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The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club play home games at Craven Park and compete in the RFL Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.
Barrow have never won the League Championship, their only major honour being winning the Challenge Cup in 1955.
Traditionally the club's home colours are blue and white and main rivals are fellow semi-professional Cumbrian teams Whitehaven RLFC and Workington Town.
At the 1883 annual general meeting, Cavendish Park got the vote over the Parade Ground as a permanent home on account of its better playing surface. The first grandstand there was erected in 1893, and another one in 1893.
In April 1897, the team switched from rugby union to rugby league following a unanimous vote at the club. Barrow joined the Second Division of the Lancashire Senior Competition and became champions in their first season. They lost a test match against Morecambe RFC, the bottom club in the First Division, however, and failed to gain promotion. They were eventually promoted at the end of the 1899β1900 season, by defeating Tyldesley FC in the test match.
In 1908, the club nearly doubled their attendance record to 12,000 in a third round Challenge Cup match against Hunslet.
In 1914, Cavendish Park was requisitioned by the authorities for the war effort. Barrow moved to Little Park, Roose, three miles from the centre of town. The first match there was a 31β2 victory over Bramley RLFC. The league at this time was suspended and clubs were forced to arrange their own fixtures in an unofficial war league. Boosted by an influx of players and spectators into the local shipyards for war production, Barrow became one of the dominant teams of the war period, winning the unofficial championship title in 1917β18 losing just twice in 22 matches.
In 1929, it had been realised that rugby league in Barrow was approaching a precarious period, as the attendances at Little Park were gradually decreasing. This was in part due to industrial depression but also Little Park's location. The directors made an appeal to the town, and approached the mayor, Alderman John Whinnerah who was to be an ardent supporter. Commander G. W. Craven, a local war hero, started an appeal fund with a donation of Β£500. In a short time the club bought a central site, where the Jute Works stood for Β£2,500. Craven Park was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters, 500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground. The total cost of the building project came to Β£7,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately Β£1,251,000 in 2013).
1937β38 saw Barrow reach the finals of the Lancashire County Cup for the first time, losing narrowly 4β8 to Warrington. That season was a time of great opportunity for the Barrow team but was to end in disappointment. After playing seven matches in just ten days, they lost 7β4 to Salford in the final of the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium; they also lost in the Championship play-off semi-final 13β7 against Hunslet. A new attendance record was set in that season β 21,651 in the Good Friday game against Salford. The Club had traditionally worn black and red, but for much of the 1937β38 cup campaigns they wore an alternative kit of blue and white which subsequently become the home colours of the club.
The 1950s were the club's heyday. The team was captained by Willie Horne and Barrow appeared no less than three times at Wembley. On 5 May 1951, Barrow made their second appearance at Wembley and were beaten 10β0 by Wigan Warriors. On Saturday 27 October 1951 13,319 spectators were at Barrow to watch the home side beat New Zealand 9β5. On 30 April 1955, Barrow made their third appearance at Wembley. This time, they won the Challenge Cup 21β12 against Workington Town, later that year they added the Lancashire Cup after a 12β2 win over Oldham.
On 11 May 1957, Barrow played again in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley against Leeds Rhinos and were narrowly beaten 9β7. 1957 signalled the end of the golden era of the club and most of the star players retired after this time.
The league split into two divisions in 1961β62 and because of a poor finish in the previous season, Barrow was forced to play in the second division.
In 1963, Jim Challinor moved to Barrow and became their player-coach.
Their last appearance at Wembley Stadium was in 1967, where they were strongly tipped to win the Challenge Cup final again, but were beaten by Featherstone Rovers 17β12. A crowd of 77,000 paid a then record Β£54,435 to watch the game (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately Β£1,625,000 in 2013).
1973 saw Barrow appoint former player, Frank Foster, as coach. He built a side which won the Second Division championship in 1975β76 and reached a John Player Trophy final in 1981 only to lose 5β12 to Warrington. Phil Hogan was transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers in 1978 for a then world record fee of Β£33,000 (based on increases in average increases, this would be approximately Β£249,700 in 2013).
Barrow fluctuated between divisions but had three consecutive years in the top flight between 1980 and 1983. Frank Foster was eventually replaced by Tommy Dawes in 1983.
The season 1983β84 saw Barrow win the Second Division title and the Lancashire Cup against favourites Widnes Vikings 12β8. The entire Barrow team was inducted into the Barrow Hall of Fame in 2003. Tommy Dawes, despite his initial success, was sacked in 1985.
In 1988β89, Australian Rod Reddy took on a player-coach role at Barrow in 1987. Barrow earned promotion to Division One but that campaign saw Barrow manage only one league win and suffer a club record 90β0 defeat at Leeds. Reddy was sacked and Denis Jackson took over as a caretaker coach for the rest of 1989β90.
After relegation in 1990, Barrow appointed a new coach in Steve Norton but finished 17th out of 21 in Division Two.
Until 1995 the team was simply titled Barrow RLFC, but they adopted the nickname Barrow Braves to coincide with rugby league's switch to a summer season. Peter Roe was head coach for a 15-month period, ending in January 1996.
Barrow had initially lined up former Widnes Vikings coach Steve McCormack to take over until he received an offer of a position with Super League club Hull KR. On Thursday 2 November 2007 Barrow Raiders announced that former player Welsh-born Aussie Dave Clarke would take over, with Dean Marwood as his assistant. On 23 August 2008, Raiders gained automatic promotion from National League Two by beating Swinton Lions 12β32 to clinch second place in National League Two.
On 5 April 2009, a crowd of 6275 watched Barrow play Super League club Wigan Warriors in the best attended match in recent years. Barrow held out but were eventually defeated 32β20. On 21 July Despite the club being 2nd in the league and having made the Northern Rail Cup Final coach Dave Clarke stepped down and became assistant to new head coach Steve Deakin.
On 31 August 2009, after just 6 weeks in charge, Steve Deakin left the club and Dave Clarke reclaimed the head coach role, leading the club to the 2009 Co-Op Championship league leaders trophy and a grand final appearance versus Halifax. In the 2009 Co-Op Championship Grand Final, a 77th minute try settled the game and Barrow beat Halifax 26β18 to claim the Championship title..
Barrow finished fourth in 2010 with coach Steve McCormack leaving the club to take up a teaching post. After a lengthy search for a new coach, Barrow appointed Garry Schofield.
Head Coach Schofield was sacked as coach after only five games in 2011 and his assistant Nigel Wright was appointed in his place. With 6 games to go in July Barrow sacked Nigel Wright and appointed former player Dave Clarke as their manager for the rest of the season.
Their chairman, Des Johnston was banned from any involvement with Rugby League for 8 years and 29 points were deducted for the 2011 season, relegating them to the Co-operative Championship 1.
At the end of the 2014 season Paul Crarey was re-appointed head coach, replacing Bobbie Goulding. The former player had previously coached the team between 2005 and 2007.
The team strengthened on the field during three consecutive seasons in, the now renamed League 1 with improving table finishes (2015: 7th) (2016: 5th) (2017: 3rd)
On 27 May 2017, Barrow won the League 1 Cup after defeating North Wales Crusaders 38β32 at Bloomfield Road as an opener to the Summer Bash weekend. At the end of the 2017 season, Barrow secured promotion back to the Championship with a 10β6 play-off win against 2nd place Cumbrian rivals Whitehaven.
The following season, Barrow were once again relegated to the RFL League 1 after a 68β2 defeat against Toronto Wolfpack on 1 September 2019.
On 16 March the structure and timing of the competition was placed in doubt as all rugby league games were suspended until 3 April at least as part of the United Kingdom's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The suspension of the season was extended to indefinite.
A discussion between the RFL and club officials in May saw seven of the 11 clubs reject a suggestion that the season could recommence with games being played behind closed doors. The RFL board met on 20 July and having consulted with the League 1 clubs decided to abandon the 2020 season as the majority of clubs did not support playing behind closed doors. At the date of suspension only two rounds of matches had been played and the season was declared null and void.
In the 2022 RFL Championship season, Barrow finished 4th in the table and qualified for the playoffs. The club were eliminated in the first week of the playoffs by Batley Bulldogs.
On 15 April 1938, the club's record attendance was established when 21,651 saw them play Salford. In February 1949, storms ripped the entire roof off the main stand and in the early 1950s concrete terracing replaced the old wooden railway sleepers. Floodlights were turned on in November 1966. The ground was renovated in 1991.
In 2015, the roof was removed from the terrace adjacent to Willie Horne Way. This was followed in 2021 with the removal of the condemned Hindpool Road end roof, leaving only two areas of cover in the ground. Plans were also unveiled for a marquee on the terrace next to the main stand.
| Tee Ritson | St Helens | 2 years | 2 September 2025 |
| Greg Richards | Toulouse Olympique | 1 year | 16 November 2025 |
| Aiden Doolan | Castleford Tigers | Loan until end of 2026 season | 15 January 2026 |
| Ellis Archer | Workington Town | 1 year | 30 January 2026 |
| Max Anderson-Moore | Whitehaven | ||
| Harvey Makin | Wigan Warriors | Week-by-week loan | 20 March 2026 |
| Delaine Gittens-Bedward | 31 October 2025 | ||
| James Greenwood | |||
| Aaron Smith | |||
| Tom Wilkinson | |||
| Aiden Doolan | Castleford Tigers | 2 years | 12 November 2025 |
| Finn McMillan | Wigan Warriors | 2 years | 18 December 2025 |
| Ryan Shaw | 18 September 2025 |
| Championship Shield | 19 | 5th |
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