2023–24 Barrow A.F.C. season

Barrow
2023–24 season
Chairman	Paul Hornby
Manager	Pete Wild
Stadium	So Legal Stadium
League Two	4th
FA Cup	Second round
EFL Cup	First round
EFL Trophy	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Ben Whitfield (6); All: Ben Whitfield (9)
	Home colours
	Home colours

The 2023–24 season is the 123rd season in the history of Barrow and their fourth consecutive season in League Two. The club are participating in League Two, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the 2023–24 EFL Trophy.

Squad statistics

As of 6 January 2024

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League Two		FA Cup		League Cup		EFL Trophy
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Paul Farman	25	0	24+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
3	DF	IRL	Mazeed Ogungbo	5	0	1+4	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
4	MF	SCO	Dean Campbell	27	3	21+5	3	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
5	DF	WAL	George Ray	25	3	24+0	3	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
6	DF	IRL	Niall Canavan	27	2	26+0	2	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
7	MF	ENG	David Worrall	19	0	14+3	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
8	MF	ENG	Kian Spence	26	4	22+3	4	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
9	FW	ENG	Jamie Proctor	13	1	7+6	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
10	FW	ENG	Gerard Garner	20	2	9+9	2	0+0	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
11	MF	ENG	Elliot Newby	26	0	21+3	0	0+0	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
12	GK	ENG	Josh Lillis	3	0	2+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
13	MF	ENG	Tom White	22	0	14+7	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
14	FW	IRL	Courtney Duffus	8	0	2+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
15	MF	ENG	Robbie Gotts	23	0	12+9	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
16	MF	IRL	Sam Foley	27	3	8+17	3	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
17	DF	WAL	James Chester	20	1	17+2	1	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
18	MF	ENG	Luca Stephenson	16	0	8+7	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
19	FW	ENG	Dom Telford	20	3	13+7	3	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
20	FW	ENG	Emile Acquah	27	5	16+10	5	0+0	0	0+1	0	0+0	0
21	DF	ENG	Tyrell Warren	10	1	6+2	1	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
24	DF	IRL	Rory Feely	19	0	9+8	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
29	DF	ENG	Junior Tiensia	10	0	5+4	0	0+0	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
34	MF	ENG	Ben Whitfield	16	6	6+10	6	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
35	MF	IRL	Owen Bray	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
37	FW	ENG	Sean Etaluku	3	0	0+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
39	FW	ENG	Sam Bellis	1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0	0+1	0

Source:

Transfers

In

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee
14 June 2023	DM	Kian Spence	FC Halifax Town	Undisclosed
28 June 2023	CB	Mazeed Ogungbo	Arsenal	Undisclosed
1 July 2023	DM	Dean Campbell	Aberdeen	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	CF	Courtney Duffus	Morecambe	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	CF	Jamie Proctor	Port Vale	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	LB	Junior Tiensia	Solihull Moors	Free Transfer
1 July 2023	RM	David Worrall	Port Vale	Free Transfer
11 July 2023	CF	Emile Acquah	Maidenhead United	Undisclosed
25 July 2023	CM	Owen Bray	Leeds United	Free Transfer
23 August 2023	CF	Sam Bellis	Southampton	Free Transfer
25 August 2023	CF	Dom Telford	Crawley Town	Undisclosed
1 September 2023	CB	James Chester	Derby County	Free Transfer

Out

Date	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee
30 June 2023	LB	Patrick Brough	Northampton Town	Rejected Contract
30 June 2023	CB	Mark Ellis	Chorley	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Josh Gordon	Burton Albion	Free Transfer
30 June 2023	CB	Joe Grayson	Gateshead	Released
30 June 2023	GK	Scott Moloney	Free agent	Released
30 June 2023	CF	David Moyo	Chorley	Released
30 June 2023	AM	Solomon Nwabuokei	Eastleigh	Released
30 June 2023	CF	Benni Smales-Braithwaite	Vendsyssel FF	Released
30 June 2023	CM	Jason Taylor	Retired	—
30 June 2023	CB	Paweł Żuk	FC United of Manchester	Released
10 August 2023	LM	Josh Kay	AFC Fylde	Free Transfer

Loaned in

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned from	Until	Ref
1 September 2023	DM	Luca Stephenson	Liverpool	End of Season
17 January 2024	CF	Cole Stockton	Burton Albion	End of Season

Loaned out

Date	Pos	Player	Loaned to	Fee
17 November 2023	CB	Malakai Reeve	FC United of Manchester	16 December 2023
8 January 2024	CF	Courtney Duffus	Hartlepool United	End of Season
16 January 2024	CF	Gerard Garner	Morecambe	End of Season
19 January 2024	CF	Sam Bellis	Kidderminster Harriers	End of Season

Pre-season and friendlies

On 17 May, Barrow announced their first two pre-season friendlies, against Holker Old Boys and Oldham Athletic. In June, the club confirmed further friendlies, against FC United of Manchester, AFC Fylde, Blackpool and Newcastle United U21. On 12 June, the club announced a final pre-season friendly, against Preston North End.

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

8 July 2023 Friendly	FC United of Manchester	0–2	Barrow	Moston
15:00 BST		Report	Warren 78', 86'	Stadium: Broadhurst Park

11 July 2023 Friendly	Holker Old Boys	1–8	Barrow	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 BST	Hodgson 30'	Report	Campbell 27', 33' (pen.), 43' 35' (o.g.) Proctor 48' Garner 67' White 70' Whitfield 77'	Stadium: Rakesmoor Lane

15 July 2023 Friendly	Barrow	1–0	Preston North End	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Worrall 5'	Report		Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 2,026 Referee: Marc Edwards

18 July 2023 Friendly	AFC Fylde	0–2	Barrow	Medlar-with-Wesham
19:45 BST		Report	Garner 58' Trialist 68'	Stadium: Mill Farm Sports Village

22 July 2023 Friendly	Barrow	0–5	Blackpool	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST			Virtue 14' Lavery 16' Beesley 55' Carey 79', 90+4'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium

25 July 2023 Friendly	Barrow	1–1	Oldham Athletic	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 BST	Foley 18'	Report	Nuttall 32'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium

29 July 2023 Friendly	Barrow	4–1	Newcastle United U21	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Acquah 21' Worrall 25' Campbell 38' Proctor 45+2'	Report	Diallo 56'	Stadium: The SO Legal Stadium

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
League Two	Matchday 1		28	13	10	5	41	29	+12	046.43
FA Cup	First round	Second round	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	050.00
EFL Cup	First round	First round	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
EFL Trophy	Group stage	Group stage	3	1	0	2	3	6	−3	033.33
Total			34	15	10	9	48	39	+9	044.12

Last updated: 21 January 2024
Source: Soccerway

League Two

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Stockport County	29	17	7	5	62	29	+33	58	Promotion to EFL League One
2	Mansfield Town	29	14	12	3	48	24	+24	54
3	Barrow	30	14	11	5	43	30	+13	53
4	Wrexham	28	15	7	6	55	40	+15	52	Qualification for League Two play-offs
5	Crewe Alexandra	30	14	9	7	55	44	+11	51
6	Milton Keynes Dons	29	14	6	9	47	37	+10	48

Updated to match(es) played on 3 February 2024. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
29	13	11	5	42	30	+12	50	6	5	1	15	10	+5	7	6	4	27	20	+7

Last updated: 27 January 2024.
Source: Soccerway

Matches

On 22 June, the EFL League Two fixtures were released.

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

5 August 2023 1	Tranmere Rovers	1–2	Barrow	Birkenhead
15:00 BST	O'Connor 35' Hawkes 63' (pen.) Hendry 90+6'	Report	Canavan 19' Campbell 37' Ray 51' Spence 70'	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 6,584 Referee: Ollie Yates

12 August 2023 2	Barrow	2–1	Sutton United	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Acquah 79' Proctor 82'	Report	Smith 13' Angol 33' Rose 76'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,003 Referee: Martin Woods

15 August 2023 3	Accrington Stanley	1–1	Barrow	Accrington
19:45 BST	McConville 36' Hills 71' Adedoyin 83'	Report	Spence 51' Acquah 87'	Stadium: Wham Stadium Attendance: 2,204 Referee: Andrew Kitchen

19 August 2023 4	Stockport County	1–0	Barrow	Edgeley
15:00 BST	Knoyle 21' Collar 26' Barry 66'	Report	Foley 30'	Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 8,364 Referee: Peter Wright

26 August 2023 5	Barrow	1–1	Wrexham	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Warren 45' Acquah 52' White 57' Canavan 88'	Report	Lee 12' (pen.) O'Connell 47' O'Connor 58'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 4,789 Referee: Daniel Middleton

2 September 2023 6	Harrogate Town	0–1	Barrow	Harrogate
15:00 BST	Ramsay 36' Muldoon 61' O'Connor 72'	Report	Spence 21' Telford 28' White 59'	Stadium: The EnviroVent Stadium Attendance: 1,968 Referee: Scott Jackson

16 September 2023 8	Newport County	1–1	Barrow	Newport
15:00 BST	Delaney 5' 43' Bennett 14' Bogle 16' Morris 20' McLoughlin 40'	Report	Canavan 28' Campbell 69' (pen.) Gotts 73'	Stadium: Rodney Parade Attendance: 3,539 Referee: Martin Coy

23 September 2023 9	Mansfield Town	1–0	Barrow	Mansfield
15:00 BST	Macdonald 70' Clarke 72' Lewis 82'	Report	Gotts 82' Tiensia 83'	Stadium: One Call Stadium Attendance: 6,714 Referee: Marc Edwards

30 September 2023 10	Barrow	3–2	Doncaster Rovers	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Warren 12' 22' Garner 36' 53' Gotts 57' Spence 65' Acquah 85'	Report	Close 11' Westbrooke 26' Biggins 32' Ironside 56' Faal 90+3'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,502 Referee: Scott Oldham

3 October 2023 11	Grimsby Town	2–1	Barrow	Cleethorpes
19:45 BST	Eisa 18' Conteh 32' Rose 37' Wilson 75'	Report	Chester 45+3' Foley 79'	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 4,882 Referee: Thomas Kirk

7 October 2023 12	Barrow	1–1	Notts County	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Feely 63' Campbell 79' (pen.)	Report	McGoldrick 14' (pen.) Adebayo-Rowling 30' Austin 81' Brindley 90+2'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 4,122 Referee: Ben Toner

14 October 2023 13	Milton Keynes Dons	2–2	Barrow	Denbigh
15:00 BST	Robson 6' Dean 12', 35' Norman 49'	Report	Farman 12' Gotts 45+1' Whitfield 90+3' Acquah 90+5'	Stadium: Stadium mk Attendance: 5,725 Referee: Will Finnie

21 October 2023 14	Barrow	0–0	AFC Wimbledon	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST		Report	Little 48' Tilley 80'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,466 Referee: Scott Tallis

24 October 2023 15	Forest Green Rovers	0–2	Barrow	Nailsworth
19:45 GMT	Omotoye 58' Robson 90+4'	Report	Foley 4' Telford 18' Ray 49'	Stadium: The Bolt New Lawn Attendance: 1,440 Referee: Tom Reeves

28 October 2023 16	Barrow	0–0	Salford City	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST	Gotts 2' Spence 31'	Report		Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,053 Referee: Jacob Miles

31 October 2023 7	Barrow	1–0	Morecambe	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT	Telford 29' Farman 90+2'	Report	Senior 26'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 4,007 Referee: Ben Speedie
Note: Fixture was previous postponed due to international call-ups.

11 November 2023 17	Bradford City	1–2	Barrow	Bradford
15:00 GMT	Smith 33' Halliday 50' Cook 77'	Report	Telford 1' Spence 38' White 45+5' Ray 77'	Stadium: University of Bradford Stadium Attendance: 17,247 Referee: David Webb

18 November 2023 18	Barrow	1–0	Crawley Town	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT	Telford 46' Acquah 58' Proctor 72'	Report	Campbell 18' Maguire 47' Wright 64'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,512 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

25 November 2023 19	Colchester United	1–4	Barrow	Colchester
15:00 GMT	McGeehan 20' 37' Tovide 45+5' Fevrier 51' 84'	Report	Stephenson 7' Telford 43' Proctor 45+5' Greenidge 52' (o.g.) Ray 86', 90+3' Mitchell 90+4' (o.g.)	Stadium: JobServe Community Stadium Attendance: 3,263 Referee: Declan Bourne

28 November 2023 20	Barrow	2–0	Walsall	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT	Whitfield 11' Acquah 44' Canavan 70'	Report	Daniels 25' Farquharson 54'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,072 Referee: Lewis Smith

16 December 2023 22	Swindon Town	0–3	Barrow	Swindon
15:00 GMT	Kinsella 65'	Report	Spence 34' Foley 58' Chester 73' Garner 83'	Stadium: The County Ground Attendance: 7,463 Referee: Craig Hicks

22 December 2023 23	Crewe Alexandra	1–3	Barrow	Crewe
19:45 GMT	Nevitt 40', 58' Baker-Richardson 64' Demetriou 66' Thomas 68'	Report	Whitfield 27', 76' Spence 34' Garner 50' (pen.) White 61' Farman 84' Gotts 90'	Stadium: Mornflake Stadium Attendance: 7,646 Referee: Alan Young
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for 23 December but was moved to a day earlier.

26 December 2023 24	Barrow	2–2	Stockport County	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT	Whitfield 2' Spence 24' Ray 53' Foley 62'	Report	Powell 45+2' Madden 49' Wright 54', 72' Horsfall 69' Wootton 90+4'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 5,866 Referee: Martin Coy

29 December 2023 25	Barrow	1–1	Accrington Stanley	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT	Whitfield 52'	Report	Whalley 2' Martin 44' Gubbins 47' B. Woods 61' Pritchard 71' Shipley 87' J. Woods 90+2'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,549 Referee: Simon Mather

1 January 2024 26	Wrexham	4–1	Barrow	Wrexham
15:00 GMT	McClean 45+4' Fletcher 45+9', 45+13', 67' Mullin 45+11'	Report	Spence 1', 77' White 45+10' Proctor 90+5' Ray 90+10'	Stadium: STōK Cae Ras Attendance: 12,323 Referee: Scott Oldham

6 January 2024 27	Barrow	1–0	Tranmere Rovers	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT	Campbell 80' Foley 88'	Report	Walker 39' Norris 73'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 4,023 Referee: Adam Herczeg

13 January 2024 28	Sutton United	2–2	Barrow	Sutton
15:00 GMT	Beautyman 30' 44', 53'	Report	Whitfield 36' Canavan 73'	Stadium: VBS Community Stadium Attendance: 2,940 Referee: Paul Howard

20 January 2024 29	Barrow	1–3	Crewe Alexandra	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT	Gotts 9' Chester 90+6'	Report	Tracey 9' Nevitt 19', 90+7' Billington 64', 80' Holíček 84' Demetriou 86' Offord 90+2' O'Riordan 90+4'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 3,757 Referee: Thomas Parsons

27 January 2024 30	Notts County	1–1	Barrow	Nottingham
15:00 GMT	Nemane 45+1' Baldwin 79'	Report	Ray 20' Spence 22' Foley 24' Campbell 70' Stephenson 78'	Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 11,243 Referee: Alex Chilowicz

3 February 2024 31	Barrow	v	Milton Keynes Dons	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT				Stadium: SO Legal Stadium

10 February 2024 32	AFC Wimbledon	v	Barrow	Wimbledon
15:00 GMT				Stadium: The Cherry Red Records Stadium

13 February 2024 33	Barrow	v	Forest Green Rovers	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT				Stadium: SO Legal Stadium

17 February 2024 34	Salford City	v	Barrow	Kersal
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Peninsula Stadium

24 February 2024 35	Barrow	v	Bradford City	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 GMT				Stadium: SO Legal Stadium

2 March 2024 36	Crawley Town	v	Barrow	Crawley
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

5 March 2024 21	Barrow	v	Gillingham	Barrow-in-Furness
19:45 GMT				Stadium: SO Legal Stadium
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for 9 December, but was postponed due to unplayable playing surface.

FA Cup

Barrow were drawn away to Northampton Town in the first round.

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

4 November 2023 First round	Northampton Town	1–3	Barrow	Northampton
13:30 GMT	Pinnock 29' 85' Hondermarck 45' Hoskins 68'	Report	Acquah 9' Ogungbo 21' White 52' Whitfield 72'	Stadium: Sixfields Stadium Attendance: 3,187 Referee: Paul Howard

2 December 2023 Second round	Maidstone United	2–1	Barrow	Maidstone
15:00 GMT	Hoyte 34' Corne 35' Gurung 74'	Report	Whitfield 20' Spence 57' Foley 90+4'	Stadium: Gallagher Stadium Attendance: 2,903 Referee: David Rock

EFL Cup

Barrow were drawn away to Bolton Wanderers in the first round.

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

8 August 2023 First round	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Barrow	Horwich
19:45 BST	Thomason 32' Ashworth 44' Mendes Gomes 60' Iredale 90+1' Coleman 90+3'	Report	Ray 43' Warren 47' Feely 67' Spence 71'	Stadium: Toughsheet Community Stadium Attendance: 4,871 Referee: Anthony Backhouse

EFL Trophy

The Group stage draw was finalised on 22 June 2023.

Pos	Div	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	L1	Blackpool	3	3	0	9	3	+6	9	Advance to Round 2
2	ACA	Liverpool U21	3	1	2	6	7	−1	3	Advance to Round 2
3	L2	Morecambe	3	1	2	4	6	−2	3
4	L2	Barrow	3	1	2	3	6	−3	3

Updated to match(es) played on 14 November 2023. Source: EFL.com

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

5 September 2023 Group stage	Barrow	0–2	Blackpool	Barrow-in-Furness
19:00 BST		Report	Tharme 35' Carey 44' Thompson 83' Kouassi 85'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 1,436 Referee: Matthew Corlett

10 October 2023 Group stage	Morecambe	3–1	Barrow	Morecambe
19:00 BST	Brown 20' 38' Rooney 58' Smith 73' Rawson 90+2'	Report	Spence 57' Whitfield 68' Duffus 90+2'	Stadium: Mazuma Stadium Attendance: 2,203 Referee: Simon Mather

7 November 2023 Group stage	Barrow	2–1	Liverpool U21	Barrow-in-Furness
19:00 GMT	Foley 45+1' Etoluku 53' 65' Ogungbo 75' White 85'	Report	Nallo 11' Musiałowski 29' Nyoni 56' Morrison 66'	Stadium: SO Legal Stadium Attendance: 1,463 Referee: Edward Duckworth

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
29	13	11	5	42	30	+12	50	6	5	1	15	10	+5	7	6	4	27	20	+7

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
29	13	11	5	42	30	+12	50	6	5	1	15	10	+5	7	6	4	27	20	+7

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
29	13	11	5	42	30	+12	50	6	5	1	15	10	+5	7	6	4	27	20	+7