BEFORE this weekend's game between Barrow AFC and Crawley Town, historian Phil Yelland dug into the archives to find out how previous games went.

Saturday will be the sixth trip for Barrow to Broadfield Stadium in West Sussex. Three of the previous visits took place when the National League was the Blue Square Premier, and the other two in Sky Bet League Two.

Phil Yelland told Barrow AFC: "For Barrow, 2020's game was significant in that it proved to be David Dunn’s last in charge. Crawley won the game 4-2. There was a hat-trick for home striker Max Watters (no doubt helping to pave the way for his move to Cardiff City the following month), whilst our goals came from Josh Kay and Sam Hird – his first for the Club. Connor Brown also saw red with just over 20 minutes remaining.

"Arguably 2021's game was equally as significant, as it proved to be a catalyst for Phil Brown's side to go three games unbeaten and secure Barrow's League Two safety.

"Our first visit took place in October 2008 when we were hammered 4-0 and it could have been worse but for a fine performance by goalkeeper Alan Martin who was on loan from Leeds United at the time.

"We travelled back to Sussex exactly one year later with hope of a good result rather than an expectation. However, a fine defensive performance was topped off with three points thanks to a late penalty from Jason Walker after home defender Karl Broadhurst had been sent-off for a foul that led to the spot kick."

Phil Yelland then went on to say that the most recent journey to Crawley before the return to the EFL was at the end of February 2011. At the time, Crawley was pushing for promotion while Barrow was battling to get away from the relegation zone. 

Three minutes before the interval, Paul Rutherford scored an equaliser for Barrow. Despite stout defending in the second half, Pablo Mills scored the winner for Crawley with four minutes left. In that season, Crawley took the championship with 105 points, with only three losses.