Locations? Locations! Location 125

[FanzoneFan]

I thought Barrow had played at the Parade Ground. Behind the old fire station near John Winnerah Institute. Near the roundabout going into Tesco. Was that the first Barrow club that was disbanded? How long did that first club last ?

[Main Stand SeasonTct]

I thought Barrow had played at the Parade Ground. Behind the old fire station near John Winnerah Institute. Near the roundabout going into Tesco. Was that the first Barrow club that was disbanded? How long did that first club last ?

They did that was there first ground

The Barrow AFC Parade Ground was the club's original home in the late 1800s, located on Abbey Road where the fire station now stands, hosting early matches before the club moved to various grounds, eventually settling at their current home, The SO Legal Stadium, on Holker Street in 1909. The historic Parade Ground also featured athletics, cycling, rugby, and cricket, and was built over in the 1890s.

[Hadrian]

Current club founded in 1901 and it is correct that the Parade Ground was a home. Assume you want to include previous iterations? Part of the history of soccer in the town despite not being AFC as we know it.

(An 1889' Advertiser' article refers to the Barrow Association Football Club, the departure of William Lawrie, a founder and chairman of the finance committee, and Angus Beattie, both "hard-working members". It also references "making good headway in public favour", and "effort to plant the Association game in Barrow during the last six years".)

[snowdog71]

The original Barrow AFC formed in April 1889 used the Parade Ground as their home until their demise in 1894.
The second Barrow AFC club formed in July 1901 played at the Strawberry Ground until the end of the 1903-04 season, then started the 1904-05 season at a new ground off Ainslie Street.
After a disastrous autumn and winter, the Ainslie Street pitch resembled a quagmire, and was deemed unsuitable for football, so the Lancashire FA forced the club to move away from Ainslie Street in March 1905 to Little Park, Roose, which was the best available playing surface in the area at the time.
After a good start at Little Park, relegation in 1908 and a severe drop in attendances forced the club to seek a new home closer to the town centre, and during the summer of 1909, the club moved to Holker Street, where they remain to this very day.

I hope this clears up the ground issues.

[snowdog71]

Barrow AFC played on The Strawberry grounds just prior to 1903, when the ground was turned over to become the home of Furness Rugby Union Club, there they still play now.
I don’t know how long the football club played there, but it wasn’t for long. To watch the football, fans were transported by tram to the top of the hill on Abbey Road, before the Strawberry Pub where the line stopped. They then walked down to the grounds from there. There was an old wooden stand on the Litchmead Road side of the pitch, which is now long gone. On the Abbey Rd side of the pitch, there is still some concrete terracing, which may go back to the time the football was there.
The town planner and one of the founders of the town was John Wadham, who lived in Mill House mansion as and was an avid sportsman. He was the founder of Furness Rugby Club and would have had some influence on why the football club left and to where they went next.
The history of Wadham and what he did in the town is well archived and may well show a light on the full history of the football club

When the club moved to the Strawberry Ground in 1901, it was just a flat field without any facilities and during the early days, the players used to change in the Strawberry Hotel, then walk along Strawberry Lane to the ground.
Grass banking was eventually introduced with wooden fencing around the perimeter of the pitch and this was still in place when the club moved to Ainslie Street in 1904.

Any concrete terracing would have been added by Furness Rugby Union Club at a later date.

[pjdaly]

Well done Steve & Co on this wonderful initiative. Steve - - - I have a suggestion but will pm you with it in the next few days when I get a few spare moments . . . . .

Steve . . . can you pm me please? I have tried to pm you but have been unsuccessful for whatever reason.

[barrowaberdeen]

Would you mind e mailing pal?

125@bluebirdstrust.co.uk

[snowdog71]

Barrow AFC played on The Strawberry grounds just prior to 1903, when the ground was turned over to become the home of Furness Rugby Union Club, there they still play now.
I don’t know how long the football club played there, but it wasn’t for long. To watch the football, fans were transported by tram to the top of the hill on Abbey Road, before the Strawberry Pub where the line stopped. They then walked down to the grounds from there. There was an old wooden stand on the Litchmead Road side of the pitch, which is now long gone. On the Abbey Rd side of the pitch, there is still some concrete terracing, which may go back to the time the football was there.
The town planner and one of the founders of the town was John Wadham, who lived in Mill House mansion as and was an avid sportsman. He was the founder of Furness Rugby Club and would have had some influence on why the football club left and to where they went next.
The history of Wadham and what he did in the town is well archived and may well show a light on the full history of the football club

Neither John Wadham or Furness Rugby Union Club made any contribution to the decision that resulted in Barrow AFC leaving the Strawberry Ground in 1904.
After the club had left the Strawberry Ground, junior association football clubs, Newbarns United and Newbarns Rovers used the ground occasionally to host fixtures.

Barrow AFC secured a long-term tenancy on the Strawberry Ground in 1901 for the sum of £41 5s and after a bumper crowd of 4000 witnessed the opening match against Blackpool, the club ended a successful first season with a working profit.
Over the next two seasons, memberships and attendances declined to a point, where the club were struggling to attract 1000 supporters to games and were making increasing losses as the seasons progressed, which prompted the directors to look for a cheaper, more conveniently located ground closer to the town centre.

In 1904 The Furness Railway Company leased the Ainslie Street Ground to the club for £15 per year, a huge saving on the £41 5s that they had paid for the Strawberry Ground but as the weather declined, the state of the pitch became intolerable and a move to Little Park followed in the spring of 1905, which resulted in a permanent move for a rate of £30 per year.

In 1909, the club were forced to seek a more centrally located home after relegation and dwindling attendances had left the club on the brink of extinction and once again, the Furness Railway Company came to the rescue and offered the Holker Street site for an annual rate of £25.

[FanzoneFan]

All fascinating stuff. When you consider how bad the pitches were just a few years ago but were still playable I’d have loved to have seen the state of the Ainsle Street playing surface when the Lancashire FA deemed it wasn’t fit for purpose.

One question were the rugby already playing at Roose when the Soccer moved there ?

[DA52]

Barrow AFC played on The Strawberry grounds just prior to 1903, when the ground was turned over to become the home of Furness Rugby Union Club, there they still play now.
I don’t know how long the football club played there, but it wasn’t for long. To watch the football, fans were transported by tram to the top of the hill on Abbey Road, before the Strawberry Pub where the line stopped. They then walked down to the grounds from there. There was an old wooden stand on the Litchmead Road side of the pitch, which is now long gone. On the Abbey Rd side of the pitch, there is still some concrete terracing, which may go back to the time the football was there.
The town planner and one of the founders of the town was John Wadham, who lived in Mill House mansion as and was an avid sportsman. He was the founder of Furness Rugby Club and would have had some influence on why the football club left and to where they went next.
The history of Wadham and what he did in the town is well archived and may well show a light on the full history of the football club

When the club moved to the Strawberry Ground in 1901, it was just a flat field without any facilities and during the early days, the players used to change in the Strawberry Hotel, then walk along Strawberry Lane to the ground.
Grass banking was eventually introduced with wooden fencing around the perimeter of the pitch and this was still in place when the club moved to Ainslie Street in 1904.

Any concrete terracing would have been added by Furness Rugby Union Club at a later date.

Thanks Snowdog, That’s interesting. The banking is still there, with some of the terracing cut into it. It could have been added later then, but there’s no record I can find. It’s also likely that the old wooden stand on the opposite side came later and was probably done when the terraces were put in.
It’s amazing what knowledge is out there (and lack of it in places).
I bet when it’s all pulled together, it will be an interesting read and project.

[bluessupporter]

To watch the football, fans were transported by tram to the top of the hill on Abbey Road, before the Strawberry Pub where the line stopped.

Apparently very often the tram was overloaded with fans and couldn't get to the top of the hill, so they had to get off and push it up to the top where they all got on again and the tram then took them to the Strawberry ground.

[snowdog71]

All fascinating stuff. When you consider how bad the pitches were just a few years ago but were still playable I’d have loved to have seen the state of the Ainsle Street playing surface when the Lancashire FA deemed it wasn’t fit for purpose.

One question were the rugby already playing at Roose when the Soccer moved there ?

Little Park was the home of Pulp Works FC, before the arrival of Barrow AFC in 1905.
Barrow Rugby were playing at Cavendish Park until the First World War, when the site was commissioned for the war effort, forcing the club to move to Little Park, which at that point, was vacant.

[snowdog71]

To watch the football, fans were transported by tram to the top of the hill on Abbey Road, before the Strawberry Pub where the line stopped.

Apparently very often the tram was overloaded with fans and couldn't get to the top of the hill, so they had to get off and push it up to the top where they all got on again and the tram then took them to the Strawberry ground.

The old steam trams used to struggle to climb East Mount and if they were fully loaded with passengers, would often grind to a halt, which resulted in the passengers having to push the tramcar to the top of East Mount in order to complete their journey.
In February 1904, the new electric trams were introduced but due to the erratic electricity supply, the tramcars often struggled to navigate East Mount and this remained a problem until the supply was regulated.

[FanzoneFan]

All fascinating stuff. When you consider how bad the pitches were just a few years ago but were still playable I’d have loved to have seen the state of the Ainsle Street playing surface when the Lancashire FA deemed it wasn’t fit for purpose.

One question were the rugby already playing at Roose when the Soccer moved there ?

Little Park was the home of Pulp Works FC, before the arrival of Barrow AFC in 1905.
Barrow Rugby were playing at Cavendish Park until the First World War, when the site was commissioned for the war effort, forcing the club to move to Little Park, which at that point, was vacant.

Thanks for that, it’s much appreciated. I read somewhere, I think maybe it was on a former thread that when the club launched a brochure to celebrate 50 years ??? They interviewed a 90 year old at the time who could remember the club being formed. I’m also presuming the meeting held at the Drill Hall to establish the club isn’t the Drill Hall in Holker Street but one near the old Railway Station. Where Morrison’s currently is.

[snowdog71]

Little Park was the home of Pulp Works FC, before the arrival of Barrow AFC in 1905.
Barrow Rugby were playing at Cavendish Park until the First World War, when the site was commissioned for the war effort, forcing the club to move to Little Park, which at that point, was vacant.

Thanks for that, it’s much appreciated. I read somewhere, I think maybe it was on a former thread that when the club launched a brochure to celebrate 50 years ??? They interviewed a 90 year old at the time who could remember the club being formed. I’m also presuming the meeting held at the Drill Hall to establish the club isn’t the Drill Hall in Holker Street but one near the old Railway Station. Where Morrison’s currently is.

In 1951 the club produced a Golden Jubilee brochure that featured the recollections of John "Jack" Parker Senior, who was in his 93rd year!
Jack used to play as a goalkeeper for the Barrow Volunteer AFC during the 1880s and later became a qualified referee and sports reporter for the Evening Mail.
Jack's son, Jack Junior, played for Barrow St Matthews, Burnley and Bradford Park Avenue before retiring due to injury and became our secretary/manager in 1914.
Jack famously made one sole appearance for Barrow AFC in February 1915, when, along with trainer Jack Banks, he was forced to make up a depleted Barrow side for a trip to Denton in freezing blizzards.
Few expected the match to go ahead but it did and both sides lost players during the game to hypothermia, with Barrow finishing with only five players remaining, one of whom was Jack Parker!!!
Barrow had defeated Denton 9-3 at Holker Street earlier in the season, but lost the hazardous return match at Denton 9-1!!!

The Drill Hall that held the 1901 meeting was located on the Strand and is now the site of Morrison's.