STUART BARLOW’S footballing journey has taken him from Sunday League football to Goodison Park and Wembley.
But now the much-travelled former Everton and Tranmere Rovers striker is setting his sights on a very different goal.
After finally hanging his boots up following a career spanning 17 years and more than 500 league appearances, the 39-year-old will be tuning in to a new line of work later this week.
Barlow is teaming up with former Anfield player John Durnin to present a two-hour Friday evening programme on Liverpool’s CityTalk radio station, which broadcasts for the first time this morning.
“We hope to whet the appetite for the weekend’s football,” he said. “Whatever the listeners want to talk about we will be doing just that whether it be Everton, Liverpool, Tranmere or anything to do with football. It’s something I have always wanted to try.”
Barlow’s rise to the footballing heights came after he was plucked from Business Houses League football with Sherwood Park and snapped up by Everton.
“I was a late starter in the professional game,” says Barlow, who spent five years at Everton from 1990 before going on to play for Oldham, Wigan, Tranmere, Stockport, Bury, Morecambe and Southport. “It was an unusual route into the game even in those days, but even more so today. Premier League clubs now are looking at players from a very early age or spending money to bring them in from abroad.
“I think that side of things has gone too far and I would limit the number of foreign players in a squad and how many could play in the first team. It has got to be having an effect on our game and the England national side.
“In some ways it is understandable because football is a very competitive business with so much money in it today and the hands of the clubs are forced to a certain extent because of the pressure to stay in the Premier League. Clubs are scared of missing out on players.
“But they start players so young now and it can be hard for them when clubs turn round and say they don’t think they are going to make the grade. If they are a bit older and a bit wiser, it is a little easier to accept decisions.
“Players are told they can’t play on the park with their mates or for the school teams at an age when they should be happy out playing football with their friends and enjoying it.”
Barlow’s leap from park football to the highest level of the professional game was a dream come true for the Liverpool-born player.
“I was actually a non-contract player at Everton for two years before I signed professionally and would often play for the A team on a Saturday, my Sunday team and then the reserves in midweek,” he recalls.
I owe a lot to Graeme Smith for chewing the ear off Colin Harvey to give me a chance and he was a massive influence on my career. Playing professionally was something I always wanted to do.
“Going to the club for the first time as an amateur and coming across players like Kevin Ratcliffe, Graeme Sharp, Kevin Sheedy and Neville Southall, I was a bit over-awed, but once I was on a contract I was playing and training with them. But to go from Sunday League to a club as big as Everton was a massive thing for me. It was a real honour.”
Barlow scored 140 goals in his league career, recalling: “I scored at Wembley for Wigan in the play-offs and the winning goal for Tranmere when we came back from 3-0 down to beat Southampton 4-3 in the FA Cup.
“I missed the easy chances but scored difficult ones! I remember scoring from 35 yards against Ipswich, which I’m sure would have been goal of the month if Alan Shearer had done it!
“There were highs and some lows along the way, but I am fortunate to have had the opportunity.”
In the latter stages of his career Barlow’s sheer enthusiasm for playing took him to a number of non-League sides.
“I love my football,” he explains. “I may have played more than 500 games but I feel there is another hundred still in there! I have never been one to put on weight and I stayed clear of major injuries. I was always dedicated to playing and even when I turned out on a Sunday I would be first there.
“In the last few years I have played with Bamber Bridge and Skelmersdale, just helping out people I know, and I still feel fit enough to play. But I turn 40 this year and I wanted the chance to see more of my sons Dylan and Josh playing their football on a Saturday.”
Barlow is also planning for the future in other areas, completing a plumbing course which he hopes will help him towards starting his own business while also carrying on with his coaching badges, which may yet bring him back into the world of football.
“The game of football probably went money mad from about 1998 onwards, but I can remember people being astounded when a player was on £10,000 a week,” he recalls. “I think back then people played much more for the love of the game but, without being disrespectful to them, a lot of players now come from abroad because of the big money.
Having played for 17 years and under some great managers I still feel I have something to offer. I picked up bits from everyone I worked under. I worked with quiet managers like Colin Harvey to the more outspoken like Neil Warnock. He loved winding people up but ask anyone who has played for him, and they will tell you what a fantastic fella he is and how he would make the players feel involved by holding barbecues, for example, at his house.
“The radio show is a great opportunity to keep myself involved in the football. I won’t be sitting on the fence, but just hope to give an honest opinion.”
