From today's Times, Taylor Nelson, a Barrow fan's story of Barrow's away trip to Dover.

Worth a read and might bring back a few memories for the Mariners' away supporters.


Seven-hundred-and-sixty-eight miles. That’s how far me and 24 other Barrow fans travelled last night to watch our beloved side face Dover Athletic at the Crabble Ground. We knew it would be a long journey — what we didn’t know is that we’d end up giving the players a lift home.

As regular faces met once again at the usual pick-up stop of Ramsden Square at 10am, we were optimistic. Our side are top of the National League after a superb run of 15 games without defeat, a run which stretches back to October and a 4-2 defeat by Torquay United.

We were delighted to hear of the manager Ian Evatt’s generosity, as he had purchased bacon and sausage buns for the travelling fans. Evatt has been in charge since June 2018 following a short-spell as interim Chesterfield manager before their relegation to the National League.

The supporters’ bus contained a wide-range of personalities and ages, from people like myself, 18 and approaching the final year of their college studies, to an 82-year-old woman who continues to be the life and soul at the very front of the bus.

She and many others on the bus remember the days of Barrow last occupying a place in the Football League back in 1972 before they were cruelly elected out in favour of Hereford United purely due to geographical reasons (many clubs were reluctant to travel to remote locations such as Barrow-in-Furness in the northwest).

A victory against Dover would have taken us ten points clear of our nearest rivals, Harrogate Town, and moved us closer to a return to the Football League following a long absence.

As usual with our southern away trips, we took the opportunity to stop at Norton Canes services to get a bite to eat, with many fleeing to McDonalds. Norton Canes has become a ritual of sorts. We always stop there, where football fans of various teams are often seen — it can lead to some good laughs.

We eventually arrived at 6.30pm and supporters split from this point, with some heading to a nearby pub whereas myself and a handful of others made our way to the ground and settled in the clubhouse, watching the Ligue 1 fixture between Lille and Stade Rennais. We had been met by a decent contingent of southern exiles, who can always be counted upon to further increase the away support at matches in this part of the world.

And finally the match. After a long journey we witnessed a rather subdued performance. It looked like being a good point when John Rooney slotted the ball down the middle from the penalty spot to make it 1-1 in the 81st minute.

A trio of attacking changes to get ourselves back into the game — we had five recognised strikers on the pitch at once — allowed them to take advantage of our exposed back-line and Michael Woods scored a winner in the 88th minute. It did little to dampen the mood of the travelling fans though, who applauded the players off at the end of the game, gleefully chanting songs about our promotion hopes.

We made our way back to the bus, ready for the return home. Except, that didn’t happen.

Instead, we waited for around 20 minutes as we rescued our players and staff, whose bus had unfortunately broke down. For several hours we were a club united in more than one sense. Laughter was shared as staff and around 16 players trudged onto the coach. Fortunately, we had hired a bigger bus than we needed, giving those on the bus more room to roam — at least on the way there — as players mingled with the supporters on the way back.

Conversations began between fans, players and staff, with the exception of Evatt and a couple of his entourage, who swapped the bus for their own transport. He didn’t exit quietly though, thanking us for our support.

Discussions ranged from Love Island to debating arrangements for the stop on the way home. When we arrived there, players rushed to make their individual KFC orders. One of the club’s employees, Ryan, kindly bought a range of sandwiches and sausage rolls for the supporters. Eventually, fans and players took the opportunity to take a well-deserved sleep.

One thing was highlighted once again though during the journey: the coach in which was occupied by familiar faces to one-another remained, in many ways, a family.

Following numerous disruptions — including a diversion signwould have continued to divert us around the same roundabout all night until we realised it was pointing the wrong way — we finally arrived back in Barrow at 6:45am, nearly 21 hours after we left.

There have been plenty of lows through the years and the loyalty shown during this trip and many others is being rewarded this season — even if that does include losing after such a long journey.