BARROW Raiders are inviting the friends of popular kit man Ray Wallace to his ashes spreading at Craven Park this weekend.

The 67-year-old, known as Wally to many, died in December 2020 after stepping away from his role as kit man for the club due to ill-health.

The club said that ‘he will be sadly missed’ and offered condolences to his family and friends at the time of his death.

A spokesman for Barrow Raiders said: “The family of Ray Wallace, our former popular kit man, would like to invite all his friends and the Barrow Raiders family to his ashes spreading on Craven Park Saturday, July 31.

“Ray was sadly taken from us at the height of the pandemic and many of his friends didn’t get the opportunity to pay their last respects.

“This is an opportunity to do just that followed by a drink in his memory in the Raiders marquee.”

He was involved with the club for the best part of three decades, having been part of the academy set-up which he joined in the 1990s, shortly after the arrival as current chairman Steve Neale as a player.

“It is bitterly sad news that he has passed away and our thoughts are with his family,” club chairman Steve Neale said at the time.

“It was a bit of a shock when we heard the news that he had passed away as he is not an old man as he was in his 60s.

“It is a shock, and he will be sadly missed. He was the friendliest man you will ever meet, and he would always find time for you to have a chat with him.

“No-one had a bad word to say about him.

“The number of comments we got on our post about him is just a testimony to how popular he was.

“He started at the club shortly after I arrived as a player in the early 1990s.

“He had different roles with the club. He was always helping out at pitch side though.

“He was involved in the academy side before it disbanded years ago, which reformed recently.

“The reaction to our Facebook post just said everything you need to know though really.”

Members of the Barrow Raiders ‘family’ are invited to the occasion at 11.30am on July 31.