Getting to know the Blue Square Premier : Barrow AFC

Barrow AFC are a club familiar to older fans of Lincoln after a lengthy spell in the Football League. The Bluebirds have by far the biggest average travelling distance to games in the division, with only one single game within 100 miles of their Holker Street home.....and to think, we were complaining about some of the distances we had if we'd have stayed in League Two.

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One of only two clubs from Cumbria in the top five divisions (the other being Carlisle), Barrow will have plenty of travelling this season. Only Fleetwood are within 100 miles of Holker Street, whereas 18 of their 23 Blue Square opponents are more than 150 miles away, you certainly won't question the loyalty of their travelling fans.

Much like Grimsby Town, they have two men in charge, David Bayliss and Darren Sheridan. They managed the club to their return to the Blue Square Premier Division through the Playoffs and although their league positions haven't been brilliant, their win over Stevenage in 2009/10 in the FA Trophy final was an excellent result for the club, with the Bluebirds becoming the only club to have won the trophy at both version of Wembley. They have also made the FA Cup three times as a non-league club.

They will be hoping to return to the Football League after previously spending 51 years there. During that time they finished 8th in the old third division, now known as League One, and their record attendance came during that time in an FA Cup game against Swansea with 16,874 fans turning up for that match. However, they became famous during their early stint in the Football League for doing pretty much nothing in terms of the League, similar to Rochdale's stint in the fourth tier for nearly 40 years.

Originally known by the strange name of "The Ziggers", they were formed in 1901 and played at The Strawberry Ground, Ainslie Street and Little Parke before settling in their current Holker Street stadium in 1909. The ground holds 4,414 and is mostly terracing.

The last major development at the ground came with the building of the main stand (right) that was built in the time of former Chairman Stephen Vaughn (who later went on top own Chester City), however, the activities of Vaughn eventually say Barrow chucked out of the Conference in 1999. After lengthy battle they were eventually allowed to compete in the Northern Premier League.....although a full month after the season had started.

Lincoln and Barrow don't have many links, however, after Shane Westley was sacked just months after guiding Lincoln to promotion, he became manager at Barrow, although he didn't last long there.

Their squad has a few names that might sound familiar to Lincoln fans. Phil Bolland used to play at Grimsby, whereas Lincoln were linked to Gregg Blundell several times.