It may have been the last game of a season with all issues settled, but it wasn't just any old game as you will see from the following...
LEEK TOWN 2 BARROW 1 UniBond League Premier Division 3 May 1997 by Michael Gibson
Seven days is a long time in football. In that case seven years must be a lifetime. In May 1990 the late Ray Wilkie added the ultimate feather to his managerial cap when he guided Barrow to a convincing 3-0 victory over Leek Town in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley. Come May 1997, however, and the boot was firmly on the other foot. As in 1990, Barrow's last fixture of the season was against Leek. But this time it was Leek's turn for glory. They were UniBond League champions, promoted to the Vauxhall Conference, whilst Barrow were condemned to yet another season in the UniBond. In a season which promised all sorts Barrow finished with sweet FA. I started the day in a London greenhouse otherwise known as Euston station. (Note to the privatised railway companies; glass roofs on hot sunny days are not recommended). I'd had a cunning plan and ordered my ticket in advance. A great idea; saves queuing when you're in a hurry to catch the train. The system is so efficient that I spent the next fifteen minutes queuing up at the ticket office to collect my pre-paid ticket. Isn't private enterprise wonderful? Top marks to Richard Branson's West Coast Railways. No wonder he couldn't get round the world in a hot air balloon. Two hours later the train approached Stoke-on-Trent. The weather was awful; unbearably hot, 100% humidity. Global warming was alive and well and living in the Potteries. Just after one o'clock a mobile oven, cleverly disguised as a bus, arrived for what could only best be described as a journey to Hell. We weren't held up for hours, or involved in a twenty vehicle pile up, but why, on such a hot day, did we have to endure almost an hour on a bus that appeared to have no known means of ventilation? The only respite from the regulo six conditions was whenever the door was opened to allow passengers on and off. We begged the driver to keep the door open, only to be told that it had to be kept closed when the bus is moving for safety reasons. Was this a wind-up? Who did he think might fall out? Or perhaps he'd noticed our scarves and marked us out as possible suicides (he might have had a point there. Ed.). As it was we were more in danger of asphyxiation if conditions inside the bus had got any worse. Having alighted in Leek town centre we were somewhat concerned at the lack of any Barrow supporters. Perhaps they'd all decided it wasn't worth bothering with. Or perhaps they'd gone to Edgar St. to cheer on Brighton against Hereford and condemn the yokels to non-League oblivion again. Actually, the Barrow supporters weren't in the town centre because it's miles away from the ground and it's a long uphill walk. All the pubs in the vicinity of the ground were absolutely heaving with Barrow supporters. The carnival atmosphere had to be seen (and heard) to be believed, with plenty of face painting and green hair spray (to match Barrow's away kit) in evidence. So it's off to the ground to get a programme. And guess what? Fifteen minutes before kick off and they've all been sold. What? It's the last day of the season, the club confirmed as UniBond champions are at home to the club with the biggest travelling support in the league. So anyone with half a brain might be able to work out that the attendance might be a teensy weensy bit higher than normal. So why didn't they order more programmes? The crowd was confirmed as 733, about 150 more than Leek's average for the season. Not much to ask is it? An extra hundred programmes? It is if you're in charge of the programme arrangements at Leek. The game itself summed up last season perfectly. Barrow took a late lead and it seemed that we were comfortably headed for our thirteenth away win of the season. We then contrived to give away an 86th minute equaliser, pushed everyone forward including goalkeeper Farrelly for the last two minutes, and conceded a last minute goal when Leek's no. 7 was blatantly offside. Yes, it was the sort of game where the final outcome was so easily predictable. For most of the first half Barrow were the stronger side, yet once again they failed to make their domination count. Jimmy Brown got his usual yellow card. Try kicking the ball, Jimmy, instead of the opposition's ankles. Barrow used Russian roulette tactics in the second half as they pushed forward in search of the opening goal and quite often it was hard to tell who was in defence, who the midfielders were and who the forwards were supposed to be. Barrow's only goal came from centre-half Jeff Parker whose header left the Leek 'keeper stranded. On the terraces, the friendly atmosphere between the Barrow supporters and the Leek stewards was briefly spoiled when four wild animals wearing Stoke City replica shirts tried to infiltrate the Barrow end (sounds painful. Ed.). They were soon moved away as Barrow had to make two forced substitutions in as many minutes. Neil McAlinden, who had been on the pitch for about ninety seconds, picked up a nasty injury and had to be replaced by Doherty. During the break in play a loud cheer came from the Barrow supporters as we heard on the radio that Brighton had equalised against Hereford. That confused everyone from Leek as they couldn't work out our close interest in that particular result. It wasn't long before we saw an equalising goal ourselves and endured four minutes of complete farce. Leek's first goal was slightly against the run of play as Soley broke clear of the Barrow defence and shot past Farrelly whilst the Barrow goalie was having his afternoon nap in the hot sunshine. Madness progressed to insanity (er, isn't this more of an, erm... sidestep, than a full blown progression. Online Ed.) as Barrow pushed forward leaving their defence wide open. Even Farrelly woke up and ran the full length of the pitch when Barrow were awarded a corner. He then had to run all the way back as Leek gained possession and moved the ball smartly upfield for nos. 6 and 7 to combine, despite being offside. With only Harrold and the out of breath Farrelly to beat, the winning goal was a formality. It didn't impress the Barrow players who were still arguing with the referee after he'd blown the final whistle. There was the inevitable pitch invasion and the roles of the two FA Trophy finalists of seven years ago had well and truly been reversed. In 1990 we had been celebrating Barrow's biggest day after defeating Leek Town. Today had been Leek's day, the best they'd ever achieved and they'd beaten us to do it. We still had something to cheer about when news filtered through that Brighton had hung on for the draw sending Hereford United crashing down to the Conference exactly 25 years after they'd unfairly gained their place in the League at Barrow's expense. Almost spontaneously, and to the tune of Football's Coming Home, we all started a chorus of 'They're going down, the scum are going down.' Well, it was better than thinking about Barrow's final fifth place in the UniBond and another goddamn season at Frickley and Alfreton. And with that thought in mind, I went off to look for my reserved seats on the London train from Stoke. Numbers 34 and 35. But this train had the wrong sort of coaches. The sort with seats that only go up to 32. Virgin WestCoast strikes again. No chance of them being relegated to Division One of the UniBond is there? Originally appeared as 'Not the 1990 FA Trophy Final' in issue 031 - September 1997