WHEN Ian Evatt secured promotion to League Two in the summer of 2020, his Barrow side was hailed for being the ‘Non League team playing like Barcelona.’
The Cumbrians at that point were an anomaly, a fifth-tier side which had gained a reputation for their commitment to ‘style over pragmatism’ and playing out from the back, all with one of the smallest budgets in the league.
Since then, the landscape in the National League has changed dramatically. Ryan Renyolds and Rob McElhenney’s documentary-charted transformation of Wrexham ensured unprecedented attention, Stockport and Notts County kept pace to secure their own return to the big time and established Football League clubs like Oldham and Rochdale have found life difficult since being relegated to that level.
But the ripples of Barrow’s footballing experiment continue to spread and it is not now as uncommon to see non-league teams diversify their approach beyond the 'kick and rush' stereotypes.
Saturday’s FA Cup opponents Solihull Moors dipped their toe into the possession waters under previous manager Neal Ardley, finishing third in 2021/22 and losing in the play-off final to Grimsby Town.
Under current boss, Andy Whing, the approach has simplified somewhat, due in the main to a large turnover of players in the last 18 months, including the sale of Andrew Dallas to Cambridge United, Ryan Barnett to Wrexham and the 6ft 8ins Kyle Hudlin to Huddersfield Town.
Moors remain effective, though, and sit fourth in the table, handily placed for a third crack at the play-offs in five years.
For Aaron Sutcliffe, the sports editor of the Solihull Observer, the legacy of Barrow's footballing experiment under Evatt has had a lasting effect.
“I’m one of the football snobs,” he said. “I watch Premier League football, worked at Coventry City in League One and you’d see some of the teams at that level played stuff that was just awful, impossible to watch. When I came to Moors, some of the stuff they were playing under Ardley was really refreshing. It has been a massive eye-opener.
“I think some people looked at Barrow, what they spent, and thought ‘if you can get a forward-thinking manager and establish a style of play that can be competitive in League Two, that’s the aim.’ “Quite a few clubs have followed suit. It isn’t all long ball anymore.”
Solihull and its suburbs regularly make UK lists as ‘the best places to live’ and the village of Barnston was this year named by The Telegraph as ‘one of the poshest’ addresses in the country, with an average house price of £570,000.
Known more for being the birthplace of the Land Rover, or as the UK base for equestrianism, the football bug has been slow to develop in the affluent town – albeit they may have got a boost at the start of the millennium when an £88million bid to build a new national stadium on the outskirts proved unsuccessful.
The modern-day Solihull Moors FC was established as an amalgamation of Solihull Borough and Moor Green in 2007, and the club achieved promotion from National League North in 2016, playing at the quaintly-named Damson Park.
Having established themselves with the help of ex-Wanderer Dapo Afolayan, who scored 15 times in 50 games with the club, Moors missed out on promotion after finishing second behind Leyton Orient and losing out to Salford City – tracked by yet another documentary – in the play-offs.
Ex-England goalkeeper Tom Flowers had led that play-off charge and the next was to come under Ardley three seasons later. This year, a third looks achievable with the mega budgets of Wrexham and Co out of the way.
“I think a lot of people feel Chesterfield are a shoo-in for promotion,” Sutcliffe said. “Barnet are there too but I think there are a cluster of clubs like Moors, Bromley and Altrincham who might feel this is their big chance.
“When Neal Ardley left it was a bit of a surprise, and a lot of changes followed, but Andy Whing has done a great job, he is a local lad and him, the chairman and the director of football, Stephen Ward (ex-Wolves) seem to be in synch.”
Whing and captain Jamey Osbourne manned the ticket offices yesterday as the club edged closer to 500 tickets sold for Saturday’s game – roughly half of what they expect for a home match.
Moors have a modern history of meeting league teams in the cup with Luton (2016), Wycombe (2017), Blackpool (2018), Rotherham (2019), Morecambe and Scunthorpe (both 2020), Wigan (2021) and Hartlepool (2022) all finding them stubborn opposition.
Evatt’s Barrow even fell foul in the fourth qualifying round back in 2019, setting in motion a forgettable run of results in the competition which continues to this day.
Danger men Josh Kelly – the former Maidenhead striker whose goal secured three points against Wealdstone last weekend – and target man Mark Beck, will provide the classic ‘big man, little man’ attack, while teenage goalkeeper Tommy Simkin, on loan from Stoke City, has been given a ringing endorsement from ex-Bolton man Kevin Poole, now his coach.
“He has got a real future ahead of him,” he told The Bolton News. “Coming into regular football at his age is hard but he is very mature. I think he’s got a good chance.”
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