In Issue Eight we talked about how we thought that debate about standing at football grounds was being stifled by those in authority constantly harking back to the major disasters that tarnished football's image in the eighties and early nineties. We suspect that the real reasons have more to do with the fact that middle class bums on seats means more dosh in the pockets of those who seek to maximise profits. If you find Nene Park and The International Stadium soulless places to watch football, then you might wanna lend your support to the Safe Standing Campaign.

No sooner had we uploaded our article, then we came across a half decent letter in a national mag. This letter points out that whilst the disasters at Hillsborough, Heysel, Ibrox and Valley Parade are all brought up as arguments against standing at football grounds, it should be remembered that not all of these disasters took place in terraced areas - a point often overlooked by those in favour of all-seaters.

The disaster at Bradford occurred in a seated stand. It was a wooden stand and steps have been taken to ensure that a similar event does not reoccur. The issue shouldn't be one of all-seater equating to safety because this just isn't the case. Didn't the events in the Ireland/England game happen in a seated area? The issue should just be about safety, and if fans can stand in safety, and if they wanna stand, shouldn't they have the right to do so, and shouldn't the issue at least warrant some serious debate. If you wanna show your support for being able to stand and watch the game we love then you might wanna send an e-mail to the writer of that half decent letter at [email protected]

Jeez, it's hard enough to get a point out of a visit to the north-east, but then it seems like the hard work really begins. After drawing at Bishop Auckland, certain sections of their support start accusing Barrow fans of misbehaviour at every turn. Let's hope that George Bush doesn't have any relatives in the Land of the Prince Bishops?!??!, otherwise the Furness area could be subject to carpet bombing if it turns out that Barrow fans are responsible for the subjugation of the whole Kurdish nation as well as what some of the Bish fans spouted off about.

And after drawing at Blyth midweek it carried on. We've highlighted Sore Losers and Ungracious Winners, and now it seems the north-east is making up its own category of Bad Drawers (choose your own pronunciation and spelling). Following the 1-1 draw on Tuesday, one Blyth fan - aptly named Gremlin - labelled Barrow as poor and overweight. We've gotta admit that if Tuesday night hadda been a boxing match, then Blyth would have won on points. But it wasn't a boxing match. Blyth missed their chances and it finished a draw. And if Barrow were so "poor and overweight" - we prefer depleted and short of first team players ourselves - then what does that make Blyth? (mouthy - Ed)

And we received these thoughts from a Barrow fan who made the trip to Croft Park on Tuesday.

Speaking of Blyth its always enjoyable to spend some time on the terraces in the company of the local old codgers when we make trips up to the North East. These are the guys who have been stood on the terraces of Kingsway, Croft Park etc for the past 50 years yet they still remain the most one eyed biased bunch you have ever encountered and as yet they have still to find a referee to meet with their approval. You know the type I mean, every time a Barrow player is poleaxed then he is a soft so and so but every time one of their boys goes down then the perpetrator is the biggest menace since Fred West. It was actually quite funny on Tuesday listening to a codger abuse Doc for being an over physical player. In addition Barrow usually contain a player that used to play for their club. Indeed Nicky Peverell seems to have played for most of the Unibond sides in the North East.

Without fail the wags on the terraces castigate Super Nick for every minor mistake he makes, usually with a shout of "Same as when you played for us Pev!" which makes it all the more satisfying when he knocks one in as he tends to do. Pev received the usual stick at Croft Park last Tuesday but if Blyth had had a forward of his calibre playing for them then they probably would have taken all three points and as for the boneheads who claimed Kenny Lowe never had any skill… well, just don't get me started!

It often seems that during every bad run there is always a wealth of talent available in the local football scene just waiting to be tapped into to restore us to our former glories. Now I am all for giving local talent its chance especially after witnessing an encouraging performance from Gareth Jones on Tuesday night against Blyth. But if the reservoir of local talent was so deep then why haven't Holker OB swept all before them in the last few years? Some contributors to the website forum suggest that the Barrow football public would be more inclined to watch Barrow AFC if there were more local players in the team. Would it be simplistic of me to think that Holker Old Boys etc. are crammed full of local players yet they are hardly locking them out down at Rakesmoor Lane, are they?

Last week we asked you for your views on the transfer system. Whether or not your club benefiited from the current system. And what you thought should replace the current system. Welllllllllll, we've been overwhelmed with the response - and some of you were kind enough to point out about how we'd asked the same question twice. The truth is we were so excited about learning how to do forms that we almost considered just having one question and asking it in six different ways, but nah we thought we'd leave that kinda thing to Gatesheed fans.

We've had fans as far apart as Hyde and Altrincham replying. We've had the old and the young - though we ain't paying any compensation unless you can prove your under 23 and have a valid passport - and we ain't counting Greek ones, - for chrissakes, we bought a degree for a tenner in Athens a few years ago.

Anyway, here's what you thought. Half of ya - and no, we didn't just get two replies - thought that your club actually benefitted thru wheeling and dealing in the current system. Surprisingly enough about half didn't think that the team they supported benefitted, but what's a bit wierd is, that a lot more than this thought that it would be bad if the current system was scrapped.

So that means that less than a quarter of ya agreed with us. But we're used to that. Heck, if everyone agreed with us, we'd have a proper socialist government, Barrow would still be in the Conference, and you'd be able to buy a veggie burger in at least one football ground in the country.

Some of ya thought that Unibond clubs would/should adopt the position of being a feeder club for a league or premier team. A few of ya didn't think things'd change all that much because there's still talk of compensation for under23s and that's the bracket that most transfers fall into as it is. Anywayyyyyyyyy, the decision shoulda be made by now but the suits haven't managed to agree on anything much yet - surprise, surprise. But we reckon things ain't gonna change all that much from the way the winds blowing at the moment.

And despite you lot not really agreeing with us, we still think a change could have been used to get a better deal for the smaller clubs, but we ain't gonna argue with ya about it, - we're just gonna come back a couple of years down the line and tell ya "We told you so."

And just like those of ya who think Sky's coverage of the non-league game is a good thing, we're gonna disagree with ya again, but we'll leave that 'til next week (promise)

Nah, it's not a misprint in the Unibond league table. It's actually the name of the Runcorn's fans' protest group. And what're they protesting against? Wellllll, it seems that the club's board and the local council want the club to move to Widnes. Some of the fans ain't too pleased about this and they've formed an action group, the website of which can be found at Runcorn First.

One of their major actions is to boycott the March 10th game against Colwyn Bay which is due to be played at the Autoquest Stadium in Widnes. We told you a little about this in Issue Ten. We weren't too convinced of the wisdom of this idea, - not that we're against the protest itself, just that we didn't think it would all that effective, trying to get fans to turn up at an empty ground. And it seems that Tufty & Co have come around to our way of thinking. We said we'd give any Planned actions some publicity and here's what Tufty had to say in response to our offer.

"To date we have not planned anything. We did consider opening a turnstyle at Canal street on march 10th, to see if people would show support by attending Canal Street instead of Widnes. (An opeing of a turnstyle is an easy option) However, this would need maximum publicity to work and mass media attention. Also, would people attend an empty ground to support a protest, if nothing is taking place there?

We know that whatever the crowd at the Autoquest, the Doc (not our beloved Doc, apparently this one is a member of the Runcorn board - Ed) will deem it a success.

Another option is to get people to attend the Barrow game on the 24th Feb, by doing this, we can show the support for the club in Runcorn. We need to publicise this. The Everton game on the Wednesday 21st needs to be flyposted and media attention needs to be maximised, in order to increase the gate for the Barrow game.

It is not hard to get media attention, I found it very easy for the Scarborough game, TV and radio are interested, they just need people to contact them.

So whats to happen? Are we to accept the move to Widnes, or are we going to fight for the right to stay at Canal Street?

For a start, the 250 that attended the meeting in the summer, would boost the current home gate!"

Sooooooooo, it seems that the emphasis of the Runcorn First protest has switched to the Barrow game this coming Saturday. And we think that's about right. If a lot of Runconians do turn up this coming Sat'day, then it will demonstrate (nice - Ed) that the public want the club to stay in Runcorn.

And the spin off is that there should be a good atmosphere for barrow fans travelling to the game. Though, that mention of a friendly against a Premiership team from Merseyside a couple of days before Barrow are due to play in the league at Canal Street does have an unpleasant sense of deja vu about it.

If you always thought that Cowps had the record for the quickest goal ever scored, then you might be alarmed to read this piece of news.

"Rivelino from Brazil holds the record for the quickest goal ever scored.........after just three seconds. But it was something of an own goal by the keeper in the Brazilian League match in 1974, though he never touched the ball.
The goalie was on his knees praying as the match kicked off. Rivelino saw him looking skyward and hammered home a shot from 55 yards.
The keeper feared even worse when a spectator ran onto the pitch waving a pistol. Murder was averted, however, when the angry fan fired six shots into the ball before escaping back into the crowd."

Can't remember anything like that happening at Kettering, though the stewards were a bit heavy one year, refusing to let Barrow fans change ends at half-time - there were about half a dozen of us there - and all because, - surprise, surprise, - Eurosport were showing the game live on TV. If you watched the Liverpool/Roma game last week, you may have seen an Italian player trying to emulate Cowps' feat at the beginning of the second half, but he just proved what we always knew - these continentals don't have the same touch and ball control as us Cumbrians.

2-0. Whahey. Without digging out recent programmes we reckon this makes it five without defeat for Barrow. If we keep this up, then that top six finish looks a reality. Hey, and didn't Emley drop points. And we caught up three on Stalybridge. Oh yeah, and worra bout if Hull don't come through their current troubles, and this means an extra play-off promotion place. And Conference football shows up in August after all. Whahey!

Anyway, back in the real world, Barrow put in a solid team performance against Blyth to make that five without defeat, possibly six if we've missed one along the way somewhere. A brace of goals by SuperNick. A brill save by Bish, but really everyone played their part. Three points, two goals, and six more quid for the club from our Give it a Lash for the Cash scheme. No goals for Darren Roberts meant that total wasn't added to, and the fact that Barrow didn't throw away their two goal lead meant no more incoming from our sponsors at Beans. We reckon that given the wacky ideas that those who've joined us on Give it a Lash for the Cash have come up with, then a 4-6 scoreline would probably earn most for the club, with Darren Roberts scoring in the third minute, and at least one of the opposition's goals coming from the penalty spot, and a couple of yellow cards need to be shown as well - though has anyone noticed that referees tend to brandish a kind of luminous pale green card these days.

Anywayyyyyy, our season ain't over yet, and there's still time for you to get involved. All ya need to do is give the ball on the right a reet lash with your left hand mouse button, and tell us what ya want to sponsor the lads for. If like us, you're dead keen on seeing goals, then go for an amount per goal. But if ya like a bit of rough and tumble to go with the flowing football, then you might wanna consider sponsoring both teams for yellow or red cards, though you wouldn't get far with the ref who turned up at Blyth who seemed to have left his cards - yellow, red and luminous green - at home. Or worra bout a quid for every time you hear someone on the Popular Side shout "Get a sub on" when it is level pegging out on the pitch. Whatever, the wackier the better, just give the ball a click and get on board.

month then I don't know what will!

Anywayyyyyyyyy, what did we think of it?

Wellllllll, we think it's great. About time fans in the Unibond got their arses into gear to produce something independent. This sorta thing is only gonna raise the profile of the Unibond, get some discussion going, raise some interest and get some more folk through the turnstiles, though we hope to be reading the Conference equivalent in a couple of seasons time of course.

And the magazine itself. Well, it is a magazine and not a fanzine. It's got newsy items rather than opinion and comment. There's a two page feature on Barrow, that it looks like ralph had a hand in somewhere. and we've gotta say unlike some publications we saw in the Greater Manchester area recently, the Barrow story had a very positive and upbeat feel to it, so Extra Time has gotta be congratulated for that.

There's a couple of programme reviews in here as well. Together with a feature on Emley, and news of promotion and relegation issues. There's also a news round-up that features news from every club in the league, premier and first division. And if ya don't think that your club's getting enough coverage then get in touch with Simon because he's looking for contributors.

People who live on the net might not find all that much new news here, but it is a good read, and a good effort from a fan, and let's hope Simon's efforts are rewarded. - Christ, we'll be expecting a couple of pints next time we're down at Watnall Road after that, or another 4-1 result'll do, if ya don't mind.

The revelation that Darren Roberts' terms are to be based on the amount of goals he knocks in and the general team performance met with thumbs up from this particular part of Holker Street. On the face of it the club can't really lose. If Roberts fails to perform then the club aren't left too out of pocket whereas if he bangs them in from all angles then the team will be a winning one and the club would hopefully reap the benefits of increased gate receipts etc. But why stop there? The principle of performance related pay could be applied to the rest of the squad. Indeed, the ultimate would be if at the end of every game Steve Leonard took the weekly wage bill out onto the centre circle and dished out the wages in front of the crowd. What
greater motivation could there be than risking being castigated by an irate popular side for having the temerity to collect a fat pay cheque after an inept performance?

It's small wonder that Hyde's crowds are dropping. Trying to get to the ground was nigh on impossible. The signs were clear and visible, the lights were on, but no-one in the Transport and Highways Department in this part of Greater Manchester appeared to be home. A series of fences and trenches around the Tameside Leisure Centre turned the half hour prior to kick off into something resembling an episode from Wacky Races. As we took our wrong third turn a pensioner hot footed it after us to give us directions, and hey presto! Five minutes later we met another dead end.

"One, two, three, four!" - Have you ever heard a crapper chant. Anybody got any ear-muffs?

Whahey! And then the Doc put us two up after twenty minutes. Whahey!! It was just like watching Brazil - welllll, we were playing in yellow. "Can we play you every week?" Mmmmmm, no thanks. An hour later we were four-two down, not looking like getting back into it, thinking about getting near to an exit to get a flier away from the ground.

And then perhaps after hearing one chorus too many of "Two-nil up, then fu*£ed it up, Barrow, Barrow AFC." - Nicky Peverill pulled his shooting boots on and it was 4-3. Mission Impossible had suddenly become Mission Improbable. And then it was four all. FOUR ALL. What a finish. Only there were still ten minutes left. And a winner looked inevitable - though it coulda come from either team. It didn't happen though, and four all it stayed, the best excitement - though not football - at a Barrow game for ages.

Cheers lads.

And more cash to the club from our sponsorship scheme - Give it a Lash for the Cash! This one earned a whopping great £14.50 - kerching! And if Darren Roberts hadda got the goal his performance deserved, then it woulda been even more. And if you wanna get on board then give the ball on the right a click and join us on the Give it a Lash for the Cash scheme. All ya need to do is e-mail us with your idea for sponsoring the club in these troubled times. A quid a goal, fifty pence a point. Whatever. After Monday you might wanna go for a quid for every time you get called an inbreed at an away game - original, huh? Or worra bout a quid for every sitter that an ex-Barrow player misses (cheers, Paul). Give it a Lash for the Cash has got us up to eighth so far, but we need a bit more help to get us in the top six so worra bout it