League Two Barrow (1) v Rovers (0)

[drwhoman]

Still in Lancashire back then!

I think that Barrow Reserves played in the Lancashire Combination.what a great name!

 

[dollar'sbloke]

I think that Barrow Reserves played in the Lancashire Combination.what a great name!

Ours played Cheshire County League matches against E Port could get 5,000 in. I think Dave Hickson played against us early on. The league became Northern prem and we were excluded, but the remnants merged with Lancs to become NW Counties. I think that is accurate

 

[drwhoman]

Ours played Cheshire County League matches against E Port could get 5,000 in. I think Dave Hickson played against us early on. The league became Northern prem and we were excluded, but the remnants merged with Lancs to become NW Counties. I think that is accurate

Dave Hickson played for Rovers around 1960 at a time when what were then Division One players needed to continue playing for the money. He had previously played for both Everton and Liverpool. The NPL was formed in 1968 and the likes of Morecambe and Fleetwood were members moving from the old LC. Altrincham and Macclesfield moved from the CL I think. There was always slightly more money in the Cheshire League and maybe the standard was slightly higher as a result. I can recall several well known players of the era playing in that league. One who springs to mind is Derek Kevan who was a West Brom and England centre forward. Another was Alf Arrowsmith who had a great start at Liverpool around 62-63 but suffered a bad knee injur and was never the same again.

 

[drwhoman]

Dave Hickson played for Rovers around 1960 at a time when what were then Division One players needed to continue playing for the money. He had previously played for both Everton and Liverpool. The NPL was formed in 1968 and the likes of Morecambe and Fleetwood were members moving from the old LC. Altrincham and Macclesfield moved from the CL I think. There was always slightly more money in the Cheshire League and maybe the standard was slightly higher as a result. I can recall several well known players of the era playing in that league. One who springs to mind is Derek Kevan who was a West Brom and England centre forward. Another was Alf Arrowsmith who had a great start at Liverpool around 62-63 but suffered a bad knee injur and was never the same again.

The Northern Premier League table of 1968-69. Some well known clubs and others I have forgotten!

1968–69 Northern Premier League - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

The NPL was a new competiton at the time (1968), formed as a northern equivalent of the well established Southern League. Peter Swales, incidentally, was a key figure in making it happen.

It wasn’t a merger or a rename of any existing league. Rather, its original member clubs were selected through an application process, with clubs from five existing leagues - Cheshire, Lancs Comb, Northern Regional, Midland and West Midlands (Regional) - chosen to be the founders.

The Cheshire League and Lancs Comb carried on through the 70s and early 80s before merging with each other to form the NW Counties League. I don’t know how these two leagues compared through the 70s once they’d each lost their best clubs to the NPL but, by the time of the merger, the Cheshire League was certainly the stronger of the two.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Ours played Cheshire County League matches against E Port could get 5,000 in. I think Dave Hickson played against us early on.

I can confirm that because I was there! A large crowd turned up just to welcome Dave back to PP.

Dave Hickson was with Rovers for less than two years but made a great impression while he was here. He scored about a goal every other game and the crowd loved his robust style. I recommend the recording of TRFC v Chelsea in the big freeze of 1963, which you can find on YouTube. I once wrote a whole article about this game in GUAR.

The reserves occasionally had big gates. The Chelsea game was a sell-out and ordinary fans could buy their ticket by attending a reserves match against Bangor City in the Cheshire League. I remember freezing on the Kop at that game, but I was warm watching Chelsea as the ground was packed and I was in the old cowshed.

Happy days!

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Good stuff much I wasn't sure about. I actually meant Hickson playing for EP before going to Everton as a kid against our ressies, might be completely wrong. So early 50's be impressed if anyone saw him at that reserves match!

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Good stuff much I wasn't sure about. I actually meant Hickson playing for EP before going to Everton as a kid against our ressies, might be completely wrong. So early 50's be impressed if anyone saw him at that reserves match!

Not me. Even I'm not THAT old.

 

[drwhoman]

Not me. Even I'm not THAT old.

Nice one BBTC! Some well known players in the Chelsea game. Johnny King scored the first Rovers goal, Harry Leyland, the ex Everton keeper was in goal, the wonderfully named Ralph Gubbins (ex Bolton I think) and for Chelsea a whole host of well known players - Bonetti, Tambling, Bridges, Shellito etc. You wonder whether they would have played on that pitch today! Still I recall that the 63 winter was a very cold one. I recall almost skating on the ice to school for a couple of months!