Miles Coverdale Stocks Barron (1871 – 9 September 1924) was an English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
located to the west of the city of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
. The exact date of birth is not known, but he was registered in the civil registry of Durham between July and September of that year. Barron, the eldest of four children, was born to John Barron (1840–1915), a colliery manager from Durham, and Grace Stocks (1841–1913).
As a young man, Barron was an employee of Pease and Partners Ltd, the same company for which his father worked. Barron married Mary Ann Bird in 1893, and they initially settled in the town of Lynesack and later in
St Helen Auckland
St Helen Auckland is a village in County Durham, England. It is south-west of Bishop Auckland. It is named after St. Helen in distinction from Bishop Auckland as the church is dedicated to her (the Church of St Helen, St Helen Auckland). In 19 ...
, both near West Auckland. They had five children. Barron was a
freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
member of the
United Grand Lodge of England
The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...
from 1905.
Career
A
surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
by trade, Barron, who never played senior football, served as club secretary for several football clubs in the North East of his native England, notably organizing trips to face European opposition. Most notable of these European trips was with West Auckland Football Club, an amateur team made up of coalminers from
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, who defeated Swiss opposition
FC Winterthur
FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stad ...
in 1909 to claim the inaugural
Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is regarded as an early European trophy.The World Cup: A Captain's Tale'', with Barron being portrayed by
Richard Griffiths
Richard Thomas Griffiths (31 July 1947 – 28 March 2013) was an English actor. He was known for his portrayals of Vernon Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' films (2001–2011), Uncle Monty in '' Withnail and I'' (1987), and Henry Crabbe in '' P ...
. However, despite beating Italian side
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
two years later to win the competition again, the club met with financial hardship and were forced to disband.
These exploits in Europe caught the eye of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
president
Joan Gamper
Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably Barcelona and Zürich.
...
, who invited Barron to become head coach of Barcelona in 1912. Barron accepted and was therefore appointed as manager upon his arrival. Between September and December 1912, Barron managed Barcelona in twelve
friendly matches
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...
, and also refereed two of them. After having coached the team in local matches for several months, he was tasked with assembling a squad of British players for Barcelona to test its strength in their Christmas friendlies. The British team he brought over, known as the West Auckland Wanderers, was composed of numerous members of the West Auckland side that had won two Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy titles under Barron.
The sides faced off three times at the
Camp de la Indústria
Camp de la Indústria () or Campo de la calle Indústria was a multi-use stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It was initially used as the home venue of FC Barcelona, until the team moved to Camp de Les Corts in 1922. The capacity of the stadium was 6,000 ...
, with the results being one win for each and one draw. They played their first game on
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
of 1912: a 3–3 draw, in which Barcelona's goals were scored by two British players,
Alex Steel
Alexander Steel (25 July 1886 – 1954) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Newmilns, Ayr, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Kilmarnock, Southend United and Gillingham. In his spell at Barcelona he won two Pyrenees ...
and
Frank Allack
Frank Albert Allack (25 September 1888 – 1967) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Spanish clubs RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona. The highlight of his career was winning the treble with Barcelona in the 1912–13 season ( Catalan ...
. The second game resulted in a 4–0 loss for Barcelona, but in the final fixture, played on 29 December, Steel scored two goals in a 2–0 victory for the Catalan club. Following this, Gamper attempted to persuade Barron to continue as head coach, an offer which Barron declined in order to return to his family; he resumed his previous career as a surveyor.
Despite leaving Barcelona, his impact was longer-lasting: the visiting West Auckland squad included
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
Jack Alderson
John Thomas Alderson (28 November 1891 – 17 February 1972) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, making one appearance for the full England national team.
Born in Crook, County Durham, Alderson played from a numbe ...
, who replaced Barron as coach. Former West Auckland player, and friend of Barron,
Jack Greenwell
John Richard Greenwell (2 January 1884 – 20 November 1942) was an English football manager and former player. He is Barcelona's longest serving manager, having coached the club for ten consecutive seasons (initially as player-coach, then as ma ...
, who had joined Barcelona as a player at the same time as Barron's arrival, also decided to stay in Barcelona after those friendlies and went on to replace Alderson and manage the side for two separate spells.
In Spanish newspapers, Barron's name was rendered incorrectly more often than not, with various different spellings, though football historians have identified them as him. Incorrectly named "B. Barren" on Barcelona's official website (and earlier as "John Barrow"), he is listed as the club's second official coach, after
Billy Lambe
William Charles Lambe (2 January 1877 – 24 August 1951) was an English footballer who played as a midfielder.
Before joining Barcelona in early 1912, Lambe had previously played for Swanscome Tigers, Hastings & St Leonards United, Woolwich ...
, who had served as player-manager earlier in 1912, although Barren was the first one to be specifically contracted by Barça as a full-time manager.
Later life and death
Barron would not remain in football, and with the onset of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1914, he and his son Percy were commissioned into the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
, serving in the
Salonika campaign
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers to aid Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, in the autumn of 19 ...
, where he contracted
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
. The disease affected most of his later life, and he eventually succumbed to it, dying on 9 September 1924, at the age of 52.