One of our writers most memorable trips abroad with the soccer was back in 1989 on the day Barrow finally won the HFS Loans League...
CAERNARFON TOWN 0 BARROW 1 HFS Loans League Premier Division 1 May 1989 by Steve Parkinson
The rather thin on top, portly driver was in charge of the transit van again! He was accompanied by Phil, Al, Oaksey, the notorious Smith brothers Biz and Pete, the two farmers Les and Mike and John 'Bloody' Wilde. John was already in Wales at a place called Llandulas. It was on the way to Caernarfon so we decided to pick him up as he's good to take the mickey out of. We set off early on that morning full of hope and full of beer from the night before. As it was a scorching hot day it wasn't long before the beer was flowing again. By the time we reached the Welsh border everyone was fired up and desperate for a toilet stop. This is where one of the many traffic jams came to the rescue. Pete, being discreet, jumped over a fence and landed up to his knees in cow dung. Eventually we arrived at Llandulas where we saw Wilde standing there with his arms full of tinnies, a blue and white scarf round his neck and the morning sun glistening off his bald pate. We picked him up and headed for Caernarfon. Then for some reason Pete decided to strip naked and in the chaos that followed the lummox managed to get a Diamond White bottle stuck in a most unfortunate place (Ouch! Ed.). We reached Caernarfon at noon, well timed by the driver for opening time. We dumped the van in the football ground car park and headed for town. Phil was as loud as ever and Biz and Pete disappeared. On the way back to the ground we all bought some cheap champagne in anticipation of winning the league. As we neared the ground we saw a coach being driven erratically in the car park. Yes, it was Biz. He had somehow got on the bus and decided he wanted to have a go at driving it! No harm came of it despite him being the worse for wear as far as drink was concerned. We found Pete slumped face down by the van, a position he later resumed on the terracing inside the ground. Barrow practically dominated the game, but it wasn't until the 77th minute that we went 1-0 up when Doc wellied one in from just inside the box. We won the game and the league title too. In the club afterwards we opened twelve bottles of cheap champagne and sprayed it all over. Eventually we left for home happy, drunk and grotty. Dale had the final word, spraying his last bottle over the Caernarfon players shouting "We won the League!" The trip home was six bloody hours, the highlight of which was picking God up at Charnock Richard. Thanks that day to Doc, Billy Gilmour and Peter Harrison for plying Phil with so much vodka he threw up, black bags, Diamond White and God. Issue 003 - May 1990