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Early years

Barrow Football Club was formed in 1875 and played its first home game on 4 December of that year against the Royal Grammar School, Lancaster, at Cavendish Park on Barrow Island, then home to the town's cricket club. It is thought that Tom H. Baynes, a shipping clerk, was the driving force behind the club's foundation. As well as being a player, he was probably also the first Barrow team coach. Early practice matches games were played in "a field loaned by a local farmer" as well as the Parade Ground and the aforementioned Cavendish Park.

At the 1883 annual general meeting, Cavendish Park got the vote over the Parade Ground as a permanent home on account of its better playing surface. The first grandstand there was erected in 1893, and another one in 1893.

In April 1897, the team switched from rugby union to rugby league following a unanimous vote at the club. Barrow joined the Second Division of the Lancashire Senior Competition and became champions in their first season. They lost a test match against Morecambe, the bottom club in the First Division, however, and failed to gain promotion.^[] They were eventually promoted at the end of the 1899–1900 season, by defeating Tyldesley in the test match.^[]

In 1908, the club nearly doubled their attendance record to 12,000 in a third round Challenge Cup match against Hunslet.

In 1914, Cavendish Park was requisitioned by the authorities for the war effort. Barrow moved to Little Park, Roose, three miles from the centre of town. The first match there was a 31–2 victory over Bramley. The league at this time was suspended and clubs were forced to arrange their own fixtures in an unofficial war league. Boosted by an influx of players and spectators into the local shipyards for war production, Barrow became one of the dominant teams of the war period, winning the unofficial championship title in 1917–18 losing just twice in 22 matches.

Interwar Period and move to Craven Park

After World War I, Barrow had mixed fortunes and when the league resumed in 1919–20, they managed to finish fifth. However, over the next decade, despite having several county and national players, Barrow's form suffered and its league position was poor.

In 1929, it had been realised that rugby league in Barrow was approaching a precarious period, as the attendances at Little Park were gradually decreasing. This was in part due to industrial depression but also Little Park's location. The directors made an appeal to the town, and approached the mayor, Alderman John Whinnerah who was to be an ardent supporter. Commander G. W. Craven, a local war hero, started an appeal fund with a donation of £500. In a short time the club bought a central site, where the Jute Works stood for £2,500. Craven Park was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters, 500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground. The total cost of the building project came to £7,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £1,251,000 in 2013).

1937–38 saw Barrow reach the finals of the Lancashire County Cup for the first time, losing narrowly 4–8 to Warrington. That season was a time of great opportunity for the Barrow team but was to end in disappointment. After playing seven matches in just ten days, they lost 7–4 to Salford in the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley; they also lost in the Championship play-off semi-final 13–7 against Hunslet. A new attendance record was set in that season – 21,651 in the Good Friday game against Salford.

Post Second World War

Barrow dropped out of the wartime Lancashire league in 1940–41, they did not return to league competition until 1945–46. As many of the pre-war players had retired, this was an era of rebuilding and recruiting.

The 1950s were the club's heyday. The team was captained by Willie Horne and Barrow appeared no less than three times at Wembley. On 5 May 1951, Barrow made their second appearance at Wembley and were beaten 10–0 by Wigan. On Saturday 27 October 1951 13,319 spectators were at Barrow to watch the home side beat New Zealand 9–5. On 30 April 1955, Barrow made their third appearance at Wembley. This time, they won the Challenge Cup 21–12 against Workington Town, later that year they added the Lancashire Cup after a 12–2 win over Oldham.

On 11 May 1957, Barrow played again in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley against Leeds and were narrowly beaten 9–7. 1957 signalled the end of the golden era of the club and most of the star players retired after this time.

The league split into two divisions in 1961–62 and because of a poor finish in the previous season, Barrow was forced to play in the second division.

In 1963, Jim Challinor moved to Barrow and became their player-coach.

Their last appearance at Wembley Stadium was in 1967, where they were strongly tipped to win the Challenge Cup final again, but were beaten by Featherstone Rovers 17–12. A crowd of 77,000 paid a then record £54,435 to watch the game (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £1,625,000 in 2013).

1973 saw Barrow appoint former player, Frank Foster, as coach. He built a side which won the Second Division championship in 1975–76 and reached a John Player Trophy final in 1981 only to lose 5–12 to Warrington. Phil Hogan was transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers in 1978 for a then world record fee of £33,000 (based on increases in average increases, this would be approximately £249,700 in 2013).

Barrow fluctuated between divisions but had three consecutive years in the top flight between 1980 and 1983. Frank Foster was eventually replaced by Tommy Dawes in 1983.

The season 1983–84 saw Barrow win the Second Division title and the Lancashire Cup against favourites Widnes 12–8. The entire Barrow team was inducted into the Barrow Hall of Fame in 2003. Tommy Dawes, despite his initial success, was sacked in 1985.

In 1988–89, Australian Rod Reddy took on a player-coach role at Barrow in 1987. Barrow earned promotion to Division One but that campaign saw Barrow manage only one league win and suffer a club record 90–0 defeat at Leeds. Reddy was sacked and Denis Jackson took over as a caretaker coach for the rest of 1989–90.

After relegation in 1990, Barrow appointed a new coach in Steve Norton but finished 17th out of 21 in Division Two.

Summer era

In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season. When the Super League competition had been proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Barrow were down to merge with Whitehaven, Workington Town and Carlisle to form a new club called Cumbria based in Workington which would compete in the Super League but ultimately this did not happen and Barrow were not part of the new competition.

Until 1995 the team was simply titled Barrow RLFC, but they adopted the nickname Barrow Braves to coincide with rugby league's switch to a summer season. Peter Roe was head coach for a 15-month period, ending in January 1996.

Barrow Border Raiders (1997–2002)

In 1997 they merged with Cumbrian rivals Carlisle to form Barrow Border Raiders. Carlisle's Paul Charlton became coach of the new team. The new team played all its matches in Barrow; the merger was essentially a financial arrangement only. Barrow enjoyed mixed fortunes under Paul Charlton with two top-ten finishes in the Northern Ford Premiership in 1999 and 2000, before the club's fortunes took a turn for the worse in the 2001 season, which resulted in Paul Charlton not being offered a new contract.Eskdale & Liddesdale Advertiser | Charlo bids for Barrow return In 2002, the Border part of the name, which was never particularly relevant to South Cumbria-based Barrow, was dropped.

Barrow Raiders (2002–2010)

Under Peter Roe's second spell at Craven Park, they were National League Two champions in 2004, their first trophy for 20 years. They were promoted to National League One. However, they were relegated back to National League Two at the end of the 2005 season after winning just one of their 18 matches. The financial situation at the club forced a review of the coaching structure and the position of head coach was made part-time and the club parted company with Peter Roe. In October 2005, local ex-player Paul Crarey was appointed as head coach. In his first season as coach of the Raiders he guided them to the National League Two play-offs on a very limited budget. After the end of the 2007 season, Paul Crarey controversially resigned from Barrow Raiders, after guiding them to a second successive play-off position.

Barrow had initially lined up former Widnes coach Steve McCormack to take over until he received an offer of a position with Super League club Hull KR. On Thursday 2 November 2007 Barrow Raiders announced that former player Welsh-born Aussie Dave Clarke would take over, with Dean Marwood as his assistant. On 23 August 2008, Raiders gained automatic promotion from National League Two by beating Swinton 12–32 to clinch second place in National League Two.

On 5 April 2009, a crowd of 6275 watched Barrow play Super League club Wigan in the best attended match in recent years. Barrow held out but were eventually defeated 32–20. On 21 July Despite the club being 2nd in the league and having made the Northern Rail Cup Final coach Dave Clarke stepped down and became assistant to new head coach Steve Deakin.

On 31 August 2009, after just 6 weeks in charge, Steve Deakin left the club and Dave Clarke reclaimed the head coach role, leading the club to the 2009 Co-Op Championship league leaders trophy and a grand final appearance versus Halifax. In the 2009 Co-Op Championship Grand Final, a 77th minute try settled the game and Barrow beat Halifax 26–18 to claim the Championship title..

Barrow finished fourth in 2010 with coach Steve McCormack leaving the club to take up a teaching post. After a lengthy search for a new coach, Barrow appointed Garry Schofield.

2011 season and relegation to Championship 1

Barrow's application to join the then franchised Super League, after their Championship Grand Final win in 2009, was rejected early in the 2011 season as it was deemed the club did not the meet minimum requirements.

Head Coach Schofield was sacked as coach after only five games in 2011 and his assistant Nigel Wright was appointed in his place. With 6 games to go in July Barrow sacked Nigel Wright and appointed former player Dave Clarke as their manager for the rest of the season.

Rule breaches and RFL charges

The on-field problems were matched by off-field difficulties, with the club accused of breaking salary cap rules. A 6-point deduction due to salary cap breaches in the 2010 season, ended any play off hope. At a tribunal in October 2011, claims that the club "systematically breached" the following three rules were upheld.

• Rule C.1.1.7 – failing to record in player contracts all financial benefits or benefits in kind that a player is receiving;
• Rule C.1.1.11 – no club or club official shall loan money or goods or make payment or provide any benefit in kind to a player unless they are recorded in the player's contract;
• Rule D1.8 (f) – misconduct by committing a breach of Championship Salary Cap Regulations.

Their chairman, Des Johnston was banned from any involvement with Rugby League for 8 years and 29 points were deducted for the 2011 season, relegating them to the Co-operative Championship 1.

2012–2017

Success in Championship 1 during 2012 meant that Barrow were promoted directly back up to the Championship the following year. Unable to compete, and after narrowly avoiding relegation in 2013, they were once again relegated at the end of the 2014 season.

At the end of the 2014 season Paul Crarey was re-appointed head coach, replacing Bobbie Goulding. The former player had previously coached the team between 2005 and 2007.

The team strengthened on the field during three consecutive seasons in, the now renamed League 1 with improving table finishes (2015: 7th) (2016: 5th) (2017: 3rd)

On 27 May 2017, Barrow won the League 1 Cup after defeating North Wales Crusaders 38–32 at Bloomfield Road as an opener to the Summer Bash weekend. At the end of the 2017 season, Barrow secured promotion back to the Championship with a 10–6 play-off win against 2nd place Cumbrian rivals Whitehaven.

Return to the Championship (2018–2019)

Barrow achieved a better than expected start to the 2018 season with strong results on the field including holding League favourites Toronto to a draw. However, the club faced significant financial issues. For the second time in just over 5 years, chairman David Sharpe announced significant short term cash flow issues. Steve Neale replaced Sharpe as chairman stating that there was a "bright future for the club" after raising short term funds. Barrow finished their inaugural Championship season in 10th place avoiding risk of relegation.

The following season, Barrow were once again relegated to the RFL League 1 after a 68–2 defeat against Toronto Wolfpack on 1 September 2019.

Back in League 1 (2020–2021)

After relegation from the Championship in 2019, Barrow started their return to life in League 1 with a 32–22 victory over Doncaster on 1 March 2020.

On 16 March the structure and timing of the competition was placed in doubt as all rugby league games were suspended until 3 April at least as part of the United Kingdom's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension of the season was extended to indefinite.

A discussion between the RFL and club officials in May saw seven of the 11 clubs reject a suggestion that the season could recommence with games being played behind closed doors. The RFL board met on 20 July and having consulted with the League 1 clubs decided to abandon the 2020 season as the majority of clubs did not support playing behind closed doors. At the date of suspension only two rounds of matches had been played and the season was declared null and void.

Controversy and Championship return (2021–)

In a controversy-filled 2021 RFL League 1 season, Barrow finished top of the table and were promoted back to the Championship.

Controversy first hit on 29 July, when the club were accused of faking Covid-19 test results and close contacts to avoid a game with fellow promotion chasers Workington Town, after Barrow's squad was already severely depleted with injuries. Further controversy hit on the final game of the season, when Barrow offered local amateur rugby players to West Wales Raiders in order for the game to be fulfilled. Barrow ultimately won the game 76–0, which led to many questioning the legitimacy of the game, and ultimately, Barrow's League 1 title. In the 2022 RFL Championship season, Barrow surprised many by finishing 4th on the table and qualifying for the playoffs. The club were eliminated in the first week of the playoffs by Batley.