ROY McCARTHY

[blue nige]

sadly Roy has passed away as well ,he was my favourite player when I was a kid

[SMB]

RIP Royston. You were a classy player and a classy person.

[mall]

R.I.P dear Roy.

[Wintergreen]

Unconfirmed reports of this about a month ago on here...

[pjdaly]

What shocking news, a double dose of it. Firstly, the loss of the superb 1990 right full-back Steve Higgins and then the loss of Roy McCarthy.

Roy McCarthy is very possibly my favourite Barrow player of all time. I definitely regard Brian Arrowsmith as the most important Barrow player of all time but, let's face it, when we are talking about the most exciting players then defenders unfortunately don't readily spring to mind! Certainly Roy McCarthy is the most exciting Barrow player I have ever watched.

I guess only those who were present in the period 1964 through to 1969 can bear witness to what McCarthy was capable of. It was devastating speed and not a little skill. Every match at Holker Street we would see McCarthy shred his opposing left full-back, get to the byline and get the ball over to our forwards such as Mulholland and McAdams.

I credit Roy McCarthy with the greatest little cameo – lasting less than a minute – that I have ever witnessed watching Barrow. It came in a night match at home to Crewe on 24th April 1967. Both Barrow and Crewe were neck-and-neck in the promotion race. Both teams were desperate to win on that monsoon of an evening. It was 2-2 with only about five or six minutes left. It was almost as if Roy McCarthy decided, through force of will, to try and break the deadlock. He drifted off his right flank into the middle of the pitch and pointed to be given the ball. He was forced out to the left flank and, one after another, two lunging tackles flew in from Crewe defenders but Roy skipped over both of them. I distinctly remember looking for the linesman's flag as the action must have been very tight to that touchline. The flag never came. Roy then cut into the area at the Holker Street end, close to the byline. Two Crewe heavies came over to take him out and Roy knew the game was up. So he drilled a low ball which fizzed towards the near post where the always canny Jimmy Mulholland had stolen half a yard on his marker and he allowed the ball to glance off the outside of his boot and it looped high over the diving Crewe keeper before nestling in the far corner.

That minute of magic didn't clinch promotion from the 4th Division but it made promotion very likely. I am aware that Tony Field's goal against Brentford on May 6th 1967 DID seal the promotion but I always think that extraordinary moment from McCarthy was utterly critical. I don't think I was the only one who thought that. I remember our right full-back, Jim Mallon, racing 60 or 70 yards from his right-back berth, both arms aloft as he ran, to embrace McCarthy near the traffic-lights corner. In the Evening Mail, Bob Herbert famously wrote the following words:

"And while it was the centre-forward's name that went on the score-sheet, it was really McCarthy's goal. He created it out of nothing at all and the young fans showed their appreciation by mobbing the winger. If he had asked for the town-hall clock at that particular moment I bet he would have been given it."

That one minute long ago on that rain-sodden evening is the one minute above any other that I treasure when I think of Barrow soccer's magic moments.

Roy McCarthy was only 22 at that time. Apart from the service he provided from the wing he also notched 12 goals himself in that promotion season. Only 5 years later, in August 1972, Roy McCarthy returned to play for a desperate Barrow as we started our life in exile in the NPL. He would have been only 27 and should have been in his prime. He was only back with us for 1972-73 after which I believe he finished playing completely. During that 1972-73 season, anybody watching Roy McCarthy play would not have believed just how good he had been a few years earlier. He was unrecognisable. To say he was a shadow of his former self is an understatement. For the life of me I have often wondered how such a starry footballer fell so far in such a short time period, and at an age when he should have been at his peak. It has always been a mystery to me.

The last I heard concerning Roy McCarthy was in April 1981 when he wrote a letter to the Evening Mail from his home in Barnsley. The reason for this letter was because the then Manchester City manager, John Bond, had watched his team struggle through an FA Cup semi-final on the way to that famous "Ricky Villa" final in which Spurs beat Man City 3-2. Although City apparently scraped through their semi, John Bond said his team were so poor they would have struggled to beat Barrow. Roy McCarthy was disgusted with this slur and recalled that he had faced Bond when Bond had been a left-back in the 4th Division. Roy said that after he had mauled him down the flank one Saturday afternoon in the '60's Bond needed treatment at North Lonsdale hospital!

What a magical player. As I said, I have never watched a more electrifying or exciting player ever play for us. It was such an experience to go along to Holker Street time after time and watch Roy McCarthy tear left full-backs apart on a regular basis.

Roy actually took some stick off the Holker St faithful because he was a bit timid and not someone you would see going in for a blood-and-thunder tackle. (It was reminiscent of when local lad Keith Eddy played for us and was subjected to vile taunts from the HS terraces before he went on to enjoy a stellar career elsewhere.) It was pitiful really , having to listen to the boo-boys who could only strike out at a player's shortcomings instead of appreciating the massive positives our flying winger brought to the field of play, in the form of attacking and goal-scoring. McCarthy just lit up my Saturday afternoons for five seasons there between 1964 and 1969! That "minute" when he "decided" to win us promotion against Crewe will always live with me. I have never seen anything like it.

Condolences to all his family and thanks to one Peter Allen on Barrow AFC Facebook who seems to have been the one to let us know about this sad news, informing us that Roy apparently passed away last Friday, 23rd August. According to the record books Roy would have been 79 years of age.

[Wintergreen]

Great memories Paul, I was at that Crewe game also but can only remember it being a ding-dong cup final sort of game and Crewe goalkeeper Willie Mailey (i think?) being nearly as good as Fred Else. Roy was usually a great watch and it is a rare thing when a player gets a ball and there is immediately a sense of excitement and expectation. As for his 'technical advisors' on the Popular Side someone would usually shout 'Get that coat hanger out of your shirt McCarthy' at some point or other. This being a reference to his rather hunched upper body shape as he set his sights down the flank and put the burners on. Was he in the '100 Post-War Greats' book? I have a copy somewhere...

[blumooncrab]

PJ Daly - thank you for that . A great tribute . The 60s promotion was a little early for me - though I did go to a few games from about 1970 - nevertheless the names of McCArthy and Storf , Mulvanney, Appleton and of course Brian Arrowsmith are firmly embedded in my psyche ; it is wonderful that you are able to bring them to life and fire our imaginations in such a descriptive way.

Loyalty may no longer be the driver that it clearly was in the 60s, so the current squad are unlikely to stay as long (which, incidentally makes the likes of Farman's excellent tenure all the more enjoyable) but given the last few weeks at HS I am hoping that this squad may create such memories and such memories will also last long in the minds of the young supporters who are coming back to our terraces. The 1960s with "Barrow Rule the Third" is clearly a period that many reminisce on- thank goodness , over 50 years later , we are now beginning to enjoy similar feats.

[xerxes]

Bob Herbert famously wrote the following words:

"And while it was the centre-forward's name that went on the score-sheet, it was really McCarthy's goal. He created it out of nothing at all and the young fans showed their appreciation by mobbing the winger. If he had asked for the town-hall clock at that particular moment I bet he would have been given it."

I missed that Crewe game, but always remembered that comment from Bob Herbert, and whenever I see the town hall clock I still think of it as Roy's!

[pjdaly]

It's exactly 60 years ago this very day that Roy McCarthy made his debut for us as a 19-year-old and of course he played on the right wing wearing his customary number 7 shirt.

Saturday 29th August 1964 at Holker Street:

Barrow 1 Oxford Utd 1

Attendance 4461

Team: Millard, Arrowsmith, Cahill, Worthington, Richardson, Eddy, McCarthy, Brennan, Watson, Tait, Whitaker.

Brennan got our goal.

With the League Cup competition very much at the front of everyone's minds I'm hesitant about mentioning Roy's second game for us. It came on 2nd September 1964 away at Workington in the first round of the League Cup and we famously went down by the score of 9-1. I remember the shock, the utter shock, upon hearing that scoreline.

Things did get better, they really did, and Roy was a hugely influential figure three years later when we won promotion to the 3rd Division.

[supporter for life]

I remember that Oxford game because, I think, it was their first game in the football league after replacing Accrington Stanley.

[Hadrian]

That was a couple of years earlier - on 18th August 1962. Barrow won 3-2 on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

[MisterPleasant]

I remember that Oxford game because, I think, it was their first game in the football league after replacing Accrington Stanley.

That happened 2 years previous, I think. It was our first home game of the 62/63 season when we beat Oxford 3 - 2.

[pjdaly]

Here is the only picture I have of Roy McCarthy scoring a goal for Barrow (though he scored a good few and is in fact our 10th leading goalscorer in our FL history, with Billy Gordon miles ahead of anyone else).

This Lincoln game was on 18th February 1967, just a few weeks after our epic Southampton FA Cup matches. Barrow beat Lincoln 2-1 to keep up our promotion drive, the other goal coming (inevitably) from Jim Mulholland. The attendance was 5740 and the team was the quintessential eleven from our promotion season:

Else, Mallon, Edwards, Smith, Arrowsmith, Harrison, McCarthy, Field, McAdams, Mulholland, Pilkington.

I was at the other end of the pitch, behind the Holker Street wall, but I can still see this particular goal in my mind's eye. The chance firstly fell to Tony Field but, uncharacteristically, the normally razor-sharp Field appeared to mis-control the ball and, from where I was, it looked like it bobbled away off his shin and was going to run through to the Lincoln keeper. Out of nowhere, McCarthy slid in from the right hand side and appeared to deliberately slice under the ball, lifting it over the top of the Lincoln keeper.

Things have changed so much since then but one thing definitely missing now is that match pictures like this, and the match report, would be in The (Evening Mail) Sports Final which, astonishingly, would drop through your letterbox only about 90 minutes after the afternoon match had finished.

The other thing I would mention from this picture is that we can see – through the frame of the Popular (Ray Wilkie) side – the building where the garage now stands. I think it became the Bluebird Club in 1969 but somebody will have to tell me what that building was before becoming that.

Here are the top ten scorers for Barrow in Football League, but the totals include FA cup, League Cup etc as well as league goals. I did the arithmetic myself some years back so of course there's every chance of an error or three. For any of our new FL players to get on that list they're going to have to hang around for a few seasons (and unfortunately that doesn't happen much nowadays).

1. Billy Gordon 168
2. Billy Millar 71
3. James Collins 61
4. Andy McLaren 60
5. Matthew Robinson 57
6. Jimmy Mulholland 55
7. Jackie Robertson 53
8. Jimmy Shankly 51
9. Johnny Kemp 50
10. Roy McCarthy 46

[MisterPleasant]

Wow, Johnny Kemp with 50; I'd never have got that.

[Hadrian]

Your anecdote is great, as is the photo, but this bit interests me:

The other thing I would mention from this picture is that we can see – through the frame of the Popular (Ray Wilkie) side – the building where the garage now stands. I think it became the Bluebird Club in 1969 but somebody will have to tell me what that building was before becoming that.

I am fairly sure that the Bluebird Club was purpose-built and required part of the Pop side removed to accommodate it but there was, in my mind's eye some sort of building behind it in the early/mid 1960s.

The following plan, surveyed in 1956, suggests not, however:

Screenshot 2024-08-30 220338.png (211.04 KiB) Viewed 10422 times

Was a wooden building constructed there in the late 50s?

Also from the plan, what would the narrow building be nearby, parallel to Holker Street, roughly where the entrance now exists between the 'pond' and the former Bluebird Club?

And in the 'Barrow Rule the 3rd' wall, just a little further south, there are two bricked up entrances, such as you may find for a public toilet. No sign of what those entrances might have been for on the plan and there is clearly little space behind that wall for something to need entrances.