272 Graham Hicks

Position : Centre  half

Played : 1998-99  to  2000-01  (only  appeared  in  first  season)

Appearances  : 1

Goals : 0

Graham, and his father Keith (see post 76) comprise the only father - and - son duo to feature in this story and he’s also the first player we’ve come to who is still in his twenties at the time of writing. He was on the bench for one or two of Barrow’s last games but his only League appearance was in the final game of  1998-99, a 1-1 draw at Brighton/Gillingham under David Hamilton’s stewardship. Graham did OK, helped by the fact that the whole team played with an all-too-obvious joie de vivre as a result of being allowed to play something resembling attacking football. It was a final indictment of Barrow that we could easily cope with 4-4-2  despite having a novice centre half (his mate Andy Farrell stayed on the bench).

Graham’s only other senior appearance was the following season’s FA Cup First Round tie at Burton where again he was OK in a 0-0 draw. He wasn’t called on again amid rumours that his weight was getting out of control and it must be doubtful that he would have been on the books for three years had his father not been employed at the club.

He was let go in 2001 and subsequently played for Chorley.

Graham completes the 1998-99 season.

271 Gareth Stoker

Position :  Midfield

Played : 1998-99 (initially  on  loan  from Cardiff)  to  1999-2000 ( didn't  appear  in latter  season )

Appearances : 12

Goals : 1

Gareth  was  signed  initially  on  loan  (though  I  suspect  that  was  to  test  his  fitness)  from  Cardiff  and  then  given  a  two  and  a  half  year  contract. He  began as  a  junior  with  Leeds  but  even  then  had  a  reputation  as  a  hothead  and  Howard  Wilkinson  decided  to  let  him  go. He  signed  for  Hull  and  was  promptly  red  carded  on  his  debut  in  1991. He  went  on  to  make  30  appearances  for  them  but  fell  badly  out  of  favour  and  was  released  in  the  summer  of 1993 and  dropped  into  non-league  with  Bishop  Auckland  his  home  town  club. Eighteen  months later  he  got  another  chance  in  the  Football  League  with  Hereford  and  did  well  enough  to  secure  an  £80,000  move  to  Cardiff  in  January  1997. Their  fans  seem  to  have  been  divided  in  much  the  same  way  we  were  about  Shaun  Reid. Some  admired  his  110% commitment  and  christened  him  "Mad  Dog" ; others  thought  he  was  a  dog  of  a  player. There  was  apparently  one  incident  when  he  was  on  the  receiving  end  of  a  tackle  so  hard  it  broke  his shin  pad. Gareth  just  threw  it  off  the  pitch ,carried  on  and  exacted  retribution later  in  the  game. In  his  36th  game   in  February  1998 he  injured  his  cruciate  ligaments  and  never  played  for  them  again.

Gareth  actually  had  a  decent  debut  away  at  Scunthorpe  in  February  1999  matching  their  muscle  in  midfield. I  remember  one  guy,  who  was  standing  at  the  front  when  Gareth  clattered  one  of  their  players  into  the  hoardings  early  on , telling  me  he'd  heard  Gareth  say  "And  that's  just  for  starters !"  He  undoubtedly  contributed  to what  was  a  rare  away  win  with  Dave  Bayliss's  late  goal. That  was  memorable  because  one  of   my  match  mates was  had  brought  an  annoying  young  tagalong  from  his  office  who  became  surely  the  only  Bury  fan  ever  to  be  thrown  out  of  a  ground  for  celebrating  a  Rochdale  goal.  Gareth  went  on  to  be  booked  in  each  of  his  first  four  games,  nearly  starting  a  riot  both  during  and  after  the  game  against  Wigan  in  the  AWS  after an  awful  tackle.

It  was  his  second  game  away  at  Halifax in  the  AWS  that  showed  up   his  flaws. For  90  minutes  he  ran  around  like  a  headless  chicken,  demanding  the  ball  seemingly  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  how  quickly  he  could  give  it  back  to  the  opposition. A  friend  who  hadn't been  at  Scunthorpe  came  up  to  us  and  asked  "Who's  that  number  7 ?  He's  terrible ! " And  then  he  got  that  contract - what  were  the  Board  thinking  of  sanctioning  that ?  Surely  they  weren't  preparing  to  give  Barrow  another  season ?  Gareth  just  got  worse  each  game  he  played - the  ones  I  saw  anyway; I  missed  his  goal  at  Cambridge.

The  incoming  Steve  Parkin  wrote  him  off  at  once  and  sent  him  on  loan  to  Scarborough  at  the  beginning  of  September  1999  and  a  permanent  move  was  negotiated  in  December  which  no  doubt  cost  us  a  fair  wad.

Gareth  put  in  a  long  stint  at  Scarborough    making  140  appearances  over  four  seasons  in  the  Conference. He  then  had  a  season  with  Forest  Green  before  switching  to  Leigh  RMI  for  their  one , dismal  Conference  season  in  2004-05, In  2006  he  returned  to  Yorkshire  as  player-coach  of  Wakefield. In  2008  he  became  assistant-manager  of  Osssett  Town  though  he  retired  as  a  player.

Gareth  brings  the  Graham  Barrow  story  to  a  close. He  was  dismissed  with  one  game  still  to  play  in  May  1999. There  was  a  great  story ( I  don't  know  if  it's  true )  that  one  of  his  fiercest  crirtics  had  an  answering  machine message  that  ran  "Mark  is  out  AND  SO  IS  BARROW !!! " I  didn't  celebrate  like  that ; despite  joining  in  with  all  the  Barrow  Out  chants  that  season  I  felt  a  surprising sadness  when  it  actually  came  to  pass. My  wife  couldn't  understand  it - "But  you've  been  slagging  him  off  all  season !  " and  I  couldn't  really  explain  it  to  her. It  wasn't  really  sympathy  for  him - God  knows   he's  earning  more  now  at  Wigan  than  at  any  earlier  point  in  his  career - more  a  lament  for  the  final , irrevocable end  of  the  dreams  of  May  1996  and  the  realisation  that,  given  the  big  changes  in  my  life  since  then,  that  sort  of  buzz  wouldn't  happen  again. And  of  course  a  troubling  thought, if  the apparently  ideal  candidate  had  flopped  so badly  what  exactly  did  the  future  hold  for  us ?

270 Jason Lydiate

Position : Midfield  (also  played  at  centre  half)

Played : 1998-99  (on  loan  from  Scarborough)

Appearances : 14

Goals : 1

Now  we  come  to  Graham  Barrow's  last  two  signings  who  were  effectively  the  last  nails  in  his  coffin. Jason  was  signed  on  loan  from  Scarborough  in  February. He  started  out  in  Manchester  United's  youth  team  alongside  Ryan  Giggs  ( an  association  which  probably  did  him  no  favours) . After  failing  to  make  the  grade  at  Old  Trafford he  went  to  Bolton  in  1992  on  a  free  and  made  30  appearances  over  3  seasons  filling  in  at  right  back, centre  half  and  midfield. In  March  1995  Sam  Allardyce  signed  him  for  Blackpool  for  £75,000. He  had  a  more  regular  place  there  at  centre  half  though the  fans  weren't  keen  on  him  and  christened  him  Jason  Idiot. In  August 1998  he  moved  on  to  Scarborough  and  was  playing  regularly  up  to  his  surprise  switch  to  Dale.

It was  hard  to  understand. Why  did  we  want  another  centre-half  from  the  bottom  club who  had  lost  5-1 in  each  of  his  last  two  games  for  them ?  But  of  course  Barrow  had  the  answer- play  him  in  midfield  and  praise  him  for  winning   one  or  two  challenges  in  the  middle  while  ignoring  all  the  "passes"  that  went  into  touch  and  the  hopeless  through  balls  that  rolled  out  for  a  goalkick. When  the  equally  dire  Stoker  was  signed  to  play  alongside  him   our  misery  was  complete. In  the  last  9  games  we  won  just  one  and  we  were  losing  that  one  until  Jason  was  taken  off. In  fairness, in   the  couple  of  games  where  he  played  at  the  back  he  did  alright.

Thankfully  Steve  Parkin had  no  interest  in  making  the  move  permanent  and  Jason  went  over  to  Ireland to  play  for  Finn Harps. Unfortunately  he  barely  lasted  a  fortnight  there  and  was  discarded  after  scoring  a  spectacular  own  goal. He  disappears  from  the  record  after  that  apart  from  a  10  game  spell  at  Hyde  in  2002-03. There  is  a  Jason  Lydiate  who  is  a  handyman  in  Salford  and  I'm  guessing  that's  him.

269 Phil Priestley

Position : Goalkeeper

Played : 1998-99  to  2000-01  (didn't  appear  in  final  season)

Appearances : 3

Goals : 0

Phil  was  signed   from  Atherton  Laburnum  Rovers  as  goalkeeping  cover  after  Lance  Key  departed  for  Northwich.

His  debut  came  almost  straightaway  when  Neil  Edwards  went  down  with  flu  in  January  and  Phil  played  at  home  to  Plymouth. He  conceded  early  on  but  then  kept  them  at  bay  for  a  1-1  draw.
He  got  his  next  chance when  Neil  Edwards  had  to  come  off  after  three minutes  at  Exeter a  year  later  but  the  next  time  Edwards  was  absent  Steve  Parkin  brought  a  loanee  in  instead. Phil  got  a  couple  more  games  in  March. Phil  managed  to  avoid  any  absolute  howlers  but  he  never  inspired  total  confidence  and  clearly  Parkin  had  doubts  about  him. In  his  last  season  he  was  loaned  out  to  Scarborough   then  Graham  Barrow  signed  him  for  Chester  in  February  2001.

He  left  after  Barrow  was  sacked  in  the  summer  and  went  to  Bangor  City  playing  against  us  in  a  pre-season  friendly. He  spent  three  years  there  making  the  League  Of  Wales  Team  Of  The  Year  in 2002  and  playing  in  four  UEFA  Cup  ties, in  the  first  of  which  he  kept  a  clean  sheet  against  the  Yugoslav  side  Sartid  Smederevo. Since  then  it's  been  a  case  of  have  gloves  will  travel  as  Phil  has  played  for  - not  necessarily  in  the  right  order - Prescot  Cables,  Stalybridge  Celtic, Radcliffe  Borough, Chorley, FC United, Skelmersdale  and Charnock Richard. I  saw  him, a  fair  bit  chunkier  than  in  his  Dale  days,  earlier  this  season  playing  for  Runcorn  Linnets  at  Ramsbottom  but  since  then  he  has  moved  to  Leigh  Genesis  where  he  is  also  a  coach.

268 Andy Morris

Position : Forward

Played : 1998-99  to  1999-2000

Appearances : 32

Goals : 7

Andy was signed just before Christmas 1998 after it had become clear that Mark Leonard’s injury was career-ending. Andy began his career at Rotherham but switched to Chesterfield in 1988 for £500 and played there for over a decade (with  a  brief  loan  spell  at  Exeter  in  1992) . Despite his formidable build Andy was frequently injured and missed as many games as he played but was still a big favourite at Saltergate. The highlight of his career was the FA Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough in 1997 when he scored one and won a penalty in the 3-3 draw. That was actually one of his last games for them as he struggled to recover from three operations on his knee. He was retained on monthly terms but left to sign for us with their blessing.


Obviously he was a risky signing and he looked anything but match fit in his first games. I must admit I wasn’t enthused by his arrival as I’d always seen him as a clumsy battering ram but as his fitness improved you started to see that he could be a useful player. At 6’5 and 15 stone “Bruno” was always a threatening presence in the box but was nimbler-footed than you’d expect and most of his goals were scored with his feet. He didn’t give the ball away much and was a very useful defender at corners. He scored a respectable 7 goals in 24 appearances to finish as joint top scorer. He was responsible for our last two wins that wretched season, first at home to Southend when he flicked in the winner with his back to goal (I think to date that’s my wife’s last game at Spotland) and then he scored a second half hat trick to turn the match around against Chester after injuries had forced Barrow to alter his ridiculous formation.

Andy started the next season in the side but was soon edged out by Clive Platt and on loan at Scarborough by the middle of September. He did OK there scoring twice in 10 appearances.He returned to us in the new year and made three substitute appearances while Graham Lancashire was out injured, bowing out after the 4-1 defeat at Darlington in March 2000.

On his release he went straight into the Football In The Community role at Chesterfield (where he remains today) playing for a short while at Hucknall Town.

267 Michael Holt

Position : Forward

Played : 1998-99  (initially  on  loan  from  Preston)  to  1999-2000

Appearances  :  38

Goals : 7

Michael was the second striker signed on loan in October 1998, this time from Preston North End. He started out at Blackburn but was released without making his debut and joined Preston in August 1996. He scored his first goal in dramatic circumstances sliding home an Ian Bryson cross for a last minute equaliser against Tottenham in the League Cup in only his third game. He went on to score 5 goals in 36 appearances (although two-thirds of them were as a substitute). With first-team opportunities becoming more limited in 1998 he went on loan, first to Macclesfield (3 games , 1 goal) and then to us.

At first Michael played second fiddle to De Souza starting his first two games on the bench but he made a big impact when he came on in the second half at Chester. We were 1-0 down and going nowhere when Ian Bryson sent an optimistic cross to the far side of the area. Michael stole in from nowhere and sent a superb looping header into the top corner , probably the best headed goal I’ve witnessed and so out of step with what we’d just been watching that there was more shock than celebration at the Dale end. Excluding the Cup games that was the start of a 5 game unbeaten run during which Michael scored twice more including the winner at Hartlepool when he was still suffering from flu.

He had given the team the shot in the arm it needed , the fans loved his committed style and making his move permanent was a no-brainer. Despite being relatively short and baby-faced he was a very aggressive, bordering-on-dirty striker who didn’t mind leaving his foot in and seemed to get away with it. He also scored more than his fair share of headers getting two in the Sky-televised 3-0 victory over Hull. Those were his last goals for a couple of months because Barrow then completely lost the plot and started playing two numpties (who we’ll come to shortly)  in  midfield and the strikers were completely starved of service. Michael finished joint leading scorer on 7 and his last action of the season was trying to remove Neil Edwards’s undies after the final game at Brighton/Gillingham.

The following season it just didn’t happen for him. Steve Parkin gave him plenty of chances but he failed to score and started trying too hard , leading to accusations of being greedy. In January 2000 he went on loan to Northwich but that didn’t work out with him failing to score and the team to win in 5 games. Michael returned to first team action for the Auto-Windscreen Northern Final first leg against Stoke in March when he came off the bench to score his first goal for nearly a year. He started the next game but was pulled off at half time and after a handful of sporadic appearances as sub his Dale career came to an end . It was very disappointing after such a bright beginning but that’s football.

Michael then re-located to Ireland where he enjoyed a successful five years with St Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City and Dublin City before returning to England in 2005 to join the Lancashire Police Force. He signed for Nelson FC and not surprisingly was a star at that level scoring 36 goals and winning promotion in 2005-06. He then moved to Barnoldswick Town his home town club and helped them move up a notch before signing for Padiham. In 2009 he quit playing regularly to concentrate on his career though he still coaches and sometimes turns out for the police side.

266 Miguel De Souza

Position : Forward

Played : 1998-99  (on  loan  from  Peterborough)

Appearances : 5

Goals : 0

With both Mark Leonard and Graham Lancashire injured in October , Graham Barrow needed some more strikers and the first to arrive was Miguel on loan from Peterborough. He was on the books of Charlton and Bristol City as a youngster but drifted into non-league without making an appearance for either. Barry Fry’s Birmingham signed him from Dagenham for £25,000 in February 1994 but he failed to score in 15 appearances plus 3 on loan at Bury. Surprisingly Wycombe paid £100, 000 for him less than a year later and he found his shooting boots with them , netting 29 goals in 83 appearances; he still holds their record for most goals in a season. Barry Fry, now at Peterborough, re-signed him for £50,000 in March 1997 but the results were disappointing with just 5 goals in 35 appearances. He started the 1998-99 season on loan at Southend but didn’t score in 2 games.


Miguel made his debut in the win at Barnet in October which I missed but apparently he was quite good. However in subsequent games he looked lazy and disinterested. His last appearance was away at Chester where he did nothing until a great run in the second half where he beat a number of players then scuffed his shot. Barrow responded by immediately substituting him to howls of derision from the Dale fans; as one said to me “he’s just started playing and he takes him off !”


We had just witnessed the end of Miguel’s League career. Three weeks later Birmingham released him to sign for Rushden & Diamonds in the Conference. He did OK there scoring 11 in 29 appearances before moving on to short spells at Boston and Farnborough. In 2002 he signed for St Albans City and played there for four years eventually becoming player-coach. He was last heard of coaching Chesham United’s Ladies team.