The Club Feature is going to take place every fortnight, we will be putting a club under the spotlight and looking into their background and looking into some of their history and see how the future is looking.
Last week Nik kindly wrote about his thoughts about how the takeover at Notts County was looking. This week I bring you my take on Barnet before we move into our fortnightly slot.
Any suggestions into which clubs you would like us to look at and write about are welcomed and we will try and cater to all the ideas we get.
What a difference 20 years make!
Close to financial ruin but after a turbulent time with highs and lows along the way its Barnet that currently top the League 2 table. Here is some insight into what has happened at Underhill during this time.
In July 1986 Barry Fry made a much welcomed return to the club, having left the club for Maidstone United in the 84-85 season. He his return saw Barnet finish runners up in the newly formed Football Conference earning themselves a reputation of a highly attacking team, scoring 86 goals in the process and being beaten to the all important promotion slot by Scarborough.
In the following season Barnet once again finished runners up, this time to Lincoln City. Lincoln had been relegated from the Fourth Division the previous season and made an instant return leaving The Bees disappointed once more.
The 87-88 season saw the club have their worst finish under Fry in his second spell at the club. The club looked strong contenders for the title at the beginning of the season but as the season was played out promotion soon became a distant thought and were soon in the mix with the relegation contenders. Luckily Fry did steer the club clear of the relegation places and finished in a respectable 8th place. In that season the club used no fewer than 47 players!
The 89-90 season saw Barnet battling it out at the right end of the table once again and once again finished in the runners up position, this time it was Darlington that beat them to the top slot.
Finally in the 90-91 season Barnet and Fry got what they deserved after being runners up three times in four years, promotion!
The club had to wait until the final game of the season to wrap it all up but after victory against Fisher Athletic the club had finally reached the Fourth Division and entered the Football League. Barnet also enjoyed a good cup run that year, reaching the 3rd round and being knocked out by Portsmouth in the process.
Having gained a reputation of good attacking football whilst playing in the Conference, Barnet did not disappoint in their first two fixtures. In the first ever league match played by the club the end result was a 7-4 defeat at home to Crewe Alexandra and in the League Cup fixture following that a 5-5 draw with Brentford was played out.
After that exciting start The Bees continued to make a good impression on the Fourth Division, making the end of season Play-Offs. They lost the semi final fixture against Blackpool but having only just entered the Football league the fans must’ve been proud of their efforts.
In the following 92-93 season the Fourth Division became the Third Division after the formation of the Premier League.
It was this season Barnet were hit by controversy!
Stan Flashman, the clubs Chairman, came under fire for his dealing with the clubs accounts and players wages. The whole saga was printed all over the back of the countries back page headlines and really put the club under an unwanted spotlight.
Barry Fry left his position a few games before the end of the season but this did not stop the club from taking third and final automatic promotion spot in the league table, earning them the right to play Division 2 football just two seasons after arriving from the non leagues.
During the close season Barnet marginally survived a vote of expulsion by the Football League EGM but despite the decision the club lost the vast majority of the team that helped the team gain promotion through a tribunal which nullified the player’s contracts.
Gary Phillips took the reins and scraped together a team of players through free transfers ready for the new season. In January 94 Ray Clemence came in to assist Phillips but couldn’t help prevent the club from getting relegated that season.
Phillips was relieved off his duties at the end of the season and Clemence himself took charge of the club.
During his two years in the hot seat Clemence took the club to 9th and 11th in Division Three but left the club in 1996 to become Goalkeeping coach for England.
The 96-97 season was the most unstable for the club. Terry Bullivant had two spells as caretaker, Terry Gibson also had a spell as caretaker, Alan Mullery was in charge for a short period of time before departing and then finally John Still came into the club in 1997.
Still was manager for four years and lead the club to two Play Off semi finals but the 00-01 season saw Still depart, Tony Cottee replaced him from a short period before returning just as the club had lost their football league status after ten years in the big time.
More trouble off the field distracted Barnet once again.
In 2002 the controversial sale of the freehold on Underhill was sold to the club by the London Borough of Barnet went ahead but has not seen any changes made to the stadium.
The council spoke out in support of the club and has said publicly that they would help the club with the stadiums modernisation but no help had materialised initially but an additional 2000 covered seats to comply with the Football League requirements.
Work on the South Stand was finally started in late 2007 and took just over a month to complete. The North Stand had a temporary structure with more covered seating put in place, this is used by away fans on their visit to Underhill now.
A graphical view of Underhill now.
Back to the football.....
Peter Shreeves took control at Underhill for a season following Still’s failure to take Barnet back up at the first time of asking. Shreeves was given the job for a season before leaving.
Martin Allen, a young hungry manager was given his first big test in management in 2003.
Allen completely overhauled the squad in time for the 2003-2004 season and made the papers for holding a squad get together at his house as a team bonding day and bring the club much closer together as a unit.
Unfortunately due to Allen’s successful period at the club it was Brentford who came into offer ‘Mad Dog’ their vacant manager’s position just two months before the season was due to finish.
Paul Fairclough took the reins and finished off the hard work by leading Barnet into the Play Offs once again but ended up losing to Shrewsbury Town on penalties.
This was enough to give Fairclough the full time position and lead the club onwards and completely take the league by storm, winning the league by 12 points. Having topped the table after beating Canvey Island 1-0 in August the club never looked back. Producing displays from the old Barry Fry days with an attacking brand of football and seeing the goals fly in, especially in the first half of the season, the title was wrapped up with weeks to spare bringing Barnet back to the Football League.
Barnet started the new season in League 2 as strongly as the finished the last, topping the table. As the season wore on the form began to slip and the club started to tumble down the league. A good cup run was the highest point in the year when they reached the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, being drawn against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The dream became a nightmare for Ross Flitney as after two minutes into the game he was sent off. Barnet ended up losing the game 4-1 but could take great heart from a battling performance and a score line that flattered the hosts.
Eventually the club avoided relegation on the final game of the season by defeating already relegated Rushden and Diamonds 2-1 and lifting the club up to 18th position.
In the following two seasons Fairclough enjoyed more success in the cups than in the league, finishing 12th in both seasons but reaching the FA Cup 4th round in both seasons.
It was halfway into the 08-09 season that enough was enough and once again flirting in the lower half of the table that Fairclough finally decided to leave the club after two and a half years of struggle.
Ian Hendon was given the reins as caretaker manager and made a few astute signings immediately. Paul Furlong, Gary Breen and Matt Lockwood were three of the five names joining in the January transfer window. Hendon and the new signings soon buoyed with a 4-1 thrashing handed to high flying Bradford. Further wins against Rochdale and Chester as well as a 6 match unbeaten streak at home helped Barnet to 17th place in the end of season table.
After enjoying six months as caretaker boss Ian Hendon was signed up to a two year contract and the team building soon began by bringing in Jake Hyde (Swindon, free), Jake Cole (QPR, free), Yannick Bolasie (Plymouth, loan), Albert Jarrett (Gillingham, free), Paul Furlong (Free) and also bringing in Ahmed Deen on a non contract basis.
The much anticipated start of the new season didn’t get off to the best of starts for Barnet. A 1-0 defeat at Lincoln and a 2-0 defeat, albeit in extra time, in the League Cup to Championship side Watford must’ve had The Bees faithful wondering if another season of finishing mid-table was on the cards yet again, even at the earliest stage of the season.
However the last five games (one of which in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) has produced five wins, including a 1-0 victory against Sven’s Notts County. Four straight clean sheets were kept before the 3-1 victory over Northampton on Friday night as Hendon’s Bees climbed to the top of the table, having played a game more. However after Saturday’s game the club did drop down to fourth position, however it is an excellent return from the six games played.
With players of the quality of Micah Hyde, Ishmael Yakubu, John O’Flynn, Albert Jarrett, Gary Breen and Paul Furlong at the clubs disposal it certainly looks as if there are exciting times at Underhill under Hendon’s guidance.
It’s excellent to see a young manager getting the chance with a club like Barnet and hopefully bringing back the good times from the Barry Fry era back to the club.
Let’s hope the continued hard work pays off and hopefully we will be seeing The Bees in League 1 with Hendon in charge in the very near future.
