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Barnet F.C.

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Barnet Football Club are an English football team from Barnet, a town on the northern edge of Greater London. They currently play in Coca Cola Football League Two. In March 2004 they were in one of the play off positions, but failed to gain promotion to League Two, the lowest flight of the Football League. In the 2004-05 season they won the Conference Championship, to return to the Football League after an absence of four years. Before that they had been Football League members for ten years.

Barnet's most eventful season was the 1992-93 season. They were on the verge of expulsion for failing to pay their players' wages as well as failing to meet a deadline for a £50,000 fine. In spite of these problems, Barnet won promotion to Division Two. But the Bees were unable to sustain themselves at this level and went down after one season with just five wins all season.

Barry Fry was the manager who secured Barnet's promotion successes in the early 1990s. Subsequent managers of the club include Ray Clemence, Terry Bullivant, John Still and Tony Cottee.

A number of Barnet players have gone on to represent Premiership clubs. They include Dougie Freedman, Danny Dichio, Andy Clarke, Linvoy Primus and Maik Taylor.

Contents

Club history

Early years

The club has existed since 1888, previously as Woodville FC (1882-5) and then as New Barnet FC (1885-8). Barnet FC played in the North London League, North Middlesex League, and the London Leagues. Despite their success the original club was disbanded in 1901.

New name

Two local clubs, Barnet Avenue FC (formed 1890) and Alston Works AFC (formed 1901) continued to attract support. Barnet Avenue renamed themselves Barnet FC in 1904 and as staunch believers in the amateur game they shunned the London Football Authority in favour of the Amateur Football Association.

Alston Works AFC, later Barnet Alston FC, became champions of the London League in 1906/7. In 1907 they moved to the clubs current ground at Underhill, Barnet Lane. Their first match was a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace FC on September 14th 1907. After merging with the Avenue team in 1912 they spearheaded the new Athenian League as Barnet and Alston FC. After the First World War in 1919 they became the third instance of Barnet FC. This team continues today.

The Athenian League years

For over 50 years Barnet FC competed in the Athenian League. Inaugural members in 1912/13 they were league champions no fewer than six times between 1919-1965. The club turned professional in 1965.

Key players

Affectionately known by fans as The Bees, Barnet play in a black strip with amber pinstripes. Their top striker is Giuliano Grazioli, who has also had two spells at Peterborough United. Previous players have included international representatives Ken Charlery (Saint Lucia), Dougie Freedman (Scotland), Maik Taylor (Northern Ireland) and, towards the end of his career, Jimmy Greaves (England). Other past players who have proceeded to ply their trade in the FA Premier League include Andy Clarke (with Wimbledon) and Linvoy Primus (with Portsmouth). Popular goalkeeper Lee Harrison served the club for seven years from 1996 to 2003, and was Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons, and in July 2006 has returned to the club from Peterborough United as player/coach.

Promotion to the league

Barnet F.C joined the Fourth Division of the Football League on winning the GM Vauxhall Conference championship in 1991. Their early reputation was of playing fast, attacking football, a reputation only enhanced by their first ever league match (which they lost 4-7 to Crewe Alexandra), and a 5-5 draw to Brentford in the league cup in their next match. In their first season of league football the club reached the promotion playoffs but lost to Blackpool in the semi finals.

Financial nightmare and promotion

The 1992-93 season saw controversy at Underhill as Barnet chairman Stan Flashman regarding club accounts and players' wages, resulting in some nationwide back page headlines. In spite of this, Barnet finished third in the new Division Three and secured the final automatic promotion spot. Manager Barry Fry, however, left Barnet with a handful of games remaining and was replaced by his assistant Edwin Stein, who himself then left to join Fry in the summer at Southend United. Goalkeeper Gary Phillips took over as manager during a difficult summer in which Barnet marginally survived a vote of expulsion by a Football League EGM, and lost the vast majority of their promotion winning side in a tribunal which nullified the players' contracts. Phillips cobbled together a squad from the few remaining player and free transfers. In January 1994 Phillips was replaced by the former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence.

Relegation

Barnet's first season in Division Two ended in relegation and Clemence left in 1995 to be replaced by Alan Mullery (after a brief caretaker stint by Terry Bullivant). During the years up to 2000 Barnet established themselves in the basement division reaching two playoff semi-finals under new manager John Still, losing to Colchester United and Peterborough United respectively. But the club lost its league status in 2001 after ten years following a season which had seen Still resign and briefly be replaced by Tony Cottee before Still was reinstated. Still resigned again shortly after Barnet's return to the Conference and was replaced by Peter Shreeves.

Life in the Conference

Shreeves left after one year to be replaced by Martin Allen, who in turn left the club in March 2004 (to take charge at Brentford). Former Stevenage Borough manager Paul Fairclough replaced Allen for the remainder of the 2003-04 season, including the play-off matches against Shrewsbury Town, who defeated the Bees on penalties. The following season, 2004-05 , with Fairclough at the helm, the Bees went one better than the previous season and were crowned Champions of the Nationwide Conference and regained their football league status.

League comeback

The 2005-06 season has so far seen Barnet's recent form drop, after starting brightly. However, a timely cash injection was secured with a Carling Cup trip to Manchester United in October.

The new year saw a dip in form for Barnet, with only 1 win in the first 12 games of 2006. Relegation was always a possibility but good end of season form kept the Bees up. 3 home wins and a dramatic 2-1 victory at already relegated Rushden and Diamonds - Barnet's first away win since August - left Barnet finishing the season 5 places and 5 points above the relegation zone, yet only 12 points out of the playoffs. A big improvement is needed in 2006-07 if Barnet are to be serious promotion contenders, or even capable of avoiding relegation.

Trivia

Club vs. Council

Despite success on the pitch, off it Barnet FC have struggled to improve their ground. A plan to move to Copthall Stadium in Mill Hill was blocked by a Government Planning Inspector. There has always been problems with the ground, Underhill, which is in need of modernisation. A controversial sale of the ground's freehold in 2002 to the Club by the London Borough of Barnet has failed to produce any changes to the stadium . Meanwhile, the council have publicly said they will do what they can to help the club but this help has never materialised. Attempts by the club to sort out the ground issue, either by making improvements to the current site or by finding a site elsewhere in the borough, have so far failed, The Keep Barnet Alive movement have been central to fighting Barnet FC's corner on this issue.

Current squad

No. Player Position Year Signed Previous Club
Goalkeepers
1 Ross Flitney GK 2005 Fulham
- Lee Harrison GK 2006 Peterborough United
13 Ryan Jones GK 2005 Youth Team
Defenders
3 Simon King CB 2003 Oxford United
4 Ian Hendon (Captain) RB 2003 Peterborough United
5 Adam Gross LB 2005 Charlton Athletic
6 Anthony Charles CB 2005 Farnborough
14 Ismail Yakubu CB 2003 Youth Team
27 Paul Warhurst CB 2006 Wrexham
Midfielders
2 Nicky Bailey CM/LM 2004 Sutton United
8 Dean Sinclair CM/RM 2004 Norwich City
11 Richard Graham LM 2004 Kettering Town F.C.
25 Andy Hessenthaler CM 2006 Gillingham
Forwards
7 Liam Hatch ST 2003 Gravesend & Northfleet
9 Giuliano Grazioli ST 2003 Bristol Rovers
18 Tresor Kandol ST 2006 Dagenham & Redbridge
20 Jason Norville ST 2005 Watford
On trial with Barnet:

Gary Hooper, Nicky Nicolau, Jason Puncheon, James Frayne, Magno Vieira.

Honours

Club Records

Noteworthy former players

External links

 

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