Forty-eight years after they were voted out of the Football League and replaced by Hereford United, Barrow have now clawed their way back and earned promotion to League Two. The news was confirmed earlier this evening after National League clubs voted to decide the table on points-per-game and have the play-offs take place.
Barrow Promoted to League Two
Ian Evatt Deserves High Praise
Former Blackpool and Chesterfield manager Ian Evatt was appointed at Barrow in 2018. He guided them to a respectable tenth-placed finish, ten points outside of the play-offs. This year, though, he has taken them to new heights and they have been lauded as the best team in the National Leauge for much of the season, even being dubbed ‘Barrow-celona’ by some.
While there is no doubt that the club will have wanted to earn promotion by seeing out the remaining games, it cannot be denied that they were well on their way to the title regardless.
Those unhappiest about the decision will likely be second-placed Harrogate Town, but they will now get another shot at promotion through the play-offs.
Play-Off Teams and Two Other Champions
Six teams take part in the National League play-offs, with a one-legged ‘quarter-final’ (named a play-off eliminator) taking place between those who finish between fourth and seventh.
Therefore, Harrogate and Notts County will advance straight to the semi-finals while Yeovil Town, Boreham Wood, FC Halifax Town and Barnet will enter an the earlier stage.
Barnet actually finished 11th in the table, but as they had several games in hand (mostly due to a poor pitch seeing their games called off), the points-per-game score bumped them up into the last play-off spot.
Elsewhere, Kings Lynn have won promotion to the National League from the National League North after PPG put them ahead of York City. There were no changes to the National League South table, meaning Wealdstone are the champions.
Main Photo
