Last updated at 12:49, Wednesday, 03 December 2008

Barrow AFC steward Zirvana Smith tending to the waterlogged pitch at Holker St. The Satanta Cup 4th round match with York has had to be called off. JOE RILEY REF: 0461531

HUNDREDS of local amateur footballers will be given the day off to enjoy Barrow AFC’s biggest game in nearly two decades.

Officials at the Furness Premier League are proposing to postpone fixtures so football fans can watch Barrow tackle Premiership big guns Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup.

At present, the David versus Goliath tie is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 3, with Barrow having been allocated 5,000 tickets.

The Furness Premier League, which has 29 teams in two divisions, had planned to stage fixtures on this date, but is now set to postpone matches so as not to disappoint local football supporters wanting to make the trip to the North East.

The league’s press officer, Paul Wright, said: “We were intending to play fixtures on that date, but probably won’t bother now. It’s the biggest day out for this town since Barrow went to Wembley for the FA Trophy final in 1990.

“Should Gary Fraser (fixtures and referees appointments secretary for the FPL) go ahead with fixtures for the Saturday he would probably be the most hated man in Barrow!”

Fraser added: “It’s a massive game for the town and we don’t want people to miss out on this opportunity.

“There’s plenty of time between now and the end of the season in which the games can be re-arranged to take place.”

The West Lancashire League fixtures, which affect 10 local clubs, will go ahead as planned.

Non-league giant-killers Barrow reached the third round after a tremendous 2-1 win over League Two Brentford in a game shown live on television and covered extensively in the national media.

And with the glamour tie at Middlesbrough to come, Barrow will again come under the spotlight with their players likely to attract even more attention from bigger clubs.

This doesn’t, however, trouble AFC joint-manager Dave Bayliss, who said: “Yes, the players are in a big shop window, but that’s okay.“Whatever happens to our players happens. If they move onto bigger things it’s a feather in our cap.”

“We want them to go on and have really good football careers. Me and (fellow joint-manager) Darren (Sheridan) have done quite well out of football and we want the other lads to do the same.”

Meanwhile, Bayliss has admitted it was a mistake not to start the season with two experienced goalkeepers.

The management duo have since rectified that and now have Tim Deasy and on-loan Alan Martin battling it out for the number one jersey.

“We’ve got a lot of games coming up and we need two goalkeepers,’ said Bayliss.

“We were quite naive at the start of the season when we tried to go with one experienced one in Tim and a young one with Aaran Taylor, but we found it doesn’t work that way.

“If you’re goalkeeper suffers a lack in confidence it’s important you get a quality one as a second choice.‘It’s a mistake we’ve learnt and won’t make again.

“Next season, hopefully, we’ll look to have two quality goalkeepers.

”Last night's scheduled game between Barrow and York City in the fourth round of the Setanta Shield was postponed yesterday morning as the Holker Street pitch was frozen and waterlogged. The AFC squad met for training instead.

First published at 11:46, Wednesday, 03 December 2008
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk