Where could Barrow Raiders end up?

[Jacko3233]

In the past 4 years Barrow Raiders really have become something to watch off the field.

income streams, sponsorship growing, Promotions for children to come in the ground! A Marquee filled every weekend and events every year it seems to be just the stadium letting them down! Can the current board with the work they have already put in continue? Can they make Barrow Raiders Super League? 

If you’ve followed Barrow on Social media you’ll see how much this new board has transformed the whole club

 

Your thoughts? 

 

 

 

[Eddie]

I also follow them on social media (not sure why, I quite like them and always have, I’ve never even been there) and some of the things they do in the community are mightily impressive. I’d love to see them in SL, though obviously there’s a tonne of work to do before they get near that. 

[Griff]

31 minutes ago, Eddie said:

........ though obviously there’s a tonne of work to do before they get near that. 

Very metric.

[Madrileño]

Quick question:

Would they get decent crowds in Super League?

[Whippet13]

Not sure about Barrow being allowed in SL. It's at least a 100 mile drive to the M62, so how many away fans will they bring?

Well run club doing lots of good things, best of luck to them.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Whippet13

[GUBRATS]

Good club , decent fans , always enjoyable when I've visited , even when Des's financed squad put 60 odd past us , the fans were still great with us 

Great to see them doing all the good stuff they do , where it gets them ? Well let's see 

[Ovenden Grunt]

Great club Barrow. They'd be even greater if they recompenced Fax for 2009.

[sam4731]

9 hours ago, Whippet13 said:

Not sure about Barrow being allowed in SL. It's at least a 100 mile drive to the M62, so how many away fans will they bring?

Well run club doing lots of good things, best of luck to them.

Honestly, if any other sport moaned that a club was 100 miles away from the majority of the other teams it would be considered mad. Only rugby league.

[bamfordsbeans]

Just be happy to become an established top half Championship club.

[Davo5]

Back in Lancashire ??

[Dave W]

1 hour ago, Ovenden Grunt said:

Great club Barrow. They'd be even greater if they recompenced Fax for 2009.

Alternative viewpoint from a Barrow fan: Whatever happened subsequently, we'll always have 2009.

[hw88]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Honestly, if any other sport moaned that a club was 100 miles away from the majority of the other teams it would be considered mad. Only rugby league.

That pretty much happened when Barrow were kicked out of the Football League in the 70s in favour of Hereford.

Barrow gets a lot of bad press but in reality it is no different from many other northern industrial towns. If you want remoteness, try driving to Stranraer for the ferry to Belfast - you think the road will never end!

[hw88]

10 hours ago, Madrileño said:

Quick question:

Would they get decent crowds in Super League?

Who knows but if they were holding their own and not getting thrashed every week they couldn't be much worse than Salford or London - and they are much bigger and more accessible than Barrow.

[Bearman]

The BoD are doing a fantastic job. Chairman Steve Neale has transformed the club.

I believe that the club ethos is to consolidate, grow and gradually improve all aspects of the club. This includes the ground.

The Matt Johnson Stadium ( Craven Park) is, being old has its problems but...

Being old it has the air of tradition that is often lost in new stadiums 

Has a fantastic location, being close to the town centre it can tap into the local night life culture.

Being owned by the club is a valuable income stream

Gradual improvements will allow the stadium to be improved

The playing surface is quick draining and is usually conductive to fast Rugby.

Barrow RLFC has a close link with the Barrow public and the locals really do feel as though it is THEIR club. This can be shown as Paul Crarey the coach. Paul is from Furness and played for the club and his passion shows through. 

Where can they get to? Perhaps Castleford could be an example of what can be achieved? Castleford has a similar town feel but Barrow has more of a " big" town feel as it is the focus of the whole S. Cumbria/ Furness population.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Bearman

[Griff]

30 minutes ago, hw88 said:

That pretty much happened when Barrow were kicked out of the Football League in the 70s in favour of Hereford.

Barrow gets a lot of bad press but in reality it is no different from many other northern industrial towns. If you want remoteness, try driving to Stranraer for the ferry to Belfast - you think the road will never end!

Cairnryan now.

Just bringing you up to date.

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

They get the rev from their ground so they are in a better position then most. Have been a great addition to the league and no reason they can’t be a consistent playoff team. They can easily reach SL once the last FT team in Toulouse are locked in SL. 

Easily seems optimistic, considering the other clubs who they’ll be competing against. 

[Saint Toppy]

11 hours ago, Madrileño said:

Quick question:

Would they get decent crowds in Super League?

Not sure they would given their relatively small population size of around 60 odd thousand. Yes its more than the population of Leigh but they can attract fans from a wider area around Greater Manchester. For Barrow there isn't that many other conurbations around them to try and attract fans from so they'll always be on the back foot in terms of getting good crowds.

Given we're moving towards licencing this would probably see them struggle to convince IMG that they can grow to such an extent to get an A Grade licence.

[Eddie]

3 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

Not sure they would given their relatively small population size of around 60 odd thousand. Yes its more than the population of Leigh but they can attract fans from a wider area around Greater Manchester. For Barrow there isn't that many other conurbations around them to try and attract fans from so they'll always be on the back foot in terms of getting good crowds.

Given we're moving towards licencing this would probably see them struggle to convince IMG that they can grow to such an extent to get an A Grade licence.

Leigh are surrounded by other RL clubs though, so people are unlikely to go from those towns to watch Leigh. Barrow have got no others near them, so in theory could draw from all the towns and villages in South Cumbria. If they can get 2k now surely they could average 4-5k if established in SL (which I know would make some people wet the bed as there would be empty seats on tv). 

[hw88]

38 minutes ago, Griff said:

Cairnryan now.

Just bringing you up to date.

Yes I know - same journey though! Went to Belfast last year via Cairnryan and given that I lived in Wales it meant I passed through all 4 countries of the UK in 1 day!

[Hopping Mad]

4 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Leigh are surrounded by other RL clubs though, so people are unlikely to go from those towns to watch Leigh. Barrow have got no others near them, so in theory could draw from all the towns and villages in South Cumbria. If they can get 2k now surely they could average 4-5k if established in SL (which I know would make some people wet the bed as there would be empty seats on tv). 

In reality, the Barrow club's catchment doesn't extend much beyond Ulverston (to the east) and Askam or Millom (to the north).

Great to see 'Barra' doing so well, though. Always enjoy a visit to Craven Park.

[Griff]

21 minutes ago, hw88 said:

Yes I know - same journey though! Went to Belfast last year via Cairnryan and given that I lived in Wales it meant I passed through all 4 countries of the UK in 1 day!

Impressive!

[Saint Toppy]

49 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Leigh are surrounded by other RL clubs though, so people are unlikely to go from those towns to watch Leigh. Barrow have got no others near them, so in theory could draw from all the towns and villages in South Cumbria. If they can get 2k now surely they could average 4-5k if established in SL (which I know would make some people wet the bed as there would be empty seats on tv). 

4K-5K is poor, very poor, no SL club should be happy with that and i'm sure IMG wouldn't. All SL clubs should have plans in place to be getting at least 8K-9K and preferable 10K average crowds.

[Eddie]

19 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

4K-5K is poor, very poor, no SL club should be happy with that and i'm sure IMG wouldn't. All SL clubs should have plans in place to be getting at least 8K-9K and preferable 10K average crowds.

If a club is from a town of 60,000 then 8,000 is a ridiculous figure. If Barrow could get 5k in every week that would be fine, the ground would be busy and it would look good on tv too.  
 

London, Wakey, Huddersfield and Salford have shown that it is very difficult for some clubs to increase attendances, whatever they do on the field. those clubs like Barrow who have managed it should be applauded. 

[dkw]

A club to be admired and copied from at the moment for a lot of lower league clubs, I would love to see my club adopt some of their ideas. Its great to see and hopefully they go from strength to strength. I think getting into SL wouldnt help them at the moment, their gradual building approach is a good one and a sudden need to massively up the income could hinder their progress.

[Ovenden Grunt]

3 hours ago, Dave W said:

Alternative viewpoint from a Barrow fan: Whatever happened subsequently, we'll always have 2009.

Correct they have that title but everyone knows why. They kept the brass that went with it as well which is what gets me as much as the trophy. Don't get me wrong I love our trips to Barrow, we always stay the night although may try Ulverston this season, it's just this love in at the moment and whilst 2009 was a long time ago under a different regime it still grates. Anyroad we will be up again this season and look forward to what is shaping up to be a great championship season.