Barrow forge deep bond with Canadian sponsor

For many football fans, an away game at League Two Barrow is a trip to the end of the line, one of the true outposts of the EFL.

As viewers of the BBC’s third series of Race Across the World in 2023 would have learned, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador can feel like the end of the world.

But those two entities have now joined forces in an unlikely sponsorship deal, helping to boost and promote each other.

On Tuesday that alliance has the chance to shine on its biggest stage so far, an EFL Cup tie away to mighty Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 

‘We’re like twin towns’

It was a sponsorship deal that few could have predicted when it was announced this summer. A League Two football club in England having their shirts adorned with the name of a Canadian province.

It all started last December, when the Barrow club offices received a phone call from an unknown Canadian number.

The Cumbrian club had been chosen, along with a number of other EFL clubs, to pitch for a potential new sponsorship opportunity with Newfoundland and Labrador.

For Barrow’s chief operating officer Alisha Henry and co-owner Tony Shearer, it was the start of a process they were desperate to win.

They found that the town’s relative geographical isolation within the UK and need for skilled workers in the shipyards chimed with the situation in St John’s, the province’s capital.

“We found there was a big comparison between Barrow and St Johns, they were almost like twin towns,” Henry told BBC Sport.

“We’re both in a cul-de-sac location and there is a strong industry link as we are two hard-working towns.

“The similarities are so big, we had to use this to our advantage.”

‘Global interest in Barrow grown’

North America and the EFL have become bedfellows in recent seasons, and this is another example.

Rather than a NFL legend like Tom Brady or a Hollywood A-lister like Ryan Reynolds, however, this deal is not linked to entertainment.

But it is still benefitting Barrow in a big way. Global interest has increased, helped by an excellent start on the pitch.

Under new head coach Stephen Clemence, the Bluebirds top League Two after seven games.

And this run to the third round of the EFL Cup, thanks to victory over Championship side Derby County in the previous round, is their best in the competition since 1967.