Since 1909, Barrow have played their home games at Holker Street near the town centre, 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from Barrow-in-Furness railway station.
Barrow were founded on 16 July 1901 at the old Drill Hall (later the Palais) in the Strand, and played initially at the Strawberry Ground before moving to Ainslie Street[1] and Little Park in Roose.
[citation needed] A few years later, it was followed by a third-round tie in the 1958–59 competition against Football League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers at Holker Street.
[5] To gain access to the Northern Premier League, the club had to promise to remove the speedway track from Holker Street[9] (although it remained until 1974).
[12] Driven by Colin Cowperthwaite, holder of club records for appearances and goals,[13] Barrow had two respectable finishes in the Conference: 10th in 1989–90 and 14th the following season.
Barrow reached the 1988 FA Trophy semi-final, losing to Enfield after two replays: the first at Aggborough, Kidderminster and the second at Marston Road, Stafford.
Enfield went on to win the trophy against Telford United in a replay at the Hawthorns in West Bromwich after a goalless draw in the final at Wembley.
Kenny Gordon, not ordinarily a goal-scorer, scored the first and third goals in his final game for his hometown club before emigrating to Australia.
[14] Other notable members of the squad included Kenny Lowe, who was sold to Barnet for £40,000 (a club record at the time) after the final.
Barrow were returned through relegation to the Northern Premier League and Cowperthwaite retired after fifteen seasons with the club, 704 appearances and 282 goals.
[citation needed] After Wilkie's departure and Barrow's relegation, the club had three mediocre seasons in the Northern Premier League.
[17] It was learned that the Holker Street ground (Barrow's main asset) had been sold for £410,000 to Northern Improvements, a company in which Vaughan had a financial interest.
[18][22] In January 1999, the club were the subject of a compulsory winding-up order and a liquidator was appointed to run it while efforts were made to establish the ground's legal owner.
[23] The club defeated local rivals Workington in a two-legged April 2004 final in the UniBond Presidents (League) Cup.
The incident was missed by the referee but was caught by the Match of the Day cameras, and Cotterill was the only English player in recent history to be jailed for an offence on the pitch.
Although the sacking came two days after a good 1–1 draw in the FA Cup first round against AFC Bournemouth, the club's continued poor form was the cause.
They won the semi-final against AFC Telford United 4–0 on aggregate before defeating Stalybridge Celtic in the playoff final at Pirelli Stadium in Burton upon Trent.
[25] Barrow topped the Conference National table during the first few weeks of the following season before the club began to struggle, finding themselves just above the relegation zone by January 2009.
[28][29] On 13 March 2010, a Gregg Blundell goal gave Barrow a 1–0 win at Salisbury City in the first Leg of the FA Trophy semi-final.
Bayliss left the club by mutual consent on 5 November 2013, and Barrow reappointed former caretaker manager Darren Edmondson on 10 December of that year.
[34] In November 2015, Barrow parted company with manager Darren Edmondson after a poor run left them mid-table and a 1–0 loss to AFC Fylde knocked them out of the 2015–16 FA Cup.
[37] Moore was sacked after the club's FA Cup defeat in the fourth qualifying round away at Shaw Lane on 15 October of that year.
The final league table was decided on a points per game basis, meaning Barrow returned to the EFL as champions for the first time since 1972.
[50] Kelly saw an upturn of form and on 27 April 2021, with two matches remaining, Barrow secured their Football League status for the following season with a 2–0 win at Forest Green Rovers.
[53] On 24 August 2021, Barrow hosted Premier League side Aston Villa in an EFL Cup second round tie, losing 6–0.
Home games are currently being played at Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold stadium in Cheshire, close to the first team's training base.
[citation needed] At the end of the 2023–24 season, Wild departed the club after Barrow had finished one point outside of the play-off positions.
[58] On 31 May 2024, Stephen Clemence was announced as Wild's successor on a two-year deal,[59] but, with the club 17th in League Two, was sacked eight months later in January 2025[60] and replaced by Andy Whing.
Floodlights were installed in 1963,[5] and the ground hosted speedway meetings during the 1970s which necessitated the demolition of the "Steelworks End" (previously damaged by fire), the re-positioning of the pitch and the removal of the front rows of terracing.
[68][69] In the summer of 2020, a roof was added to the Holker Street End of the ground after the club had won through promotion return to the Football League.