrowsmith, Harrison and Edwards making sure that very little got past.

It only became hard work when the gods roared their approval with thunder, lightning, and a tremendous downpour.

The quagmire conditions this left acted as a leveller and enabled Brentford to get into the game a little more. But they never seriously threatened Barrow’s superiority.

It was only towards the close that they were able to show any attacking ideas at all, but ‘keeper Fred Else, the man who has done more than anyone else this season to instil confidence into the side, was not going to let his colleagues down at this stage.

PROVED CORRECT
So the players, who have been saying for weeks that they could get promotion, proved that they knew what they were talking about.

So, well done lads – you have provided a wonderful season for us all. You have to remember that we are not accustomed to this sort of glory.

It is end-of-season activities at the other end of the table that usually arouses our interest. And chairman, Mr. J.E. Richardson was not afraid to admit this.

As he toasted the players after the game he said : “I have been chairman for six years and in that time we have had to apply for re-election three times. I’ve got quite used to writing begging letters. So thank you very much for making such a change”.

BARROW : Else, Mallon, Edwards, Smith, Arrowsmith, Harrison, McCarthy, McGarry, Mulholland, Field, Pilkington.

BRENTFORD : Phillips, Howley, Jones, Higginson, Gelson, Thompson, Dobson, Raft, Lawther, Hocker, Docherty.

Attendance : 8,769

Poignant Postscript:
Five years later, Brentford were again the visitors, but this time it was as what turned out to be the last ever League visitors to Holker Street. Five of the players that had taken part in Barrow’s greatest moment in 1967 also played in Barrow’s saddest moment in 1972. Four of the five were Brentford players (Phillips, Howley, Gelson, and Docherty) and the sole Barrow player to feature on both occasions was Eric Harrison who had returned to the club for a second spell in 1971-72. Brentford won this one by 3-0. It was desperate stuff to watch.

[pjdaly]

And last but not least, here is the final Division 4 League Table:

It's odd how the memory gets distorted; for years I have had it fixed in my head that Tranmere finished 2nd and Southport occupied the fourth and last promotion place. I got a shock when I looked at this today and noticed it was the other way round!

[Steelworks End]

Excellent stuff, pjdaly; your posts bring back so many happy memories from that day when the impossible - or so it seemed to the Barrow supporters - happened. For the first time in our League career we were out of the bottom division and had something to celebrate; for so many years a successful season had been finishing outside of the bottom four.

I too was over the wall and onto the marsh-like pitch as soon as the final whistle went; facing the wrath of my parents (well, my mam at least, dad was probably not far behind me!) for going home with mud-encrusted shoes was a risk worth taking.

Then the seemingly endless - but in reality less than an hour - wait at home for the Evening Mail's sports final to arrive, eyes focused on the first sign of the paper boy's approach; every moment of the game to be savoured again through Bob Herbert's words. Then another long wait until Monday's Mail arrived with a more detailed report from Bob, as reproduced above.

And a long summer waiting for our Division Three campaign to start.

[McMark]

A really comprehensive recollection and archive there PJ, it certainly makes good reading!! Thank you for sharing your memories with us all once again.

[Storf]

I remember the thunder & lightning storm, being a young lad it was scary! Many thanks for this nostalgic post PJ

[xerxes]

I remember it well. I was behind the goal for Field's goal, a few steps up from the photographer more or less, by the look of it. We decided that the thunderstorm in the second half was the gods welcoming Barrow into the 3rd division. I too was amongst the throng who invaded the pitch at the end. Can't see myself in the photo though.

D. Weavers in the squad photo - first name was Don. Of course we had a reserve team in those days, as did most clubs.

[xerxes]

Here are some pages from the programme -

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[GTBLUE]

And here's a couple of post-match crowd scenes:

Absolutely disgraceful scenes at the end. "Fans on the pitch, they think it"s all over " I wonder if they all got 3 year banning orders

[Hadrian]

Great stuff. Thanks for the effort made to post all that, pjdaly and xerxes.

[Wintergreen]

Yeah cheers Paul (and Xerxes) a real labour of love there formatting all that info from that afternoon half a century ago. So long ago that I can't remember any thunder and ligtning and I thought Field's goal was at the Holker End! Not a reliable witness I.

As a 10-year-old then it was my second season of being a regular and I assumed following Barrow was always going to be like that - glory, glory Barrow soccer all the way. I'm pretty certain that's me behind the guy with the flat cap in the foreground of the main pic, (the NHS glasses give it away) with my old mucker Derek Brook to my left. A few years later Derek started following Man U full time hitch hiking all over the country, I guess you might remember him from the Grammar School.

[pjdaly]

And here's a couple of post-match crowd scenes:

Absolutely disgraceful scenes at the end. "Fans on the pitch, they think it"s all over " I wonder if they all got 3 year banning orders

Thanks everyone for the appreciative comments.

I can't speak for the rest, Graham, but I escaped without punishment. To paraphrase the irascible man from the hotel: "I ran on the pitch once . . . but I think I got away with it".

Mind you, whilst it would have destroyed me if I'd been prevented from seeing the first year or two of the 3rd Division action, a little roll forward of the clock to the middle of 1969 – and with the benefit of hindsight and a Tardis – I would have snatched your hand off, paid any amount of money, committed any crime . . . anything to have had a 3-year banning order and avoided witnessing the horrors that appeared in front of my eyes through the period 1969 to 1972.

Xerxes, as you might conclude from the EM pictures I have kept for all these years, I tend to look after things fairly carefully. However, one thing that I have somehow (shamefully) allowed to vanish from my grasp is the Brentford Match Day programme. Bad mistake! How did that happen? You own an important document from our history there.

Yes, Gary, it's interesting to look at that crowd picture and wonder where they all might be now and how many still attend after all this time. I would never have guessed it but, yes, as you now mention it, I think I can see the face of The Earthquake Man there as a young lad. I still see him around Barrow occasionally and always say hello but I don't know if he actually knows me as I was in the year below him at school. I can't understand why he would quit on us and follow MU instead. But then again, perhaps I only need to refer back to para 3 above for an answer . . . . .