CLUB GUIDE: Barnet

Barnet Football Club are an English football team from High Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England.

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, Marlon King, Andy Clarke, Linvoy Primus and Maik Taylor.

Recent Times

Life in the Conference (2001-2005)

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, which was taken to penalties after a 2-2 aggregate score (Barnet won 2-1 at Underhill, Shrewsbury Town winning 1-0 at Gay Meadow), with Shrewsbury Town winning 5-4 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, after amassing a impressive 86 points in the season, and scoring 90 goals with it. Barnet also finished 12 points ahead of their nearest rival, Hereford United.

League comeback (2005-)

The 2005-06 season started brightly, with Barnet leading League two after four games, but results started to slide soon after. A timely cash injection was secured with a Carling Cup trip to Manchester United in October. 4,000 fans made the trip up to the Theatre of Dreams. The new year saw a further slump 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.

The 2006-07 season started poorly for Barnet, but a mid-season rally saw them finish 2006 in mid-table. A good run in the FA Cup has also seen them reach the fourth round of that competition for the first time in their history, downing Championship side Colchester United in the process. They played Plymouth Argyle at home on 27th January in the fourth round but lost 2-0.