Monarchs' youngster Barry Campbell has moved to Workington on a full transfer. Campbell spent most of last season on loan with the Cumbrian club. This fits in with Monarchs declared strategy of attempting to sign their team on full transfers. The transfer fee received will help Edinburgh in their bid to sign Ross Brady.
Barry Campbell signed for Monarchs in 1996. He is based in Paisley and was a Glasgow Tigers fan. He was a regular second halfer at Powderhall along with Blair Scott. He made his debut for Scottish Monarchs in the combined premier League that year but had to wait for the formation of the current Premier League for a regular place. In 1996, Barry was a member of the double winning Linlithgow Lightning Amateur league team.
Barry's Amateur League average meant that he came into te Premier League on a four-point average as opposed to the three-points for Paul Gould, Blair Scott and Neil Hewitt. Barry was nearly squeezed out of the team because of this as Monarchs considered using Mick Powell alongside Kenny McKinna and Robert Eriksson at heat leader. In the end, Powell moved on to Glasgow and Campbell did make into the team joining Paul Gould and Blair Scott in the bottom end. Barry ended up partnering Jarno Kosonen. This worked well for Barry with Jarno usually making the gate and then holding things up. This allowed the slow gating Campbell to catch up and show his passing skills.
When Peter Carr replaced Jarno, Barry was forced out of the team to accommodate him with a three-pointer, Neil Hewitt, coming in. As Blair Scott was injured, Barry as Team Reserve was able to stay in the team and take Blair's rides. Barry missed out on the home match against Skegness when Blair returned but was back a week later due to Neil Hewitt's serious back injury.
Although Barry had a provisional average of over six points he retained his initial four-point score due to missing the Skegness match because he hadn't completed three home and three away matches by the cut-off date. This allowed Barry to stay at Team Reserve when he wouldn't fit into the main team.
Barry's form slumped in the Summer as the Armadale track became dryer and smoother. His poor gating handicapped him as he found it more difficult to come from the back. He came back into the team later in the season and improved slightly on the wet tracks in the Autumn.
Barry retained his place for 1998 although he was still at reserve. After another bright start, Barry suffered another slump in form and was dropped from the team temporarily as he was replaced by Steven Jones. This permitted the introduction of Marcus Andersson in place of Paul Gould. Barry and Paul came back at the next reshuffle. After his return to the team, Barry produced a decent run of results including the memorable 21-point paid maximum against Newport. This allowed Barry to move up from reserve for the first time and he finished the season at second string scoring steadily.
This all meant that Monarchs were unable to fit Barry into the side for 1999 because of his five-point plus average. He initially went on loan to Elite League Belle Vue. He appeared set to return to Armadale as he was allocated a three-point Premier League average after he was replaced in the Belle Vue team. Monarchs bid to bring him in for David McAllan was blocked as the BSPA changed his average back up to over five points.
Workington then took Barry on loan. He struggled in the early stages but eventually came to terms with the track and started to put together some big scores. He came close to being cut at one stage by Workington. Monarchs were watching with interest as his new Premier League average would have allowed him to replace the now injured David McAllan at reserve. This was not to be and Barry endeared himself to the Derwent Park crowd with some rousing performances.
Barry won a cap for Scotland in 1998 and was a regular in the side for 1999 after coming in to replace the injured James Grieves at Armadale and Brough Park.
Barry was a regular in the bar on Fridays at Armadale last season and will remain a welcome visitor.
Workington boss Ian Thomas was upbeat about his new signing and said: "Barry never wanted to ride anywhere else and again Edinburgh were superb in our negotiations and it means we have a very strong asset list".