This is a bit different from his previous pronouncement, but that's Sid for you...
SID ARKWRIGHT SPEAKS Barrow's Most Optimistic Supporter
After the events of the last three months you wouldn't expect me to be very optimistic. But although everyone connected with the club has had a very torrid time since Stephen Vaughan resigned as chairman last November, I think that when all this comes to an end and the future looks a little rosier than it does right now, we will be grateful to Stephen Vaughan for the massive favour he's done Barrow AFC. You probably think I've finally taken leave of my senses. Vaughan walked out without any warning, taking the Holker St ground off us, saddling us with massive debts and leaving us with a sky high wage bill which could not be met from the club's weekly income. With no visible means of support the old Barrow AFC Ltd collapsed into insolvency and liquidation. So what have we got to thank Vaughan for? Some regard him as little better than a crook, though there is no hard evidence for such a claim. But whether he realised it or not, he did his best to destroy semi-professional football in Barrow. He was either unaware or unconcerned as to the consequences of his actions. He gave no heed to the feeling of the players, whom he did not pay, the management, or us, the fans, to whom Barrow AFC means so much. He screwed us. He attempted to destroy the club and alienated the fans. He sold the title deeds to the Holker St ground and sucked the very lifeblood from Barrow AFC. But I'm grateful. Very grateful. Life has no meaning without opposites. There is no day without night, no love without hate and no success without failure. When things go badly wrong, eventually they change. For the better. And that change is driven by one thing. Pride. That's why I'm grateful. Stephen Vaughan has restored a pride to the club and the town that had been buried in years of apathy. His efforts to destroy Barrow AFC increased resolve, unity and effort. The people of Barrow can see that the struggle to keep the team alive is a worthy one. That is why they have rallied to the leadership of the consortium who are fighting to continue football in Barrow through their new company, Barrow AFC (1999) Ltd. Without the shenanigans, sleights of hand and dubious dealings of the Vaughan era the new Barrow AFC would not have been set up as a non-profit making trust with membership available to the ordinary fan. Now Barrow AFC is to be run for the benefit of the fans and the people and town of Barrow. Vaughan's attempts to quash nearly a hundred years of history have been defeated in the most emphatic way possible. Once the old Barrow AFC have been wound up, the consortium can start afresh and Barrow will be on their way up, thanks to Vaughan. Thank Cowps he left when he did, otherwise things would have carried on going nowhere fast, stumbling from one mini-crisis to another. Teetering on the edge of the abyss which leads to nothingness is forging Barrow AFC into a stronger, more dynamic outfit. The last four years of lies, broken promises, false dawns and financial irregularities are being put well and truly behind us, Without Vaughan we wouldn't be in the position we are in now. So I give thanks to the miserable ß@$*@®¶ who tried to drive us out of business. May he reap what he sowed; misery and chaos. Cheers, mate. Thanks for the inspiration. Issue 039 - April 1999