As befitted a former inside-forward, Barlow was primarily an
attacker, and a gloriously entertaining, endlesslysubtle one at that.
His speciality was threading exquisite deliveries through the tiniest
of gaps in opposing rearguards, seeming to sense openings which
appeared only fleetingly and of which more mundane operators were not
even aware.
Often he was the most strikingfigure afield, dictating the tempo of
a game with an imperious authority whichcontrasted vividly with his
engagingly unassuming character away from the action. Yet for all the
elegance of his work on the ball, Barlow was a powerful presence, too,
his dynamic box-to-box surges and his strength in the tackle being
notable features of his all-round excellence.
Having joined West Bromwich from amateur football in his home
county as an 18-year-old in 1944, he was pitched immediately into
emergency wartime competition, then made his senior debut in September
1946, scoring from inside-left in a 7-2 victory at Newport County.
Midway through 1948-49 he cemented a regular position in the side and,
still operating mainly as a forward, scored in the 3-0 win at
Leicester in the campaign's penultimate match which was to secure
Albion's promotion to the top flight as runners-up to Fulham, the
Second Division champions.
Among the élite, Barlow's poise and polish were all the more
evident, especially when he settled in his most effective role of
left-half, although such was his versatility that sometimes he was
pressed into service at centre-half, inside-forward and even
centre-forward. His input was never more effective than in 1953-54,
when the Baggies were within four points of becoming the first club in
the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup double, finishing as
runners-up to their West Midlands neighbours Wolverhampton Wanderers
in the old First Division and beating Preston North End in the Cup
final.
Barlow, who was the last Albion survivor from their Wembley
line-up, shone brightly in defence and attack under the twin towers,
linking up with left-back and captain Len Millard to nullify the
potent threat of Preston's fabulous Tom Finney, the newly-crowned
Footballer of the Year, and surging forward to earn the penalty from
which Ronnie Allen equalised on the way to a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Internationally, though, there was less satisfaction. There were
two outings for England B, four for the Football League and an FA tour
of South America, but it remained inconceivable to all who placed a
high priority on skill and imagination – particularly in an era when
England were twice humiliated by the magnificent Hungarians – that
Barlow should be limited to 90 minutes in the full national team, the
one which beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in October 1954. That day in
Belfast he was part of an experimental side containing seven
débutants, of whom Johnny Haynes was the only one who would carve out
a regular niche, and it seemed to many in attendance at Windsor Park
that Barlow and the brilliant Fulham schemer might have forged a
fruitful long-term combination on the football fields of the world.
Happily for Albion, his club form was not affected by his country's
cold shoulder, and he continued to thrive at the Hawthorns, meshing
particularly smoothly with fellow wing-half Jimmy Dudley, deep-lying
centre-forward Allen and, as the decade wore on, the attacking
midfielder Bobby Robson. In the late 1950s he succeeded Millard as
captain, leading them to fourth and fifth in the First Division table
in successive seasons before, having reached the veteran stage,
accepting a move to second-tier Birmingham City in August 1960.
Not surprisingly, given the accumulation of physical knocks during
more than 450 competitive outings for the Baggies, Barlow didn't last
long at St Andrew's, moving on to non-League Stourbridge in 1961 after
only a handful of appearances for the Blues. Adevoted family man, he
went on to run a tobacconist's and sweetshop inWest Bromwich, then a
post office in Stourbridge, always retaining his connection with the
club he had served with such distinction and which accorded him a
signal honour during its 125th anniversary celebrations in 2004, when
he was included in Albion's all-time 16-man squad.
If further proof of Ray Barlow'seminence were needed, it came from
Sir Bobby Robson, who not long before his death in 2009 described his
former Hawthorns comrade as one of the finest players he had ever
worked with.Considering that Robson had played for and managed
England, then managed Barcelona and Newcastle United among others,
that was a meaningful tribute indeed. - The
Independent Obituary
England
Football Online
