| The Bees (as they are known
because the town's apiary was sited behind their Underhill ground in the
early 1900's) were formed in 1888, but due to an administrative
oversight, they did not turn professional until 1965. The management
committee at the time wanted to fire the person responsible for the
gaffe, but discovered that he had passed away fifteen years previously.
The ground had originally been in an area known as "Up The
Hill" and the slope that to this day exists is a constant reminder
of this. The club acquired it's name in the earliest matches, when a
team came out of the East End of London to play them and commented on
the manager's dodgy haircut in their colourful rhyming slang. They were
subsequently known as "Barnet's team".
Many years of mid-table
obscurity followed in the Isthmian League, the AC Delco League and the
GM Vauxhall League, with only fiercely contested local derbies with
Enfield Town to look forward to. Their close rivals invariably topped
the division in these days of re-election for the bottom Division Four
club, when the other League clubs looked after their own. However, in
the second season of automatic promotion, Barnet were elevated to League
status. It was then that their troubles really began.
Ticket broker and club
Chairman, Stan Flashman had a stormy love/hate relationship with large
and larger than life manager Barry Fry. The ground needed improvement as
some terracing was situated in neighbouring back gardens; some of the
roofing over the terraces was leakier than the team's defence and the
capacity of the ground was restricted for safety reasons (i.e. if a
group of fans were moving from one end of the ground to the other, they
could gain so much momentum going down the slope that a nasty accident
could occur). The sloping pitch proved of great benefit, especially to
the park footballers, when Barnet's opponents hoofed the ball over the
bar at the lower South Stand end. Promotion from the bottom division was
achieved, but despite a litany of ex-Spurs (Alan Mullery, Terry Gibson,
Ray Clemence) being involved in management at the club (or because of
it) they still linger in the Third Division.
In their non-league days, they
were noted for their giant-killing exploits, but this club, still in the
early years of it's League life are pressing for promotion and a move to
a bigger and better ground at Hendon to make the future brighter for
them and their supporters. A start was made on the pitch, when
they reached the 1999-2000 play-offs, but lost out in the semi-final.
Unfortunately for the Bee's,
the 2000-2001 season was plagued by uncertainty. A poor start saw
Tony Cottee installed as manager, while John Still was "moved
upstairs", but he had to get down those stairs when Cottee was
removed from his post in March 2001. Even he couldn't turn the
tide and after another bad run, it all came down to a last game showdown
with Torquay United at Underhill. Losing their goalkeeper and
missing a penalty, they went down 2-3 and went down and out of the
League.
Making changes including
bringing in experienced Conference manager Paul Fairclough and some
experienced players the club gained promotion back to the League as
champions in 2005 and looked forward to a successful return. With
problems still surrounding their home ground, it could be a difficult time for the North London side and
could be some time before there is honey again for tea.
FAMOUS PLAYERS: - Dougie
Freedman, Jimmy Greaves (although he doesn't remember too much about his
time there), George Best, Norman Wurst.
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