HOW WE WON IT The UniBond Premier League championship 1998
It wasn't a very auspicious start to our promotion season. The 2-2 draw away at Altrincham was a creditable result from a game that most supporters expected us to lose. But the first home game, against Marine, ended in utter disaster and a 0-1 defeat. But the signing of defender Paul Jones the day after was the last piece in the jigsaw of Owen Brown's team rebuilding plans and the performance in the next game, at home to Bishop Auckland, was nothing short of a revelation. Barrow were totally dominant and had the game won 3-1 by half-time. A midweek trip to a wet Chorley also ended in a 2-0 victory. But the journey to Guiseley the day after Princess Di's funeral was an anticlimax and ended 1-1. Accrington were despatched 2-0 at Holker St without too many problems and the three points gained saw us top the league for the first time. A visit to Leigh, the surprise team of the season, also ended in a victory, 1-0. Our dismal home form was reflected in a depressing 1-1 draw with Colwyn Bay which saw us knocked off the top spot. But not for long. Radcliffe Borough went down 3-0 at Holker St and we were back on top. Our next visit was to Alfreton Town the other side who would be relegated at the end of the season, and we overwhelmed them 3-0. Back at home, a poor Spennymoor side beat us 1-2 in our second defeat of the season. We then travelled to Bamber Bridge and pulled back from 0-2 down in atrocious weather with a goal in the dying seconds to share the points. But we were down to second again. We regained the league leadership on 11 October by defeating Frickley 2-1 at home. We held on to that top place ever since. The next home game saw us squeeze past Chorley 1-0. Then the trip to Hyde and in one of the best performances of the season, we totally outplayed them to win 3-0. Our fourth straight victory came at Accrington by a single goal. The sequence continued with victories against Alfreton at home (2-0), Boston away (2-0), Runcorn away (1-0). Seven straight wins extended our lead at the top to 14 points. Guiseley put paid to that by winning 0-1 at Holker St. But we got back to winning ways 1-0 in Yorkshire against Frickley in a game that they really should have won. Leigh beat us 0-1 in our next home game and we staggered straight into our next defeat, also at home, against Winsford. The rot was stopped in the home game against Gainsborough, which we won 2-0. The Christmas/New Year back to back games were with local rivals Lancaster. We beat them 2-0 at their place and 1-0 at home. The long journey to the North East saw another first class performance as Bishop Auckland went down 2-0. Altrincham fought out a dour 0-0 draw at Holker St. Then we went to Gainsborough and beat them 3-0. A great omen since the only other seasons we've won there have been the ones in which we've won the NPL Championship. Bamber Bridge went down 2-0 in the next home game, but Colwyn Bay offered stiffer opposition in Wales and we were fortunate to get the 1-1 draw. After the FA Trophy ties against Northwich and Dover the team came back to earth with a thump and the first away defeat of the season, 0-3 at Emley. Winsford held us to a scoreless draw in Cheshire, but then we gained revenge over Emley by defeating them 1-0 in the return fixture. Runcorn were our next visitors. With a great performance by Steady Eddie Johnston between the sticks following an injury to Farrelly, we overcame them with a single goal and for the first time we dared to believe that Barrow might really win the championship. Blyth were comprehensively outclassed 3-1, but then Marine gained the double by defeating us 0-1 at College Road. The visit to Radcliffe caused few problems and we condemned them to relegation after a fine 2-1 win. Then Blyth gained revenge with a 1-2 win in the North East. Nerves were on edge and Boston were now within four points of us. And they were our next opponents. The Lincolnshire men came to Holker St on a night of torrential rain. But it didn't put a damper on Barrow's spirits as 2,765 supporters saw Karl Marginson head the goal that put Barrow back in the Conference for the first time in six years. Defeating Boston by 1-0 with two games left to play meant we had a seven point lead over them. So no matter what happened in those final two games, Boston couldn't catch us, which was just as well because we drew one and lost the other. Barrow were champions of the UniBond Premier League! Only slightly fiddled about with from issue 035 - April 1998