Swindon make the long trip up to Cumbria as they are set to take on Barrow AFC.
Town will be looking to bounce back from the last away fixture to Sutton United as they lost 3-1 to London-based side.
Barrow have been in great form as of late with them being 6 undefeated until their most recent 2-1 loss to Morecambe. They currently sit fifth in League Two and will. Be looking to get a vital win against The Reds as their search for automatic promotion continues.
Lowdown on the hosts:
Founded on July 16th, 1901, the Club began playing competitive football in the Lancashire League at its first home ground 'The Strawberry'.
A further move to Little Park in March 1905 saw the Club enjoy their first success, winning promotion to Division One of the Lancashire Combination in 1908 and the following year saw the Club move to its current home, Holker Street.
When the League was reorganised in 1958, the Club found itself placed in Division Four. In January 1959, Barrow played Wolverhampton Wanderers in an FA Cup Third Round tie. On a frozen pitch, a crowd of 16,340 saw the team put up a 4-2 win against Wolves.
At the end of the 1971/72 season, the club finished third bottom of Division Four and was required to make its eleventh re-election application. Eventually, after 51 years, the Club lost its much-prized Football League status.
In May 1990, the Club captured the FA Trophy with a 3-0 win over Leek Town at Wembley thanks to two goals from Kenny Gordon and one from Club appearance and goal-scoring record holder Colin Cowperthwaite.
The Club joined the Conference North when it was formed in 2004-05 but apart from two FA Cup first-round appearances against Bristol Rovers and AFC Bournemouth, there was no tangible success.
At the end of the 2007/08 season, the Club won its way back to the top flight of non-league football, then known as Blue Square Premier, after an absence of ten years by defeating Stalybridge Celtic 1-0 in the Play-Off Final at Burton Albion.
Sadly the 2012/13 season saw the team struggle and it was eventually relegated after its longest spell at the top of the non-league game since losing its Football League place in 1972.
The summer of 2014 saw a significant change at the Club, with the members voting in favour of a takeover by Barrow-born businessman Paul Casson who is based in the United States where he has several successful business enterprises.
Mr Casson made resources available for team building and in April 2015 Barrow clinched the Vanarama Conference North title on the final day of the season with a 3-2 win at Lowestoft Town.
The foundations for the future were laid and the team went back full-time for the return to the top flight of non-league football the following season.
2019/20 saw a continuing improvement of matters on the field. After a poor start to the season, the team climbed to the top of the National League table following a 3-0 win at Notts County in November 2019 and remained there until the season was suspended in March 2020.
The team was declared National League champions on a points-per-game basis on 17th June 2020 and, after just over 48 years, finally returned to the Football League. They now sit third in League 2 and look to build their way up the English footballing pyramid.
Head-to-head:
2021/22: Barrow 2-0 Swindon Town
2021/22: Swindon Town 2-1 Barrow
2022/23: Barrow 0-1 Swindon Town
2022/23: Swindon Town 0-0 Barrow
2023/24: Swindon Town 0-3 Barrow
Manager: Peter Wild
Pete Wild has been involved with football coaching since his teenage years when he turned his hand to that alongside playing for a local amateur side. Although he never played the game professionally, Wild’s talent for coaching was recognised by hometown club Oldham Athletic and he began working in The Latics’ Academy.
After a decade plying his trade at Boundary Park, Oldham turned to Wild as Caretaker Manager in December 2018 following the departure of Frankie Bunn and he went on to win his first two games in charge.
Wild stepped aside upon the appointment of Paul Scholes but was handed the reins temporarily once more when the Manchester United legend’s tenure ended in March 2019. After a couple of months in the top job at Boundary Park, Wild left the club and re-emerged as the new man in charge at FC Halifax Town in July 2019.
Since then, he has gone about enhancing his reputation as one of the brightest up-and-coming coaches in the game and become a real favourite with Town supporters.
Wild took charge of just under 150 games during his three seasons at The Shay, boasting a win percentage of almost 50% which helped Halifax finish fourth in the National League and qualify for the play-offs in 2021/22.
One to Watch: Cole Stockton
Having started his youth career at Tranmere Rovers, Stockton gained valuable playing experience with the likes of Vauxhall Motors and Southport before joining on loan with the Shrimps in 2016.
The Huyton-born man went on to make 135 appearances for Tranmere before leaving the club for Hearts in 2017.
Brief spells at Carlisle United, Wrexham, and a short return to Prenton Park followed before joining Morecambe on a permanent deal in 2019.
Stockton enjoyed his most prolific campaign for Morecambe in 2021/22, where he scored an impressive 26 goals in all competitions, which would see the striker go on to win two Sky Bet League One Player of the Month awards and a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year.
This would award the striker a League One move to Burton Albion before being loaned out in January to Barrow where he currently has seven goals in 13 games.
