The joint king is dead, long live the joint king.

Over the past few weeks the big talking point around Barrow AFC is the suspension and then parting of ways of the club and joint boss Darren Sheridan, who “left by mutual consent” (a phrase I have never heard of outside of the footballing world but that’s for another time.)

There has been a lot of speculation about what Darren Sheridan may or may not have done to warrant his suspension, but in all honesty fans really don’t need to know and largely are not interested in the ins and outs of the case. It’s my feeling that the majority of Barrow fans don’t care what happened, but what they do care about is how the club handle situations like this and in my opinion it's dealt with it swiftly, effectively and with integrity. 

Now, that’s the last I’ll say on the nature of the departure because what I really wanted to do was pay tribute to a man who has, along with Dave Bayliss, given me some of the best moments in my life so far (Behind getting married and the birth of my daughter, in case Mrs G is reading) and I think it’s important to remember his legacy as part of a management team that has presided over a period of unprecedented success for the club.

The first memory was the joint managers first game in charge along with Paul Jones, which was an FA Cup replay away at Bournemouth on a Tuesday night when we came very close to winning a closely fought game. Instantly there had been a change in the mood not only on the terraces but on the pitch, a kind of ‘Dunkirk Spirit’ where everyone dug in and played their hearts out. This was to be the start of an exceptional run of form which would see Barrow reach the Conference North play offs, but before we get there comes another magic moment.

To set the scene, it’s another Tuesday night, this time against our old rivals Workington up at the dilapidated Borough Park. Its 0-0 and ten minutes of the game remain with a win and 3 points needed to keep the bluebirds chances of promotions alive. Just when all hope seems to be draining away a Barrow player is fouled just outside the box and awarded a free kick. Sheridan, this time in his capacity as a player cues the ball up and calmly steps up to take the kick.

The resulting goal really is the stuff of legends, not just for its quality but for the importance of the win it provided and I think it’s fair to say that this was the point when Barrow fans truly believed that a place in the play offs was achievable.
What happened after is well documented with Barrow going on to meet Stalybridge Celtic in the Play off finals at the Pirelli Stadium, the home of Burton Albion, and winning 1-0 thanks to a goal from Matt Henney.

In the years that followed we had the two FA cup runs, taking us to Middlesbrough and Sunderland respectively with thousands of Barrovians making the trip the North East.
For me however, the pinnacle of the Daz and Dave era has to be the FA Trophy Final against Stevenage in May 2010, a final that I and many others truly did not expect Barrow to win, but win it we did, bringing the Trophy home 20 years after the late great Ray Wilkie accomplished the same feat.

With all this in mind, I believe that despite the ambiguity of his departure Darren Sheridan will still go down as a Barrow legend, along with the likes of Ray Wilkie, Neil Doherty, Matt Henney and a host of others. I for one would like to thank him for the good times he’s given to the fans of the club, myself included, and wish him well for the future.

Dave Bayliss now takes sole charge of the team and wants continue as manager for a good while yet, and with the experienced but injured Robin Hulbert on hand to advise who knows where the future will take us. I hope all Barrow fans will unite behind Dave and Rob as you never know, maybe this could be the catalyst for another run to the playoffs…..

Comments welcomed and appreciated, as usual.