Graham Barrow Explained

Graham Barrow
Fullname:Graham Barrow
Birth Date:13 June 1954
Birth Place:Chorley, England
Height:[1]
Position:Midfielder
Currentclub:Wigan Athletic (Assistant Manager)
Clubs1:Chorley
Years2:1978–1979
Caps2:44
Goals2:5
Years3:1979–1981
Caps3:62
Goals3:11
Years4:1981–1986
Caps4:179
Goals4:35
Years5:1986–1994
Caps5:248
Goals5:17
Totalcaps:533
Totalgoals:68
Manageryears1:1992–1994
Managerclubs1:Chester City
Manageryears2:1994–1995
Managerclubs2:Wigan Athletic
Manageryears3:1996–1999
Managerclubs3:Rochdale
Manageryears4:2000–2001
Managerclubs4:Chester City
Manageryears5:2003–2005
Managerclubs5:Bury
Manageryears6:2013
Managerclubs6:Wigan Athletic (Caretaker Manager)
Manageryears7:2016
Managerclubs7:Wigan Athletic (Caretaker Manager)
Manageryears8:2017
Managerclubs8:Wigan Athletic (Caretaker Manager)
Manageryears9:2018
Managerclubs9:Wrexham (Assistant Manager)
Manageryears10:2018–2019
Managerclubs10:Wrexham (Interim Manager)
Manageryears11:2023–Present
Managerclubs11:Wigan Athletic (Assistant Manager)

Graham Barrow (born 13 June 1954) is an English former footballer who has since become a professional manager in the English game. He is currently working for Wigan Athletic as an assistant manager to Shaun Maloney.[2]

Playing career

Having previously played for Chorley and Southport,[3] Barrow first entered the Football League at the relatively late age of 27 in August 1981 when he signed for Wigan Athletic from Altrincham for £10,000. He became a vital part of manager Larry Lloyd's promotion winning side, playing as a hard man in midfield, and further endeared himself to Wigan fans by putting in a hard working performance in the Associate Members' Cup final at Wembley Stadium in 1985 despite playing in the unfamiliar position of forward. He left the club for Chester City in 1986 for £6,000,[4] after 212 appearances in all competitions for the Latics (179 games, 36 goals in the League).

Barrow had a difficult start at Chester, suffering five bookings in his first seven games,[4] and in November 1986 he considered a move to Blackpool.[4] But he opted to stay with the Blues and went on to make 298 first team appearances over the next eight years, mainly as captain. He combined his playing role with an assistant manager position to Harry McNally from 1988–89 onwards.[5] On the final day of the 1991–92 season, Barrow scored a late winner in Chester's final home game at Moss Rose against Leyton Orient to seal Division Three survival for the club.[6]

2023 - Wigan Athletic 1st team coach (Current team)

Management & coaching

Chester, Wigan and Rochdale

Barrow began his managerial career with Chester City in 1992 (as player–manager), after collecting seven points from four games in caretaker charge.[7] Although the team was relegated to the Football League Third Division in 1993, Barrow inspired the Blues to bounce back the next season and gain promotion, but he resigned in the summer of 1994 amid frustration at key players leaving and a lack of financial backing from the board.[8] He retired from playing following his departure, with his final appearance being in Chester's win 3–2 win over Preston North End on 2 April 1994, just two months before his 40th birthday.[8]

He returned to Wigan as manager early in 1994–95 and rescued the Latics from relegation to the Football Conference. He was in charge of Rochdale from 1996 to 1999, although the club failed to gain any success and he left after a third successive bottom-half placing. A spell as assistant–manager at Notts County followed before returning to Chester as manager on 31 May 2000, shortly after their relegation to the Conference.[9] Although Chester finished well out of the promotion race in eighth position, Barrow managed to guide the club to an FA Cup third round tie with Blackburn Rovers after eliminating Football League sides Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United. He also led them to the FA Trophy semi–finals and victory in the final of the Nationwide Variety Club Trophy, with the players saying he had "single-handedly put Chester back on the football map".[10] Despite his cup successes, Barrow was sacked in June 2001, a move largely unpopular with supporters.[11]

Bury

He was manager of Bury, from January 2004 after a spell as assistant-manager to Andy Preece. However the club did not progress satisfactorily and as a result Barrow was dismissed in September 2005.[12] He returned to Chester at the end of the season, becoming assistant to manager Mark Wright. They were sacked together on 29 April 2007.[13] He returned to working in football the following January, when he continued his trend of going back to former clubs in north-west England by becoming assistant–manager to Graham Heathcote at Altrincham.[14]

Return to Wigan

In July 2009, Barrow returned to Wigan as first–team coach under new manager Roberto Martínez.[15]

Due to Owen Coyle's sacking on 2 December 2013, Barrow took charge of the team for their game against Leeds United two days later, which they lost 2–0.[16] On 7 December, Uwe Rösler was named full-time manager.[17]

Following the sacking of Gary Caldwell in October 2016 Barrow again took charge on a caretaker basis, overseeing a 1–0 victory over Cardiff City on 29 October.[18] In March 2017, Wigan appointed Barrow as caretaker manager for the remainder of the 2016–17 season after the sacking of Warren Joyce but he was unable to prevent relegation to League One.[19]

Wrexham

On 3 July 2018, Barrow was appointed as assistant manager to new Wrexham manager Sam Ricketts in the National League.[20] Amidst speculation that Ricketts was about to take the job at Shrewsbury Town, Barrow took caretaker charge alongside goalkeeper coach Jussi Jääskeläinen and coach Carl Darlington for Wrexham's FA Cup second round match with Newport County on 1 December 2018, which ended in a 0–0 draw.[21] When Ricketts' departure to Shrewsbury was confirmed two days later, Barrow was placed in interim charge.[22]

Shrewsbury Town

In June 2019 he joined Shrewsbury Town as assistant manager to Sam Ricketts.[23]

Managerial statistics

[24]

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamFromToRecord
Chester City20 October 199231 July 1994
Wigan Athletic1 August 19949 October 1995
Rochdale1 August 19962 May 1999
Chester City1 June 200022 June 2001
Bury16 December 200319 September 2005
Wigan Athletic (caretaker)2 December 20137 December 2013
Wigan Athletic (caretaker)25 October 20162 November 2016
Wigan Athletic (caretaker)13 March 201729 May 2017
Wrexham1 December 20182 February 2019
Total

Honours

Player

Manager

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 . Peter . Dunk . Queen Anne Press . London . 1987 . 126 . 978-0-356-14354-5 .
  2. Web site: Kendrick . Paul . Why Graham Barrow had to be part of the Wigan Athletic rebuild . Wigan Today . 29 January 2023.
  3. News: Graham Barrow . SFC Fpa . 9 November 2016 . Port Online . 7 December 2018.
  4. Sumner (1997), p.103
  5. Sumner (1997), p.105
  6. Sumner (1997), p.111
  7. Sumner (1997), p.115
  8. Sumner (1997), p.118
  9. News: Barrow Returns . chester-city.co.uk (see 31 May). 31 May 2000 . 29 June 2008.
  10. News: Players Respond to Ban . chester-city.co.uk (see 26 April). 26 April 2001 . 29 June 2008.
  11. News: Graham Barrow sacked . chester-city.co.uk (see 20–21 June). 20 June 2001 . 10 January 2008.
  12. News: Barrow sacked . This is Lancashire . 22 September 2005 . 10 January 2008.
  13. News: Vaughan: Why duo had to go. Liverpool Echo . 4 May 2007 . 10 January 2008.
  14. News: Barrow is Altrincham number two. BBC Sport . 10 January 2008 . 10 January 2008.
  15. News: Barrow returns to Wigan as coach. BBC Sport . 8 July 2009. 8 July 2009.
  16. News: Leeds United 2–0 Wigan Athletic . 18 December 2018 . BBC Sport . 4 December 2013.
  17. News: Sky Bet Championship: Wigan caretaker Graham Barrow happy with Uwe Rosler . 18 December 2018 . Sky Sports . 7 December 2013.
  18. News: Cardiff City 0-1 Wigan Athletic. 2016-10-29. BBC Sport. 2017-03-17. en-GB.
  19. News: Warren Joyce: Wigan Athletic part company after four months. 2017-03-13. BBC Sport. 2017-03-17. en-GB.
  20. News: Graham Barrow: Wrexham appoint experienced coach to assist Ricketts. 2018-07-03. BBC Sport. 2018-07-03.
  21. News: Williams . Richard . FA Cup second round: Wrexham AFC 0 Newport County 0 . 18 December 2018 . The Leader . 1 December 2018.
  22. News: Sam Ricketts Departs Wrexham AFC. 2018-12-03. 2018-12-03. 8 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108100517/https://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/news/statement-sam-ricketts-departs-wrexham-afc. dead.
  23. Web site: Graham Barrow: Shrewsbury appoint ex-Wigan, Rochdale and Bury manager as assistant. 4 June 2019. BBC Sport.
  24. Web site: Graham Barrow . Soccerbase . 17 March 2017.