50 Years Ago Today: Barrow Ruled the Third

[dodger]

Myself and a couple of mates painted this! Spray canisters were a thing of luxury at the time and it was applied by brushes! Done around the time Fulham came with Aerosol’s ! Well before the Barnsley game! Not quite Banksy but seems part of the History of Holker St now

[barrowaberdeen]

Myself and a couple of mates painted this! Spray canisters were a thing of luxury at the time and it was applied by brushes! Done around the time Fulham came with Aerosol’s ! Well before the Barnsley game! Not quite Banksy but seems part of the History of Holker St now

Hahaha great stuff and PJ great opening post

[Jim]

The Evening Mail listed a player called Ted Purden in the line-up when they printed this but I believe he was a player from the late 1950's and before my time. So, I've scrubbed that name . . . it's definitely George McLean there at the back.

Ted Purdon was a South African 'centre forward' who played for Sunderland before joining Barrow. Played for us in the late 50s. He came with a good pedigree but I don't remember him doing a lot for us. Went to Wukkie like many of our cast offs then ended up playing in USA I think.

EDIt - just checked Wikipedia and we signed him from Workington, ie a Wukkie cast off

[russell_anderson]

Definitely the era of the best group of players ever to play for Barrow starting around 65-66 and lasting until around 68-69. We had many very, very good players but, for me, there were 5 who were absolutely key . They were George Smith (the best player I ever saw play for Barrow), Mick Harland, Jim Mulholland, Jim Mallon and Fred Else. Lots of other good ones - Pilkington, Field, McCarthy, Harrison, Edwards, Mulvaney, Storf, McCarthy, Keith Eddy - not all who were together at the same time, unfortunately. The era when we beat 2nd Division Crystal Palace at Holker Street and should have beaten Southampton who were saved by the head of Ron Davies and could have beaten a star-studded Leicester. Days never seen since and never will be again!

[russell_anderson]

The Evening Mail listed a player called Ted Purden in the line-up when they printed this but I believe he was a player from the late 1950's and before my time. So, I've scrubbed that name . . . it's definitely George McLean there at the back.

Ted Purdon was a South African 'centre forward' who played for Sunderland before joining Barrow. Played for us in the late 50s. He came with a good pedigree but I don't remember him doing a lot for us. Went to Wukkie like many of our cast offs then ended up playing in USA I think.

EDIt - just checked Wikipedia and we signed him from Workington, ie a Wukkie cast off

One of our worst ever players signed by one of our worst ever managers, Norman Dodgin, in an exchange for Billy Gordon (one of our best ever players) and Joe Armstrong (a very decent player) who had both been regulars in the team under Joe Harvey. Joe had moved to Workington and got rid of the useless article that was Purdon very quickly while picking up 2 of the players he rated from his time at Barrow. However, wet and muddy it was, you never saw Purdon with a speck on himself or a bead of sweat!

[barrowfan]

The Evening Mail listed a player called Ted Purden in the line-up when they printed this but I believe he was a player from the late 1950's and before my time. So, I've scrubbed that name . . . it's definitely George McLean there at the back.

Ted Purdon was a South African 'centre forward' who played for Sunderland before joining Barrow. Played for us in the late 50s. He came with a good pedigree but I don't remember him doing a lot for us. Went to Wukkie like many of our cast offs then ended up playing in USA I think.

EDIt - just checked Wikipedia and we signed him from Workington, ie a Wukkie cast off

The late Vic Brownbill regarded Ted Purdon as one of the better Barrow players in those days.

[russell_anderson]

Ted Purdon was a South African 'centre forward' who played for Sunderland before joining Barrow. Played for us in the late 50s. He came with a good pedigree but I don't remember him doing a lot for us. Went to Wukkie like many of our cast offs then ended up playing in USA I think.

EDIt - just checked Wikipedia and we signed him from Workington, ie a Wukkie cast off

The late Vic Brownbill regarded Ted Purdon as one of the better Barrow players in those days.

I knew Vic very well but I completely disagree with him on that one as did my father who was a friend of Vic's and watched Barrow for the same length of time.

[Colin Appleton]

Excellent thread. Howard Riley lived in one of the club houses in Sanderling Lane Dalton. My family lived next door to him. I remember he once had us all round to show us films that he'd taken of local events, people playing in the snow, bonfires etc, with his at the time, rare cine camera. He then put on the 1963 FA Cup final, a match he played in for Leicester against Manchester United.In the days before videos' and CD's you could buy Cine films of the big games.The Torquay side in Division 3 at the time was managed by Frank O'Farrell who would go on to become Manchester United's Manager. Frank played with Fred Else at Preston. I'd recommend you read Frank's autobiography "All Change at Old Trafford " Fascinating read, ghost written by I'm told and who am I to argue a good looking Barrovian, ha. Watford's Manager at the time was I think Ken Furphy, lovely bloke, sadly no longer with us, he'd been Workington's Manager and he get's a mention in Pele's autobiography because he was the Brazilian's boss at New York Cosmos.

[John_Bucks]

I wish my Dad knew the internet existed, he’d love all this. Great read for us younger(ish) fans.

Thanks all.

[Wintergreen]

Good shout Paul; nice to re-kindle some very old memories and get a bit of a lift in these troubled times. I must admit I have taken the Casson withdrawal rather badly, even though I predicted earlier this year that the trust would be running the club within the next five years. PC's departure was somrthing like his tenure, rather ad-hoc to the point of shambolic.

So back to the 60s - deffo George Mc Lean in the pic. I think he came from Workington and in one of his first games (possibly v Workington) McLean and the opposing centre-half took turns in laying each other out off the ball!

[Wintergreen]

Dodger mentions the visit of Fulham which I thought was when we got promoted to Division 3 and they dropped down into it yet they do not feature in the league table shown. Can anyone remember the sequence of events? Did Fulham drop into Division 3 in our second term there?

[Steelworks End]

So back to the 60s - deffo George Mc Lean in the pic. I think he came from Workington and in one of his first games (possibly v Workington) McLean and the opposing centre-half took turns in laying each other out off the ball!

Sounds like Lawrie Sheffield, when he was playing for Luton. Every time the ball was cleared, it seemed, one of them was left face down in the mud and the other the picture of innocence. The referee saw nothing, but undoubtedly had an idea what was going on; he consulted first with the nearest linesman, then with the one at the far end, but to no avail. Both players went unpunished, apart from a few bruises that is!

[pjdaly]

Dodger . . . you say "not quite Banksy" . . . don't put yourself down, your daubing from 1968 is far more meaningful and relevant than anything Banksy ever did. It's just regrettable that your masterpiece finally faded away, though the last remnants of it could still be made out until about 10 years ago I reckon. It's forever in the Hall of Fame. It's good to know that you have responded and are still around and still clearly following things at Barrow. What became of your co-conspirators who were busy with their paint-pots and brushes under the cover of darkness late that November night in 1968? Were any of you aware of just how famous (if anonymous) you were to become in the story of Barrow AFC?

Gary . . . you asked about Fulham . . . it was 1969-70, the third and final season of our three year stay in Division Three. It was on 30th August 1969 that we beat the Cottagers 3-1 at Holker Street in front of a crowd of 5665. Ellison, Garbett and Morrin got our goals. That match was highly notable because Fulham included the legend that was Johnny Haynes, former England captain, playing for them in what must have been the twilight of his career. The name "Haynes" was daubed on that same wall as "Barrow Rule the 3rd" and could still be made out until not many years ago, right next to where the wall ends and the turning into Asda opens up. Although we beat Fulham that day it was a rare good day as our decline was very much in evidence and we ended up relegated in 23rd position.

[pjdaly]

Jim - that was brilliant to read of your account of the trek you made over to Hartlepools. Given that it is 50 years ago, and given the terrible weather conditions (and, as you mentioned, the strong possibility that the match might not have gone ahead), could it be that you might be the only Barrow fan alive who actually witnessed that performance that took us to the top of the 3rd Division?????

[xerxes]

Although we beat Fulham that day it was a rare good day as our decline was very much in evidence and we ended up relegated in 23rd position.

Yes, we'd had a poor start to the season, 3-0 defeats to Luton & Tranmere, losing at Southport to a last minute goal, and needing a replay and a lot of luck to get past Workington in the League Cup. But the performance against Fulham was brilliant, and it seemed like we had turned the corner. Unfortunately that was not the case and we didn't win again till December.