Unreliable History
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. Promotion was achieved in 2005 and the team managed to stay up on the last day of the season for two years running, but got through managers like used fivers. However, in 2013, things looked a little brighter with their final season at Underhill before moving to a new complex at Barnet Copthall seeing the team under the management of former Dutch international and Champions League winner Edgar Davids. The new manager was going to give trying to save Barnet from relegation his best shot and hoped to be as successful as rescuing 36 Barnet fans whose transport had broken down on a cold and snowy trip back from Accrington Stanley … and all without being paid a salary too ! Unfortunately, a slide into the National League in 2018 came just ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit lower Famous Players : – Dougie Freedman, Jimmy Greaves (although he doesn’t remember too much about his time there), George Best, Norman Wurst. Famous Fans : – . |
Club Records
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Formed | 1888 |
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Turned Professional | 1965 |
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Became a Limited Company | 1965 |
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Previous names | Woodville = 1882-1885 New Barnet = 1885-1888 Barnet = 1888-1906 Barnet Alston FC = 1906-1912 Barnet and Alston FC = 1912-1919 |
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Previous grounds | Underhill = |
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Nickname | “The BEES” |
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Motto | “-“ |
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Club Colours [Images courtesy of the wonderful Colours of Football website] |
HOME : ![]() AWAY : |
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Record Football League Win | 7-0 v Blackpool (home) Division 3 11.11.2000 |
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Record Football League Defeat | 1-9 v Peterborough United (home) Division 3 05.09.1998 |
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Record Cup Win | 6-1 v Newport County (home) FA Cup First Round 21.11.1970 |
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Record Fee Paid | £130,000 to Peterborough United for Greg HEALD (August 1997) |
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Record Fee Received | £800,000 from Crystal Palace for Dougie FREEDMAN (September 1995) |
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Record Appearances (includes non-league appearances) | 648 – Les EASTON (1967-1974 & 1977-1978) |
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Record League Appearances | 263 – Paul WILSON (1991-2000) |
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Record League goal-scorer | 47 – Sean DEVINE (1995-1999) |
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Record all-time goal-scorer | 403 – Arthur MORRIS (1927-1936) |
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Record goal-scorer in a season | ?? – ?? Division ?? (19??-19??) |
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Record goal-scorer in a League season | 24 – Dougie FREEDMAN Division 3 (1994-1995) |
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Most goals scored in a League match | 4 – Dougie FREEDMAN v Rochdale (Division 3) 13.09.1994 4 – Lee HODGES v Rochdale (Division 3) 08.04.1996 |
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Record Home Attendance (Underhill) | 11,026 v Wycombe Wanderers (FA Amateur Cup) 23.02.1952 |
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Record Home Attendance (The Hive) | 5,539 v Chesterfield (League 2) 05.05.2018 |
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Record total of goals in a League season | 81 – Division 3 (1991-1992) |
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Record League points total | 3 points for a win : 79 – (1992-1993) Division 3 (42 games) |
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Most Capped Player while at club | 6 – Warren HACKETT (St. Lucia) |
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Youngest Player | Kieran ADAMS – 17 years and 71 days v Mansfield Town (Division 3) 31.12.1994 |
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Oldest Player | ?? – ?? years and ?? days v ?? (Division ??) .. |
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Stadium details
Address : The Hive, Camrose Avenue, Edgware HA8 6AG
Telephone : 020 8381 3800
Ticket Office : 020 8381 3800
Capacity : 6,500 (limited to 5,176 by Local Authority restrictions)
Pitch size : m x m (115 yards x 75 yards)
Official website : barnetfc.com
Directions
There are good directions to The Hive on the Barnet FC website.
Honours
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Conference Champions (Fifth Tier) | 1990-1991, 2004-2005, 2014-2015 |
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Conference Runners-up (Fifth Tier) | 1986-1987, 1987-1988, 1989-1990 |
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FA Trophy Finalists | 1971-1972 |
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Conference League Cup Winners | 1989 |
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Conference League Cup Finalists | 1984, 1986 |
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FA Amateur Cup Winners | 1945-1946 |
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Managers
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Tom GLASS | 1922-1929 |
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Reg CLAYTON | 1929-1937 |
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Bert FYDELOR | 1937-1939 |
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Gerry KIMBER | 1939-1945 |
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Lester FINCH | 1945-1951 |
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Sonny WEIGHTMAN | 1951 |
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Lester FINCH | 1951-1954 |
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George WHEELER | 1954-1956 |
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Ted CRAWFORD | 1956-1957 |
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George WHEELER | 1957-1961 |
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Wally LINES | 1961-1962 |
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Dexter ADAMS | 1962-1970 |
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Tommy COLEMAN | 1970- 1973 |
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Gerry WARD | 1973-1974 |
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Gordon FERRY | 1974 |
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Brian KELLY | 1974-1975 |
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Colin FLATT | 1975-1976 |
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Billy MEADOWS | 1976-1979 |
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Barry FRY | 1979-1985 |
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Roger THOMPSON | 1985 |
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Don McALLISTER | 1985-1986 |
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Barry FRY | 1986-1993 |
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Edwin STEIN | 1993-1994 |
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Gary PHILLIPS | 1994 |
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Ray CLEMENCE/Gary PHILLIPS | 1994 |
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Ray CLEMENCE | 1994-1996 |
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Terry BULLIVANT | 1996 |
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Terry GIBSON | 1996 |
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Alan MULLERY | 1996-1997 |
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Terry BULLIVANT | 1997 |
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John STILL | 1997-2001 |
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Tony COTTEE | 2001 |
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John STILL | 2001-2003 |
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Peter SHREEVES | 2003 |
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Martin ALLEN | 2003-2004 |
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Adrian WHITBREAD/Damien DOYLE (Joint Caretaker) | 2004 |
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Ian HENDON/ Danny MADDIX (Joint Caretaker) | 2004 |
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Paul FAIRCLOUGH | 2004-2008 |
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Ian HENDON | 2008-2010 |
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Paul FAIRCLOUGH (Caretaker) | 2010 |
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Mark STIMSON | 2010-2011 |
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Paul FAIRCLOUGH (Caretaker) | 2011 |
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Martin ALLEN | 2011 |
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Giuliano GRAZIOLI (Caretaker) | 2011 |
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Lawrie SANCHEZ | 2011-2012 |
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Martin ALLEN | 2012 |
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Mark ROBSON | 2012 |
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Mark ROBSON & Edgar DAVIDS | 2012 |
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Edgar DAVIDS | 2012-2014 |
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Paul FAIRCLOUGH (Caretaker) | 2014 |
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Ulrich LAND/Dick SCHREUDER | 2014 |
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Martin ALLEN | 2014-2016 |
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Rossi EAMES/ Henry NEWMAN (Interim Managers) | 2016-2017 |
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Kevin NUGENT | 2017 |
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Rossi EAMES (Interim Manager) | 2017 |
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Rossi EAMES | 2017 |
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Mark McGHEE | 2017-2018 |
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Graham WESTLEY | 2018 |
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Martin ALLEN | 2018 |
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John STILL | 2018 |
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Darren CURRIE (Interim Manager) | 2018 |
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Darren CURRIE | 2018-2020 |
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Peter BEADLE | 2020 |
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Tim FLOWERS | 2020-2021 |
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Paul FAIRCLOUGH (Caretaker) | 2021 |
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Gary ANDERSON (Caretaker) | 2021 |
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Simon BASSEY (Interim) | 2021 |
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League Record
The Football League structure has historically been as follows …
1888-1892 | 1892-1920 | 1920-1921 | 1921-1958 | 1958-1992 | 1992-2004 | 2004 to date | |
First tier | Football League | Division One | Division One | Division One | Division One | Premiership | Premier League |
Second tier | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | Division One | Championship | |
Third tier | Division Three | Division Three (North) and (South) |
Division Three | Division Two | League One | ||
Fourth tier | Division Four | Division Three | League Two | ||||
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Promoted to Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1991 |
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Division Four (Fourth Tier) | 1991-1992 |
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Division Three (Fourth Tier) | 1992-1993 |
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Division Two (Third Tier) | 1993-1994 |
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Division Three (Fourth Tier) | 1994-2001 |
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Conference (Fifth Tier) | 2001-2005 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2005-2013 |
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Conference (Fifth Tier) | 2013-2015 |
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League Two (Fourth Tier) | 2015-2018 |
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Conference (Fifth Tier) | 2018- |
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