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Blast
FROM THE
past
Barry Kerslake
Barry Kerslake started playing
football for Elmore Under-16s
when he was 15 years old.
He also
managed
Twyford
Spartans for 25 years and is
still in management today,
looking after the Town
Tiverton U11s.
He captained the side in his
first year and just 12 months
later he made his first team
debut.
Barry spent seven years at
Horsdon Park before joining
Tiverton Town.
Said Barry: “I still regard Elmore
as my main club. My one big
regret is never going back
there. I was once asked to
return to help out on the
management side, but
at the time I did not feel
it was the right move.
After that he moved between
Tiverton and Westexe Robers
until he retired from the game at the age of
39 – “I was getting too many injuries and
taking longer to recover from them,” said
Barry.
A Blackpool fan, in his
playing days Barry was a
classy midfielder, but, as he
got older, he said he gradually
worked his way back into defence!
After retiring Barry went into
management. He was player
manager with Westexe and
then player manager
with Tiverton Town.
He regards his
greatest
achievement as
winning the
Combination
League
twice while
manager at
Tiverton.
In his working life, for more than 25
years Barry was a fixture at
Waterloo Cross where he ran a Snack
Bar, working six days a week before
selling the business to retire in 2010.
Outside of football Barry tried his
hand at bowls and has been
playing at West End Bowling
Club ever since.
“I just love it,”
said Barry
who has been
playing the game now for 10 years.
Barry’s other great love is cricket. On
his retirement he started watching
Somerset Cricket Club and now
works as a steward at the County
Ground, Taunton.
Barry still attends Horsdon Park now
and again to watch the Eagles.
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