GRAHAM MUTTON Stalwart of the Raise the Roof Fund
A well known figure at every home game, Graham Mutton is the tireless fund raiser and raffle ticket seller for the Raise the Roof fund. We cornered him at a recent game and asked him how he got into fundraising for Barrow AFC. What are the origins of the Raise the Roof fund? How, why and when did it start? Bernie Dent started the fund at a public meeting shortly before the 1989-90 season. He donated £50 from his own pocket and the collection realised over £400. He then asked for volunteers to collect at the next home game, I went along and the rest, as they say, is history. The original intention was raise enough money to put a roof back on the popular side shelter which had been removed for safety reasons, hence the name, Raise the Roof. How is it organised? How much of your time does it take up? We are a group of like-minded individuals who meet every home match day. We are registered with the small lotteries act, to whom we submit annual accounts. We also meet approximately every three months or so to discuss issues that we consider to be in our remit. How much money have you raised since you started? £85,500. Are you raising money now for any particular purpose? Only to ensure the survival of the football club. Our intention has always been to raise money for ground improvements. However, that has changed over the last two to three years due to the financial state of the club. How can fans send contributions to Raise the Roof? And what are the ways in which you raise money? They can send them directly to any branch of the Furness Building Society, account no. 108323500. Every penny donated is handed over to the club or its creditors. How long have you been a supporter of Barrow AFC? Since the mid-sixties. I had a season ticket as a schoolboy. When my own playing career took off I watched two or three games a season. Before Raise the Roof started, were you involved with the club in any capacity or were you just a fan? Just a fan. How many games do you get to see in a typical season? All of the home games and maybe three or four away games. How long do you think the club will be in receivership? I have no idea. The courts are not known for their haste, are they? Is there anything you know or you can say about the ground ownership? I do not know any of the facts, although I will say that I am confident the present board will prevail. When you were contributing money to the club when Stephan Vaughan was chairman, did you ever have concerns that it may have been misused or misappropriated in any way? No. I have never handed any money to Stephen Vaughan. I paid cheques to local contractors involved in the building of the new grandstand, to Bradford City for the shelter which was to have been erected in front of the Crossbar, and to the controller of the CVA [Company Voluntary Agreement] who was appointed by the courts. We also paid for the team coach to Yeovil. You came in for a fair amount of personal criticism in the Barrow AFC Fans Forum last year, after you were seen chatting with Stephen Vaughan. Do you have anything to say to those critics now? If anyone has any doubt about my support for the present board, who are really doing a splendid job, please do not hesitate to contact Brian Keen. He knows me well enough to tell other fans where my loyalties are. What's your opinion about Stephen Vaughan's stewardship of the club? Initially brilliant. As with a lot of other people, I thought that he was going to take us on to better things. Obviously I was mistaken. Are you still in touch with him? Do you know what his future plans are? No. What are your favourite Barrow AFC memories; magical moment, best player, best manager? The magical moment has to be May 1990 when we won the FA Trophy at Wembley, closely followed by those marvellous times towards the end of the promotion season under Don McEvoy in 1967. Best players; in our League days, Jimmy Mulholland, Jimmy Mulvaney, Jimmy Mallon, and Brian Plikington. In non-League, Glen Skivington, Peter McDonnell, Peter Farrell and of course Neil Doherty, who deserves great credit for his commitment to Barrow AFC. Manager; who other than, and not only for his football acumen, the late great Ray Wilkie. He pulled our club up by its bootstraps almost single handedly and gave us the best three seasons we've ever had. And worst player, worst game and worst moment? Worst player, Lee Bryden. Worst game, away to Sutton United in the Bob Lord Trophy Final Second Leg, we lost 6-1 [on aggregate, 5-0 on the night. Ed.], closely followed by the 5-2 home defeat by Merthyr Tydfil after the lads had had their portraits taken in the Wembley strip. Worst moment was that sickening time when football in general and the Conference committee in particular kicked us out when we had performed the miracle of avoiding relegation from the Conference in May 1999. How confident are you of the future of Barrow AFC? I am extremely confident that, if we ALL pull together to assist them, then the present board can steer our efforts in a direction that will ensure the long term future of the club. Do you think the UniBond League has been fair to us since the Football League forced them to admit us last year? Are they ever fair to us? I think not. Only a few years before we were unceremoniously dumped out of the Conference, Runcorn came down into the UniBond to make a 23 team league and they were welcomed back without question. What happened to the league's constitution then? Do you have any message for the readers of Give 'Em Beans!? Work hard towards ensuring that we realise our common dream, the long term future of our club. Do not moan and groan and complain about petty little things that upset us in the short term. If the end game is worth the effort, which it undoubtedly is, then we should all unite behind the current board and management who will get us there. Issue 047 - January 2001