Lean times for Barry

By Mark Salisbury

Barry Town AFC have been the football kings of Wales for over a decade. Not only did they become the first-ever Welsh side to win a UEFA Champions League tie in 2000, last season they celebrated their seventh Premiership crown in eight years.

Crippling debts
Twelve months on, life is not so rosy as crippling debts and administration ripped the heart out of the club almost overnight. They now sit bottom of the league, seven points behind their nearest rivals and staring relegation in the face. Step forward an ambitious chairman, a new manager, and having earned their first win of the season - 5-4 against Welshpool Town FC - the Dragons are breathing fire again.

Lengthy experience
Adversity is nothing unusual for recently-appointed manager Colin Addison. He has experienced similar situations with Newport County FC, Swansea City FC and clubs in Spain over a 30-year career - and he is not about to duck this latest challenge.

Huge challenge
"Barry are a very successful club and it's very sad to see the situation they are in," he told uefa.com. "They were champions in August and then had nothing. They lost their manager, players, everything. It's my biggest-ever test but you can't just come in and turn everything upside down. You could get Sven-Göran Eriksson in and success wouldn't be guaranteed. But I've freshened things up and morale is much better."

Big plans
The man responsible for getting the club back on an even footing off the pitch is chairman Stuart Lovering, who stumped up €200,000 to steady the ship last year. A barrister and businessman, he was brought up on the Cardiff City FC terraces, but has massive plans for his adopted Barry.

Ambitious project
"I have always dreamed of running a club," he said. "The debt was €1.5m - the tills in the social club weren't even working - and the former owners didn't care if anyone turned up to watch the games. I have a vision. I want a new 40,000-capacity stadium which generates money and I want to build Barry into a European club, probably not like [AC] Milan or [FC] Barcelona, but more like Real Sociedad [de Fútbol]. The club just needs the right marketing and its past success will be a huge benefit."

Goalscoring hero
Lovering is so committed he attends training and all the matches, and one player he hopes will continue to shine is Gavin Allen. After getting the rallying call at Christmas, Allen's goal tally is now three in four games and the striker shares his chairman's passion for the club, despite having to hold down a day job and travel nearly 650km a week to play.

Self-belief
"Since being beaten 8-0 by Rhyl [FC] and getting the new gaffer in, things have changed completely," the 28-year-old said. "There are a lot of kids at the club but he has instilled a belief in ourselves. I'm looking to be a manager one day but I wouldn't be doing all this travelling if I didn't believe Barry could get back to the top."

Staying positive
Addison knows there is still much work to do despite his promising start. "It will not happen overnight but you've got to stay positive," he said. "People told me I was mad to take the job but I have confidence in my own ability and until the stats say otherwise we'll keep believing." And even if things don't work out this season, the personnel is now in place to get Barry back on the road to former glories.