Brian Arrowsmith

Brian Arrowsmith

Personal information
Full name	Brian Arrowsmith
Date of birth	(1940-07-02)2 July 1940
Place of birth	Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England
Date of death	12 April 2020(2020-04-12) (aged 79)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Vickers Sports Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1971	Barrow	378[1]	(3)
1971–1974	Netherfield	?	(?)
1974–1978	Barrow	134	(?)
Managerial career
1974–1975	Barrow
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Brian Arrowsmith (2 July 1940 – 12 April 2020) was an English footballer and manager. Born in Barrow-in-Furness, he spent his entire professional career at his hometown club Barrow.^[2] He made 512 appearances for Barrow, including 378 in the Football League, the most at that level for the club.^[2][1]

Arrowsmith started his career as a right back, but played across the defence when required.^[2] He captained Barrow during the 1966–67 season in which they won promotion from the Fourth Division,^[3][4] and stayed with the club for a total of eleven seasons.^[2] After leaving Barrow in 1971 Arrowsmith joined Northern Premier League club Netherfield,^[5][6] but returned to Barrow – who by then had been voted out of the Football League and placed in the Northern Premier League themselves – in 1974 as player-manager.^[2] He resigned as manager in November 1975, but continued playing for the club until 1978.^[5]

After retiring from football, Arrowsmith ran a DIY shop in Barrow, regularly attending Barrow matches as a fan. His son, Mark, made six appearances for Barrow in the 1980s.^[5] In January 2017, the main stand at Barrow's Holker Street stadium was renamed the Brian Arrowsmith Stand in his honour.^[7]

Arrowsmith died in hospital on Easter Sunday in 2020 having contracted COVID-19.^[8]

References

1. "Brian Arrowsmith". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
2. "Barrow's Greatest Ever Player". The Football Voice. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
3. Yelland, Phil. "A Brief History of Barrow AFC". Retrieved 4 January 2017.
4. "Holker Street Newsletter 552 – 2nd February 2000". Barrowfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
5. "Holker Street Newsletter 242 – 21st December 1998". Barrowfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
6. "Dads and lads who have played for Barrow AFC". North-West Evening Mail. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
7. "Barrow AFC honour Football League great by renaming Holker Street Main Stand". North-West Evening Mail. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
8. Cuddy, Alice (30 April 2020). "Coronavirus: The lives lost in a single day". BBC News.