Barnet FC

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Barnet FC
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Basic data
Surname Barnet Football Club
Seat London - Barnet , England
founding 1888
Board Anthony Kleanthous
Website barnetfc.com
First soccer team
Head coach Peter Beadle
Venue The Hive Stadium
Places 5,100
league National League
2019/20 7th place
home
Away

The FC Barnet (officially: Barnet Football Club ) - also known as The Bees ( German  bee ) - is an English football club based in Barnet , a suburb of London's northern border. The long-standing amateur club only became an official professional club in 1965 and first took part in professional football in the Football League in 1991. From 2005 to the 2012/13 season they played in the Football League Two , the fourth-highest division in England. The club currently plays in the fifth-tier National League .

Club history

Early days of the association (1888–1901)

Barnet FC was founded in 1888. Before it was known under the name Woodville FC (between 1882 and 1885) and then as New Barnet FC (1885 to 1888), the teams consisting mainly of graduates from Cowley College and Lyonsdown Collegiate School in New Barnet. From November 1889 the new club played in the "Queens Road" after the "Victoria Recreation Ground" had previously been the sporting home.

After a few friendly matches in the loosely organized “Olympian League”, FC Barnet joined the “North London League” as a founding member in 1892 and later won the championship title after two runners-up in Division 1 of the “North Middlesex League” in 1895 and 1896 first trophy in the Premier Division. This was followed by participation in the local cup competitions, both in the youth and in the adult sector.

At that time, the club defeated clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Thames Ironworks (later: "West Ham United"), but made a name for themselves through exciting duels against the northern clubs North Enfield, Finchley FC and Hendon Town. A special rivalry also developed with the "Barnet Avenue Football Club".

Barnet FC won the second division championship in the London League in 1898 and then played in the top division of this league - together with Woolwich Arsenal (later: "Arsenal FC"), Thames Ironworks, Clapton Orient (later: "Leyton Orient"), the Queens Park Rangers and the reserve teams of Millwall Athletic (later: "Millwall FC") and Tottenham Hotspur.

The club plunged into its first major crisis in 1899 when the London Football Authority imposed a six-week ban on FC Barnet. Despite his amateur status, he had previously paid his players several sums of money. The suspension led the club into financial distress, which, among other things, resulted in the home venue being rented to local rivals Barnet Avenue. The FC Barnet tried to continue playing in the lower class "North Middlesex League" to maintain, but due to the overwhelming debt burden, the club finally broke up in November 1901.

A new name (1901-1919)

The formerly bitter local rival Barnet Avenue, which was originally made up of former students from the "Christ Church School", continued to play in Queens Park, renamed itself "Barnet Football Club" in 1904 and played in the 1905/06 season second division of the London League. For the 1907/08 season the club joined the amateur football association “Amateur Football Association” and won the “Chiswick League” undefeated in the further course of the season. Further successes were winning the championship in the "Middlesex County Amateur League" in 1910 and winning the "Hertfordshire Charity Cup". Barnet Avenue returned to the London Football Association in 1910 and two years later the club merged with the Barnet Alston AFC club, also based in Barnet.

This Barnet Alston AFC had already been founded in 1901 as the "Alston Works Association Football Club" and after the dissolution of the original Barnet FC it had gained strong support from local fans. The club, formed from employees of a factory for dental products, made a name for itself as "The Dentals", renamed itself to "Barnet Alston AFC" in the 1904/05 season and was overall very successful in the London League in a duel against the reserve teams of the renowned Professional clubs. In the 1906/07 season the club became champions in the London League and in 1907 they moved to the current Underhill Stadium on Barnet Lane (the club had previously played at "Underhill Farm" and later at "Totteridge Lane" ). The first game at Underhill Stadium took place on September 14, 1907 against Crystal Palace and was won 1-0. A big surprise success in the 1908/09 season was the entry into the fifth qualifying round of the FA Cup , in which Barnet Alston was then defeated 3-0 in the home stadium against Exeter City - which had played with many top-class players.

After the merger with Barnet FC (formerly: Barnet Avenue), the new club was named "Barnet and Alston Football Club", played its home games at Underhill Stadium and appeared in the first year with the purple-black colors of the original Barnet FC on. The team acted both in the 1912 newly founded Athenian League and in the "Middlesex League". In the following season, however, the team returned to the amber-black clothing of Barnet Alston. The outbreak of the First World War finally brought about the cessation of official gaming operations in 1914 and Barnet & Alston mainly engaged in friendly matches. To date, the club had first won the runner-up in the Athenian League and finished sixth in 1914.

The years in the "Athenian League" (1919–1965)

After the First World War, Barnet FC was born for the third time in 1919, when the management of Barnet & Alston decided to use the name "Barnet Football Club" from now on. In the Athenian League, which has now expanded to twelve clubs, the club finished last with only two points and initiated a series of restructuring.

In the mid-1920s, these had a positive effect for the first time when they first survived the first rounds of the FA Cup in the 1924/25 season and then failed again in the sixth qualifying round at Exeter City 3-0 - but now away from the Southwest Coast Club . In the two years later, Barnet FC moved into the first main round of the cup competition and lost there in both cases to the professional competition - a 3-1 at Brentford FC followed by a 3-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion . The high point of this decade was the win of the Hertfordshire Charity Cup in 1927, which was won in the final against "St Albans City" - after all, multiple champions of the Isthmian League . In the meantime, the club had laid the foundation for a better infrastructure by building a new grandstand in Underhill Stadium in 1926, which paid off after the end of the 1929/30 season by winning the runner-up and thus the best placement in ten years. Above all, young players from Tottenham Hotspur were part of the team, which included the later Welsh internationals Taffy O'Callaghan , Willie Evans and Bill Whatley .

With increased self-confidence, the club went into the 1930s and won in the 1930/31 season straight away - and for the first time - the championship in the Athenian League, twelve points behind the runner-up. The team was after an early 1: 5 defeat against Walthamstow Avenue until the last game day - where they lost again with 2: 3 against Sutton United - remained without further defeat. FC Barnet won this title again two years later and came in the same season to an FA Cup encounter with the Queens Park Rangers, which they lost 3: 7 in front of 7,000 spectators. Up until the outbreak of the Second World War , the club had a few cup wins, with the triumph in the London Senior Cup, which has been played since 1883 in front of 20,000 spectators at Highbury in 1938, after a final victory against Leyton FC, is the highlight. During the fighting, the game was also in the Athenian League. Instead, the club played in a so-called "Wartime League" and achieved some successes in smaller cup competitions.

After the war, the Barnet FC had - unlike many other personnel injured clubs - a closed cadre of old players and could muster a team with targeted young reinforcements that in 1946 the FA Amateur Cup won while in the final at Stamford Bridge before 53,802 spectators defeated Bishop Auckland FC 3-2. The subsequent 1946/47 season was even more successful and FC Barnet won three trophies in domestic cup competitions in addition to the championship in the Athenian League. A preliminary high point was the game against the Hong Kong- based Chinese club "Sing Tao Sports Club" in the 1947/48 season , which was the first official clash between a Chinese club in England and in front of 5,000 spectators at FC Barnet 5-3 found her winner.

In the 1950s, the performance dropped significantly and the club even withdrew its men's team from play at times - in favor of two youth teams. The Underhill Stadium was also sold to the city council, which in turn leased it back to the club. FC Barnet did not show its first sporty recreational features until the 1957/58 season when it reached the semi-finals in the FA Amateur Cup, which finally manifested itself in the renewed championship win in the Athenian League at the end of the 1958/59 season (the double missed together with the amateur cup mentioned above the club by a narrow 3-2 defeat in the final against Crook Town). By 1965, after two runners-up championships, the club was able to win two more Athenian League titles in 1964 and 1965 and was also in the third main round of the FA Cup for the first time in January 1965, with an unlucky own goal at home two minutes before the end Losing 2: 3 against Preston North End .

The rise to a professional club (1965–1991)

For the 1965/66 season, FC Barnet developed semi-professional structures and signed players for the first time on the basis of professional contracts. The structure of the team consisted of the previous amateurs, who continued to insist on their status. After 52 years of membership in the Athenian League - in which a total of six championships were won - the team now acted in the "Southern League Division I" and was able to win the championship and the associated promotion to the "Southern Premier League" right away. to celebrate. There they stayed from now on mostly in the midfield of the league and drew attention in the 1970/71 season again by moving into the third FA Cup main round, in which they 0-1 against Colchester United - this team was in further course still successful against Leeds United - lost. Exactly in the same round, FC Barnet failed in the 1972/73 season against the Queens Park Rangers , where they fought for a replay with a 0-0 on Loftus Road , which was then won at home underhill stadium in front of 11,000 spectators with 0: 3 was lost.

In the championship, the club rose again at the end of the 1974/75 season in Division I of the Southern League, only to return to the top Southern League division two years later. The two years there were marked by former top players who were in the fall of their careers and including prominent names such as Jimmy Greaves , Marvin Hinton , Bob McNab , Terry Mancini and John Fairbrother . When the Southern League merged with the Northern Premier League to form the new Alliance Premier League (later: "Football Conference") in 1979, FC Barnet was also included in the new division due to its seasonal placements in previous years. There was only very close to relegation in the first few years, but the team from then on showed an upward tendency, which was in the 1982/83 season in 15th place and a year later in ninth position.

A weak start to the 1984/85 season was followed by the change of coach from Barry Fry to Roger Thompson, an immediate turning point and the club lost only one of the remaining thirteen championship games. Nevertheless, in the 1985/86 season only the 14th place could be achieved and, after Dom MacAllister Thompson was succeeded in the coaching office, Fry took over the sporting leadership of the team again in July 1986. In the second half of the 1980s, FC Barnet developed into a permanent championship contender and initiated this series by winning the runner-up in the 1986/87 season. You had to let Scarborough FC take precedence in promotion to the professional Football League as second as a year later Lincoln City , which had been relegated from the Fourth Division of the Football League only a year earlier . A transition season in 1988/89, in which Barnet FC was only able to occupy eighth place, was followed by another runner-up in 1990 - now behind Darlington FC . Only the fourth attempt then led to success in 1991 after the club had previously fought a four-way battle with Colchester United , Kettering Town and FC Altrincham.

First stay in the Football League (1991-2001)

The "Bees" made a name for themselves in the 1991/92 season due to their fast and offensive style of play, which was already evident in the first two games. The first game against Crewe Alexandra was lost 4-7 and this was followed by a 5-5 in the League Cup against Brentford FC . At the end of the season, FC Barnet reached the play-off games for promotion to the third division, but lost in the semi-finals against FC Blackpool .

The 1992/93 season was probably the most eventful season for FC Barnet in the recent past. The club was about to close when players' salaries could not be paid on time and the financial situation was discussed in the national media landscape. In the midst of the controversy was club chairman Stan Flashman , who had only bought the club in 1985 for only 50,000 pounds and had formed a successful duo with coach Fry by then. Although Fry had a significant share in the sporting rise of FC Barnet, Flashman dismissed him and only hired him a short time later. The appointment of his son Mark as reserve goalkeeper for Barnet FC also seemed a bit bizarre and an injury to regular goalkeeper Gary Phillips resulted in the short-term commitment of substitute Andy Pape. These problems were not carried over to the overall athletic performance and so at the end of the season Barnet rose to third place in the third-class Second Division . Coach Fry had resigned before the end of the season and his successor Edwin Stein also followed Fry to his new employer Southend United .

In a difficult phase, the former goalkeeper Phillips took over the coaching business at the club, which had narrowly escaped expulsion from the Football League and had to part with a large part of its promotion team, as a number of player contracts had been canceled. From the remaining players and free transfers, Phillips put together a new team and from January 1994 received support from former England goalkeeper Ray Clemence in their joint coaching work. With only five wins in the entire season, however, the club rose again to fourth class and Clemence took over sole sporting management in August of that year. In the fourth-class third division , Clemence reached ninth and then eleventh place with FC Barnet before joining the English national team in 1996 as a goalkeeping coach. He was followed by Alan Mullery as coach at FC Barnet after two interim solutions .

By 2000, the club - later under the coach John Still - had two opportunities to return to the third division via the play-off games. FC Barnet lost in both cases in the semi-finals: After Colchester United had won against the Bees in 1998 , it was Peterborough United two years later . In the tenth year of membership in the Football League came the sporting crash of FC Barnet in the 2000/01 season, when after 25 defeats in 46 games in last place, relegation from the Football League was sealed. Still had resigned briefly during this season. His successor Tony Cottee then looked after the club only briefly and was inherited again by Still, who in turn declared his final withdrawal after the end of the season and was replaced by Peter Shreeves .

Back in the Football Conference (2001-2005)

Shreeves left the club after just a year and the new coach Martin Allen would take over until he left for Brentford FC in March 2004. With Paul Fairclough , the former coach of Stevenage Borough looked after the team for the remaining season games of the 2003/04 season, which culminated in a play-off encounter with Shrewsbury Town . After a 2-1 first leg win at Underhill Stadium, Barnet FC lost 1-0 in their second game against Shrewsbury Town. The subsequent penalty shootout, FC Barnet finally lost with 3: 5 goals. But just a year later, the Bees under Fairclough won the championship in the Conference National and returned to professional football in the Football League. The title was secured with a clear 12 point gap on the runner-up and 90 goals.

The second attempt in professional football (2005–2012 / 13)

In the 2005/06 season, FC Barnet started surprisingly well and even led the table for a short time after four games. The further course of the season turned out to be increasingly tough and the supporters of FC Barnet had to tremble for a long time about staying in the league, until finally three home wins and an exciting 2-1 win against the already relegated club Rushden & Diamonds for the Relegation ensured. Another highlight of this season and at the same time a healthy injection of money was the league cup encounter against the top club Manchester United when FC Barnet lost 4-1 at Old Trafford in October 2005 . The Bees had to accept a red card for goalkeeper Ross Flitney after just two minutes of play .

In the 2006-07 season, FC Barnet finished after a weak start to the fourteenth place a position in the middle of the league but came in the FA Cup to his greatest success by the first-time achievement of the fourth main round - before had the second division Colchester United defeat can. In the home game against Plymouth Argyle , however, Barnet lost on January 27, 2007 at their home base Underhill Stadium 2-0. The following season 2007/08 the club finished with a slight upward trend in twelfth place. After a seventeenth place in the 2008/09 season, the club fought in the following seasons against relegation, but was always able to save itself from it.

After a desperate start to the 2012/13 season - the club finished last with three points from eleven games - the former Dutch international Edgar Davids was signed as the new coach in October 2012 . The coach Mark Robson , who was newly signed for the 2012/13 season, remained in office. In addition, Davids announced that he intends to play for the fourth division side as a player. At the end of the season, the club finished penultimate and was relegated to the conference.

In January 2014 player-coach Edgar Davids left the club.

Stadion

Despite the success on a sporting level, it was not possible to modernize the Underhill Stadium in which the club played since 1907. The alternative plan of FC Barnet to move to the "Copthall Stadium" in Mill Hill was rated just as negatively by the responsible planning department as a possible move to "South Underhill".

The renovation problems at Underhill Stadium, which aim to meet the requirements of the Football League, have existed for many years. The London Borough of Barnet has pledged help to the association, but this has not yet resulted in concrete improvement measures. Attempts by the club to get the stadium problems under control themselves, be it by renovating Underhill or even finding a new venue, have so far failed. The “Keep Barnet Alive” campaign, which arose in times of financial problems, has emerged as an important initiative, which is very popular and receives broad support from the public - especially when it comes to collecting funds.

On April 20, 2013 Barnet played his last home game at Underhill Stadium. Barnet will play the home games next season at The Hive Stadium . The Hive on Camrose Avenue in the Harrow borough previously served as the training ground for Barnet FC. Now a venue has been created there, which offers 5100 spectators (3500 of them seated). The future of Hive Stadium is secured for 10 years. During this time, the club hopes to build a new stadium with a capacity for 10,000 spectators. The location for this new building has not yet been determined.

useful information

  • Arsenal FC's reserve team usually play their home games at Underhill Stadium.
  • The pre-season friendly match between Barnet FC and Arsenal FC has become an annual tradition.
  • In the recent past, FC Barnet has increasingly become a preferred "second club" among fans of the major London football clubs. In particular, there are extensive connections to Arsenal FC and West Ham United .
  • The red and white rose, as well as the crossed swords shown in the coat of arms, point to the Battle of Barnet of 1471, which was a significant contest during the Wars of the Roses .
  • In October 1946, the game of Barnet FC against Wealdstone became the first live football match. After twenty minutes from the first half and 35 minutes from the second half, the broadcast had to be canceled due to the darkness.
  • A well-known fan of Barnet FC is BBC football commentator John Motson . Even when commenting on English international matches during a World Cup, he often mentions Barnet FC in an aside.

Player of the year

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ barnetfc.com: DUTCH LEGEND DAVIDS SIGNS FOR BARNET FC , October 11, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012
  2. ↑ EDGAR DAVIDS LEAVES BARNET FC barnetfc.com, accessed January 20, 2014 (English)
  3. ↑ Barnet: Football League ratifies move to The Hive BBC News 12 February, 2013, accessed April 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ Barnet wins last match at Underhill BBC News April 20, 2013, accessed April 22, 2013