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welcome to the give 'em beans Blog
Saucy, tasty and your mother loves them on toast, but that's enough about the writers. Beans is back to tickle your Barrow (Barra) bones for the first time since the early naughties. An all new team of bright young upstarts is joined by a few dusty relics of Give ' Em Beans past to bring you a brand new but old fanzine, by the fans for the fans. So join us on journey though Barradise with whatever we can cobble together to brighten an otherwise dull hour of non Barrow related existence.
latest posts
A Nobber's View: Gallagher and Welsh at Barrow
Beans has reached out to our friend at esteemed Preston North End fanzine and former star of Fanzine of the Week, The Nose Bag, as he gives us his thoughts on Paul Gallagher and John Welsh. Take it away TNB..
21 hours ago
New Year, Same Old Barra
There was a time when Salford carried with them a sheen of showbiz glamour - they were the ‘fancy dan’ club that attracted the extra attention of being the media darlings and whilst that’s no longer the case, what they’ve evolved into is a solid, upward looking League 2 outfit. The Class of 92 star quality has been diluted by the involvement of American megacorps like AIG and in the moneypit that is English football, hard cash is needed more than the part-time patronage of so
Jan 2
A Very Fine Spectacle: Barra Virile on the Wirral
It was destination Prenton Park during what has been a pessimistic perennial period for the final dance of 2025 for Barrow Soccer as we end the year with form that can only be likened to a pathetic and half-hearted jig. However, sometimes, you simply don't know; this is a side that is definitely better away than at home, although chucking away
Dec 30, 2025
Wham! McCann, We're in a Jam
Here, in Haste
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December
In Accrington.
Gazing from my bus window to the streets below,
I've not a clue where this season will go.
I am a rock, I am an island.
Dec 27, 2025
Seasons Beatings
It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the alternative Christmas calendar: Mad Friday, where alcohol-fuelled violence and vicious physical assaults are euphemised and football isn’t traditionally played. But here I am, sober as a nerd, trudging down to Holker Street for our Christmas Eve fixture versus Cheltenham. There’s optimism in the air after last week’s comeback at Gillingham, and the home crowd are in fine voice from kick-off. Just over 2,000 souls have forgone th
Dec 21, 2025
Old McDonald Works his Charm
There is a famous saying that "there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen" that may or may not have been coined by Vladimir Lenin or George Galloway, depending. It has most certainly been a case of the latter at Barrow AFC where the small matter of disposing of the services of Head Coach Andy Whing took place out of the second of a trio of crucial fixtures that he wasn't afforded the time to see out, having been relieved of his duties on
Dec 14, 2025
Pantomime Hearse
Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls – roll up, roll up! It’s the festive season, as we look towards the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate together. Gather the family, reject the Champions League’s bright lights and come along to Holker Street. Got your raffle ticket? Then I’ll begin.
Dec 10, 2025
Heartbreak in Soul Country
It was giving Barnsley 2022 vibes even before the game: the feeling that, after a promising start, this was a season that was at risk of coming off its hinges; an upper-mid-sized Cup following enjoying a change of winter scenery; a team that could underperform one week, but match the best sides in League 2 the next; a boisterous, festive end; and a significant elevation behind the goal giving a cinematic visual effect to proceedings.
Dec 8, 2025
THE ROAD TO WIGAN!
It's always been my belief that nothing in life can match the feeling of a crowd feeding off the same vibe, everyone in unison, the collective senses feeding off the same sights, sounds, smells. Very few places can give you that feeling.
Nov 26, 2025
Cambridge Calamity
After last week’s fruitless sojourn south the prospect of a trip to Holker Street warmed my cockles. Although I’d deemed it the start of ‘big coat’ season, the sunshine that greeted me when parking up at Asda persuaded me to leave my hat and gloves behind. Save them for December or you won’t feel the benefit. Into the fanzone and talk centred on that morning’s Ashes capitulation, mixed with the reaction to the team sheet coming in. Talk of false dawns, quality levels, was it
Nov 23, 2025
Discussion? Percussion? Concussion?
I can’t say I subscribed to it, as I boarded the train at Roose in the pitch black of pre-dawn Barra. In fact, I was full of bonhomie and optimism. Second best unbeaten run in England, some great resilience, evidence of Barrow mentality, Walsall a fantastic example. Glass firmly half full.
Nov 16, 2025
Smoked Fish Fingers and a Shot of Pyms
After last game's debacle with the shorts, I've sought Mrs P's advice early. 'Big jacket' is the guidance. Sage advice, although it is an unusually warm November afternoon at Holker Street. The twin forces of the low sun and the scoreboard aurora are providing enough lux to knock the SAD clean out of Morrissey, so sunnies are donned in an attempt to get some focus on the action.
Nov 9, 2025
Give 'Em Beans - Soccerline
Give 'Em Beans Soccerline - Now live, share your views
Nov 7, 2025
First Train to Cockfield
Spennymoor (A) - FA Cup Round 1 - 1st November 2025 Phallic stops a plenty We have entered the first round proper of the FA Cup now during the previous five editions of the competition, given that our glorious return to the Football League precludes us from having to participate in the many qualifying rounds that precede it. As the nation’s eyes, well, those whose eyeballs have access to TNT Sports, were glued to the Worthing FC clubhouse on a Monday evening, we pondered what
Nov 2, 2025
El Clásic-Lowe - Battle of the Bees
The pre-match promotion from the club had the game billed as the Battle of the Bees, but I prefer esteemed Beans correspondent Andy’s title: the El Clásic-Lowe.
Oct 26, 2025
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Brum
I’ve always found the Midlands confusing. Decent people, decent food but a curiously listless sense of ‘between’. Whether it’s between London and Manchester or the Danelaw and Wessex, ‘the Midlands’ has always felt off kilter.
Oct 19, 2025
Barrow Oldham, and it's live!!!
I'm watching today's game on Sky Sports, trying to get that new fan experience. And it's full-fat, 12-sugars, bend-over-and-give-me-your-Direct-Debit Sky Sports at that. Not a dodgy stick from dodgy Tarquin down the Tally, one-frame-per-second buffervision. I get all the ads, BetPaul trying to lift you up by the ankles and shake the copper from your pockets, order a pizza for half-time (a pizza for half-time, you fat pigs? I've just had me tea), Aston Villa are on Super Sunda
Oct 12, 2025
Amy's windhouse
The afternoon started with a family Coast Road picnic which somehow turned into a conversation assessing how gulls would survive should the human race die out. It was with the same spirit of impending apocalypse that I approached the afternoon's grim commitment.
Oct 5, 2025
Barrow 125
Barrow 125, Building a Legacy Together
Next year is Barrow AFC's 125th birthday. Bluebirds' supporters groups and the local community are being asked to band together to create a lasting celebration our club and town's identity and heritage.
Oct 3, 2025
Cure For Crawley
Saturday waits...in this case at Roose Station for a train to, of all places, Chorley. An hour and a bit later, via a packed Carnforth platform of Railway Children fans waiting for, I guess, the Special Train for the Swallows and Amazons special
Sep 28, 2025
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