Vital Statistics
Founded: 1888
Chairman: Anthony Kleanthous
Last Season: League Two - 15th
Nicknames: The Bees
Rivals: Enfield Town, Stevenage
Major Honours
None
Scheduled Matches
Portsmouth vs Barnet: Saturday, September 24th (3pm)
Barnet vs Portsmouth: Saturday, February 18th (3pm)
Barnet: A brief history
The current Barnet FC is actually the third instance of the club with the original formed in 1888 dissolving in 1902 and the second, originally named Barnet Avenue, merging with Barnet Alston to form the club's current guise which played much of its early football in the Athenian League at the famous sloping pitch of Underhill.
The Bees joined the non-league system in the sixties and were eventually promoted to the Football League in 1991 and briefly played in Division Two but financial problems and a controversial ownership saw fortunes flag and they were relegated back to the Conference in 2001 but returned to the league again in 2005.
Their stay in League Two lasted until 2013 when they were relegated to non-league football again and the club also lost its long-running battle with the council and was forced to move from Underhill and into the new Hive stadium.
The Manager: Martin Allen
The player known as "Mad Dog" had a spell at Pompey after making his mark (quite literally) at West Ham and QPR. He retired in 1998 and became Alan Pardew's assistant manager at Reading before taking on his first full managerial role at Barnet.
Allen is now in his fourth stint with the Bees having left them the first time for Brentford where he began to shine as a manager, although he dropped a division to manage MK Dons where a successful season saw him approached by Milan Mandaric to become the next Leicester manager.
In typical "Mad Mandy" fashion, Allen was sacked after just four games and eventually returned to Barnet twice more with spells at Cheltenham and Notts County in between. Having kept Barnet in the league yet again, he took over at Gillingham and won League Two before being sacked the following season. He then joined Barnet once more, where he won the Conference last season.
The Ground: The Hive (Capacity: 5,200 - Away: 1,700)
For those Pompey fans who decide to take up the standing option behind the goal last season and braved the wintery weather and the sticky floors, you may be happy (or unhappy) to know that this terrace has now been demolished and replaced by an all-seated stand ready for this upcoming season.
For those Pompey fans who decided to take the seated option, they were situated to the side of the pitch in the West Stand. This is shared with Barnet fans but they were outnumbered and the total attendance for Pompey games in this new stadium is likely to see the home support totally outnumbered also.
The South Terrace looks very much like the old North Terrace where the visiting fans stood. I wonder if the Barnet fans had to put up with sticky floors too?
The East Stand is a basic seated area with the managers' dugouts in full view. The players also emerge from the corner of the ground.
