The club won Division A of the Lancashire
Combination for the 1920-21 season and was
duly elected to the Third Division North
of the Football League. Their League career
began with six straight defeats which were
representative of many of the struggles to
come. Over the seasons up to the Second World
War, the club's best finish in the Division
Three North was eighth in the 1933-34 season.
On the final day of that season, the club
recorded its highest-ever League victory,
with Jimmy Shankley scoring five of the goals
in a 12-1 win. That season also saw the club
score over 100 League goals with 78 of those
coming in just 21 home games.
Little changed immediately after the Second
World War although in January 1954 when an
F.A. Cup 3rd Round tie with Swansea Town attracted a
record crowd of 16,874 to Holker Street.
The Town side included a number of Welsh
internationals; the game finished 2-2. When
the League was reorganised in 1958, the club
found itself placed in Division Four. In
January 1959, the eyes of the football world
turned to Holker Street as the club entertained
the mighty Wolverhampton Wanderers in an
F.A. Cup 3rd Round tie. On a frozen pitch, a crowd of
16,340 saw the team put up a tremendous performance;
the 4-2 winning margin flattered Wolves.
The club continued to struggle in Division
Four. In 1963, the club erected floodlights
and the official opening saw Scottish First
Division outfit Dunfermline Athletic visit.
Fortunes slowly improved and in 1967, with
Don McEvoy in charge and a side including
such well known names as goalkeeper Fred
Else, defender Brian Arrowsmith who holds
the club record for Football League appearances
and striker Jim Mulholland finished third
in the Division to win promotion to Division
Three. McEvoy was immediately replaced as
manager by Colin Appleton who led the team
to eighth place in Division Three the following
season. Ill health saw him step down in January
1969 and the club slid back to the bottom
of Division Four in just over two years.
At the end of the 1971-72 season, the club
finished third bottom of Division Four and
required to make its eleventh re-election
application.
In June 1972, they were faced in the ballot
by Southern League Hereford United who had
come to the nation's attention after
a spectacular F.A. Cup success over First
Division Newcastle United. The first ballot
saw the votes tied at 26 each. The second ballot saw United collect
29 votes to Barrow's 20 and, after 51
years we had lost our much prized Football
League status.
The club joined the Northern Premier League
in August 1972 and found life at the lower
level a struggle with resources scarce and
a distinct lack of success. In 1976, the
club reached the F.A.Cup 1st Round Proper for the first time since losing
League status but, the side led by former
Scotland international and Liverpool star
Ron Yeats lost 2-0 at home to fellow NPL
outfit Goole Town. The crowd of 3,255 showed
that the town still wanted football success.
In 1979, despite a lack of playing success,
the club joined the APL (now the Nationwide
Conference) and the opening home game saw
a crowd of 2,027 as the team defeated Yeovil
Town 2-0.
In April 1981, the club won its first Trophy
since losing League status as manager Mickey
Taylor led the side to a 2-1 ATS Trophy success
over Chorley at Wigan. However, two years
later, the club was relegated back to the
NPL. Former Sunderland star Vic Halom was
appointed as player/manger in the summer
of 1983 and he took the club to the NPL title
at the first attempt. However, his talents
were noted in the Football League and one
year after his arrival, he departed, along
with top scorer Barry Diamond to join Rochdale.
Over the next two seasons, the club had a
succession of managers, including Brian Kidd
before being relegated again.
Just before relegation was confirmed,
in March 1986, Ray Wilkie was appointed as
manager and the next five and a half years
saw the club enjoy unparalleled success.
The 1987-88 season saw the club reach the
F.A. Trophy semi-finals where the club lost
to Enfield. However, the following two seasons
saw the NPL title captured and with it promotion
to the Conference. Then, in May 1990, the
club captured the F.A. Trophy with a 3-0
win over Leek Town at Wembley thanks to two
goals from Kenny Gordon and one from club
appearance and goalscoring record holder
Colin Cowperthwaite. Tow other members of
that side enjoyed further recognition with
Glenn Skivington going on to win five England
semi-professional caps whilst midfielder
Kenny Lowe was to earn a transfer to Barnet
for a club record fee.
The club failed to build on that success
and the club lost the services of Ray Wilkie
as manager in November 1991 when he was taken
when he was taken seriously ill and, six
months later the club was relegated. The
club failed to make an immediate impact in
the NPL. In the spring of 1995, Liverpool
based businessman Stephen Vaughan joined
the Board and took over as chairman. The
1997-98 season saw a side, managed by Liverpool
based Owen Brown win the NPL title and reach
the F.A. Trophy Quarter Finals. Within months
of joining the Conference, Mr Vaughan had
departed, Brown was sacked and a liquidator
was appointed because of the club's debts.
Despite finishing out of the relegation zone
at the end of the 1998-99 season, the club's
circumstances saw it 'relegated'
and accepted back into the membership of
NPL (now the UniBond League).
Former favourite Kenny Lowe took over as
player/manager in August 1999. In his four
seasons in charge, he led the club to the
F.A. Cup First Round Proper on three separate
occasions as well as securing the UniBond
Chairman's Cup in the 2000-01 season
and the President's Cup twelve months
later. He also steered the club to the Final
of the Marsden Trophy in the 2002-03 season.
Progress in the League was steady resulting
in the club finishing runners up to Accrington
Stanley at the end of the 2002-03 season.
At the end of the 2003-04 season Kenny Lowe
stood down as manager and his assistant Lee Turnbull took charge
and took the club to third place in the UniBond
Premier Division as well as winning the President's
Cup for the second time in three seasons.
The club joined what is now Blue Square North
when it was formed in 2004-05 but apart from
two F.A. Cup First Round appearances against
Bristol Rovers and AFC Bournemouth, there
was no tangible success until the end of
last season when the club won its way back
to Blue square premier after an absence of
ten years by defeating Stalybridge Celtic
1-0 in the Play Off Final at Burton Albion.
It was a remarkable success following the
appointment of Darren Sheridan and Dave Bayliss
initially as joint managers on a caretaker
basis in November 2007. They took charge
permanently in December and masterminded
a 20 match unbeaten run that ended in promotion.
Last season, the club maintained its place
in Blue Square Premier and enjoyed a run
to the Third Rounds proper of the F.A. Cup.
The trip to Middlesbrough of the Premiership
saw 7,000 fans make the trip to Tees-side
for a wonderful day out where the team emerged
with considerable credit at the end of a
2-1 defeat. The 2009-2010 season ended on a very
high note with the team lifting the F.A.
Trophy at Wembley after beating Conference
champions and red-hot favourites Stevenage
Borough. What next?
