Bluebirds historian Phil Yelland – who lives in Edinburgh – has been made a life patron in recognition of his long contributions to Barrow AFC.
Phil started following the club on Saturday, February 6 1965, after seeing a feature on Grandstand when Barrow lost 0-5 to Millwall at Holker Street.
The Scotsman has been a major contributor to Barrow’s matchday programme since the 1970s, and still writes a large amount of the copy for The Bluebird, with his articles focusing on the history of the club, past games and past players.
After being told he said: “I was both surprised and delighted, as it means a lot. Living a long way from the town, contributing to the programme seemed a good idea in 1977 and it just grew from that.”
It’s been an up and down experience over the 56 years he’s been supporting the club but he recalls a number of favourite memories.
“The two FA Trophy Final wins and the Conference North Play Off Final win were great, but my favourite memory has to be a sunny night at Morecambe in April 1977 when we won 5-0; my first Barrow win live at the 13th attempt!” he says.
A retired solicitor, Phil picks Colin Cowperthwaite as his favourite Barrow player of all time while selecting the most under-rated players over the years he went for Ian Gill, Billy Gilmour and Steve Housham.
As well as Barrow football, Phil’s other great sporting love is cricket and he is currently club president of the Murrayfield Dafs club in Edinburgh where he used to play.
At the Cricket Scotland Council annual meeting in April he was appointed president for a two-year term.
