Steve Herbert would not have been entirely surprised had he glanced out of a window and glimpsed Ian Evatt walking on the Irish Sea on Thursday.
As the head of a Barrow primary school situated a long goal-kick from Morecambe Bay, Herbert believes Evatt’s feat in leading the town’s football team back to League Two will prove transformative for this part of south Cumbria.
“Ian Evatt’s achieved a miracle,” says Herbert, who doubles as chair of the Barrow Supporters’ Trust. “It means so much to the town. When teams drop out of the Football League a community loses a little bit of its soul. Ian and the players have returned that to us.”
From his office Herbert could hear the animated chatter of children excited to be back in class after lockdown but conceded he did not feel similarly bouncy. Indeed, he admitted being “a little bit delicate” after celebrating the end of Barrow’s 48-year League exile with a “bottle of socially distanced champagne at the ground” on Wednesday night.
“Football gives you a lot,” he says. “But it doesn’t often fulfil your dreams.”
Confirmation that Evatt, a former Blackpool defender, had secured promotion arrived when National League clubs voted to use the points-per-game system to determine a season terminated by a coronavirus pandemic which has hit Barrow particularly hard.
The table-topping Cumbrians were four points clear when the campaign was suspended and Herbert sees a certain symmetry in the manner of their elevation. “We were voted out of the Football League so it seems appropriate we’ve been voted back in,” he says.
Barrow finished third bottom of the old fourth division in 1972 but lost their place as, under the League’s former rules, they were one of four clubs asked to apply for re-election.
With Barrow’s geographical isolation apparently hindering their cause, in that ballot the club were pushed out and replaced by Hereford. Five decades later Barrow return as a vibrant force not only playing attractive, passing football, but, given that the Supporters’ Trust holds a 10% stake in the club, serving as something of a lodestar for such shared ownership models.
Despite having one of the National League’s lowest budgets, the £150,000 raised by the Trust over the past 20 months has helped Paul Hornby, Barrow’s inspiring chairman, fulfil Evatt’s vision while reconnecting the club to its fanbase. Hornby, named among the UK’s top five accountants in 2016, filled the vacuum when the Texas-based Paul Casson quit as owner in October 2018.
“Paul’s done a wonderful job, he’s been brilliant,” says Herbert. “And what the Trust and the wider Barrow public has done in conjunction with the club has exceeded my wildest dreams. It’s absolutely fantastic. Ian Evatt talks a lot about having a ‘perfect storm’ and everyone created one, on and off the pitch.”
The Trust fund was raised through, among other things, individual donations, raffles, travel deals and selling home-made marmalade. “It’s helped our manager keep the squad together and refurbish the ground,” says Herbert.
He did not expect to fall in love with the club, let alone the town, when he stepped off a train from his native Aberdeen to start a teaching job 20 years ago. “Coming out of Barrow station the first thing I saw was a knocked-down building,” he recalls. “I thought I’d only stay for a year.”
Cumbrians can be suspicious of “off-comers” – outsiders – but Herbert soon established powerful bonds. “I love the place. Although I have seen some awful games at Barrow.”
Everything changed with Evatt’s appointment two years ago, at a time when relegation worries prevailed and there were only seven senior players.
“In the past a lot of good days were spoilt by bad football,” says Herbert. “But Ian explained exactly what he was going to do; he’s got such confidence, such conviction. We’ve played with real style, passed and attacked with real panache. Standards were raised, conduct improved and players polished up. Everything became more professional.”
As Scott Quigley, Barrow’s pacy, two-footed striker, scored 20 goals in 35 appearances this season and John Rooney, Wayne’s younger brother, registered 19 from midfield, supporters serenaded “Barra-celona”.
“The players will go down as heroes in local folklore,” says Evatt. “What they’ve achieved is amazing. But I’m so proud of everybody, players, staff, the board, fans, the whole community. We’ve really come together. It means so much to everyone. We’ve created that perfect storm.”
Challenges, many coronavirus-induced, lie ahead but he remains upbeat. “We’re going to League Two to compete,” the 38-year-old says. “I can’t stand mediocrity. I want to challenge for League One.
“As my wife pointed out, every league I’ve played or managed in, I’ve been promoted from. I know what it takes. There’ll be no stone left unturned. Barrow were unjustly relegated 48 years ago but we’re back; no-one can stop us now.”