3,500 • YOU MUST BE JOKING!
Many supporters were surprised to find how much room there was on the Holker St. terraces at the Cup game against Wigan. The police and the council set a capacity of 3,500, yet another 1,000 could have been accommodated with ease. After all, six years ago, 6,000 got in for the Trophy semi-final against Enfield, and the only difference between then and now is the old Grandstand. Let's say maybe 1,200 people in that leaves 4,800 for the rest of the ground.
So why was such an artificially low limit set? Some papers which have just come into our possession explain everything. The Leisure and Sports subcommittee of Cumbria County Council which set the attendance limit was chaired by Chief Executive Mad Hatter of Cumbria County Council. Representing the police was Chief Constable March Hare. Other members of the committee were councillors from other parts of Cumbria, including Councillor Dormouse. And Barrow AFC sent along Alice as an observer. This is a transcript of what took place...
Chief Executive Mad Hatter: Order, order! Come on, stop chatting. We must get on. Now this football match at Holker St. The club have made an application for a crowd limit of 4,800 and have submitted a professional report to support this estimate. Well, that's a load of cobblers to start with. We can't have that many people getting together in one place. Especially if they're all South Cumbrians. Far too dangerous. Oh, yes. So, we have to put a stop to it. Right, I think that's a fair summing up of the various arguments. Anyone else want to make a contribution? Come on now, we've a lot to get through this evening and I want to get home in time to watch Prime Suspect.
Chief Constable March Hare: Good programme that. I agree with you. Can we take a vote? I'd like to get home in time to see The Bill as well.
Cllr Dormouse: That's not fair. Someone from Barrow should put their case first, then we should discuss it and then we vote.
Mad Hatter: Out of order; out of order! There's no need for any of that. These people from South Cumbria don't need to speak for themselves. We can do it for them. They're only newcomers anyway. We didn't have all this trouble before they joined in. When we had just Carlisle and West Cumberland to look after we got on so much better. These South Cumbrians are just troublemakers. I should get them all locked up.
Alice: Just a minute... I'd like to say something.
Mad Hatter and March Hare (together): Who are you?
Alice: My name's Alice and I'm here on behalf of Barrow AFC. And I'd like to say that we're not South Cumbrians. We're from Furness. And that makes us Lancastrians.
March Hare: Oh, here we go again. They all think that it's still 1971 when they were part of Lancashire and they still had a football team in the League. Well, this is the real world. It's 1996, and you're definitely non-League. Cumbria's got one League team, Carlisle United, and you are now part of Cumbria, ruled from Carlisle, like it or not. So there!
Alice: But we aren't here to talk about whether we're Lancastrians or Cumbrians. We are here to discuss Barrow AFC's application for a 4,800 crowd limit for the game against Wigan.
Mad Hatter: That's already been decided. We're all against it. Besides, there are objections from the police, aren't there Chief Constable?
March Hare: Yes, I object on behalf of the police. More than two South Cumbrians in one place is too many in my opinion.
Dormouse: But I'm not against it. I think it's quite reasonable. It'll be their biggest game of the season, biggest crowd. We shouldn't try to limit their income. It's an unfair restraint of trade and non-League clubs need all the money they can get.
Mad Hatter: Who asked you? March Hare, put him in the teapot.
March Hare grabs Dormouse, drops him in the teapot and puts the lid on.
Mad Hatter: We should get on much better now without his interruptions.
Alice: But that's not fair. He's entitled to express his opinions the same as you are.
March Hare: No he isn't. And if you don't shut up, I'll put you in there with him. Well, I would if you were small enough.
Mad Hatter: Anyway, young lady, we've had a lot of written representations from local people objecting to the 4,800 limit.
Alice: From who?
Mad Hatter: There's this letter that says, 'Keep the limit below 3,500. This will reduce their income by about one-third. We must find a way to put them out of business.'
Alice: Who wrote that?
Mad Hatter: I can't tell you! It's a secret.
Alice: Why should it be a secret? Anyway, that's the only letter you've got. It's hardly a lot of letters, is it?
March Hare: Yes it is. It's more than none. It's already made our minds up, anyway. We told you that before. Police advice says that it's far too dangerous to have any more people in the ground than 3,500. We must hold people's safety paramount, even if they are all South Cumbrians.
Alice: But have you visited the ground recently? You can get 3,500 into the Popular Side with room to spare. And that leaves the whole Holker End to be filled up. 4,800 is not unreasonable.
March Hare: Well, young lady, we say it is. And as it's our committee and I'm the chairman, so that's it as far as I'm concerned. I declare the meeting closed. Come on March Hare; if you put your foot down in that Jaguar of yours, we should just get to the Police Club in time for 'The Bill'. Mine's a gin and tonic. Make it a double if you're going to drive me home afterwards.
Mad Hatter and March Hare get up and leave. Alice lets dormouse out of the teapot, which, fortunately, did not have any water in it.
Dormouse: Waste of time I'm afraid. It always is. Anything to do with Barrow on this council and they don't want to know. It's a shame they didn't dismantle Cumbria in the boundary reorganisations and return Barrow to its status of independent County Borough.
Alice: It was that letter that did it. Did you hear them reading it out?
Dormouse: Yes, I heard them. Was it this one that's down here? (picks letter off floor) March Hare must've dropped it in his hurry to leave. Here, you can read it now.
Alice took the letter from Dormouse. But as soon as she saw the letterhead at the top of the page she knew what Barrow AFC were up against. She gazed at the letterhead. 'Barrow RLFC, Craven Park, Duke St., Barrow-in-Furness' it said. "I should have known," she sighed to Dormouse.
Issue 025 - April 1996
