After a decade away Barnet Football Club is promoting a plan to end its exile in Harrow and return to Underhill
Barnet Football Club is preparing a planning application for a possible return to Barnet on a site close by its former stadium at Underhill.
If Barnet Council could be persuaded to agree – and this seems “highly unlikely” – the club would build a new stadium on playing fields immediately to the south of Ark Pioneer Academy, the new school built on the site of the club’s original ground.
Since moving to The Hive, in Harrow, in 2013, the Barnet FC chairman Tony Kleanthous says he always hoped it might be possible to re-establish the club in Barnet.
He has identified what he believes is the best location for a new stadium – just south of the previous ground — and says he is ready to fund the full cost of construction.
While the council would like to welcome the club back to Barnet, a new stadium at Underhill would be “highly unlikely” to be approved as the site is in the Green Belt. Planning permission would only be granted if there was an overwhelming case in its favour.
For his part, Mr Kleanthous is appealing directly to Barnet FC fans and local residents to give their full support so that “our incredible club can end its ten-year exile in Harrow and return to where it belongs”.
“Ultimately, it will be down to our supporters to convince Barnet Council that the club should be back in its spiritual home.”
An illustration of the layout – see above – shows the proposed new stadium would be sited on the Underhill playing field, between the Ark Pioneer Academy and the King George V playing fields and would front on to Barnet Lane.
An artist’s impression of the new stadium – which would have a 6,000 to 8,000 capacity — shows the position of the new stands for spectators. A car park would be situated between the club building and Barnet Lane.
Mr Kleanthous says the proposed new stadium would be a “slimmed down version” of the club’s original plan to redevelop this same site at south Underhill – an application that failed to get approval and which precipitated Barnet FC’s move to The Hive a decade ago.
In recent months Mr Kleanthous and his architect have revisited the previous plans and as he believes this is still the best site, he has instructed the WSP Planning Consultancy to begin the pre-application process and prepare a planning application.
Sean McGrath from WSP will head the project and engage directly with Barnet Council and the council’s planning officers.
News of a possible return of Barnet FC – and the ambition to site a new stadium close to its previous ground – has surprised the local community after long-running disagreements between Mr Kleanthous and Barnet Council.
A great deal has happened since Barnet FC abandoned Underhill stadium because of its limited capacity of 4,000 spectators and its failure to secure approval for redevelopment.
Robin Bishop, who is the Barnet Society’s lead on planning and the environment, said a lot more information would be needed about siting a new football stadium in an area where there was already considerable concern about the loss of Green Belt land.
A new stadium in that location would have an impact on the Ark Pioneer Academy and raise questions about the proposed move of the Rainbow Community Centre to The Pavilion, which adjoins the school.
Other developments were also planned in the area – a children’s playground, and community leisure and cafe hub.
“Many of our members would like to see the return of the Bees to their home turf, but there is local concern about more development in the area and the loss of biodiversity.
“We would welcome early engagement with the local community, and some joined up thinking by Barnet Council about the Barnet FC proposals and other local issues.”
In announcing his plan to return to Barnet, Mr Kleanthous describes the effort he has made to “bring the club home to the town from where it took its identity”.
He has busied himself in recent months talking to Barnet Council and asking for their support in locating a suitable site.
“This new scheme is a redesigned slimmed down version of our original application at the south Underhill site and accounts for the existing layouts and usages in place with the new school and their needs at the forefront of the project.
“Along with the smaller 6,000 to 8,000 capacity stadium, there are two multi use games areas, a circulation and recreational zone for pupils, a formal pitch for training and playing purposes on Barnet playing fields, and a school drop-off zone for pupils which will help alleviate the morning rush hour traffic problems in the area.”
40 thoughts on “After a decade away Barnet Football Club is promoting a plan to end its exile in Harrow and return to Underhill”
Comments are closed.
Why not become a member? Receive our latest newsletter hot off the press four times a year, and support our work with a membership.
If you have some local news, history or want to bring something to our attention please email us.
NEW: Barnet Society meeting on 27 Feb
These Folk.
Friday 21 February, 3-4pm, Chipping Barnet Library.
A funny, beautiful and heartwarming show performed by two of the UK’s most experienced improvisers.
Book your free ticket - https://bit.ly/4hRkmHa
The Barnet FC Walking Football Team
Is very proud to have won
The Walking Football Association
“ Club Of The Year 2024 “
Wonderful recognition of the hard work of all our players in creating our fab club
Thank you 🙏🏼
NEW: Latest plans for the High Barnet station car park site
🐝 BACK THE BEES 🐝
All seasons pass holders will now have the chance to bring a friend to the Hive to every league game this season for 50% off up until the Yeovil game on the 4th of March! COYB's
#BarnetFC🐝
You do know the football club was there for over 100 years so those residents bought their properties in full knowledge that there were football matches played every fortnight
It would be good to move Barnet FC back to Barnet but this is an unsuitable site in green belt.
It would be a traffic nightmare and generally increase noise and disturbance for local people. Local roads are already often gridlocked at peak times. It’s greenbelt and we need to safeguard our shrinking green areas! It is already very well used by people of all ages, walking, running, enjoying the green area and playing sports and games though some modest improvements would be welcome.
What great news. Just what the area needs to reestablish it’s historic connections with the football club. This will really help the Queens Arms stay afloat and continue its admirable inclusive community clubs.
This is a great! Barnet FC needs to be back in Barnet. Think of all the match day revenue local pubs and cafe’s would get. The club back home could revitalise the area. Great the proposal has the school at the forefront of the plans too. It could inspire a generation of local children in the community. I hope it happens and I hope residents and the wider community see the benefits of having Barnet FC back in Barnet
This is great to see, the club needs to return to Barnet. We’ve been in exile for far too long
If all parties work constructively on this. Barnet can get its football club back, the school can have the facilities it was supposed to have at South Underhill, parking and turning spaces can be created for school traffic, the Rainbow Centre and other community groups can be housed in decent long term affordable accommodation.
The plot of land involved is already surrounded by development on 3 sides.
If common sense prevails everyone can gain.
The football club and High Barnet need this as much as each other. It will be great for the high street and, of course, the right thing for the Bees to be playing in Barnet. I’m all for it.
Please make this happen barnetfc belongs in Barnet
This move back would be a huge fillip for the town of Barnet & for many businesses – pubs,bars & restaurants. Please make this happen!
Would love for this to happen. It would rejuvenate High Barnet, and so many people would be able to start coming to games regularly. Please happen!!
That’s completely nonsense. It was very common to see many football fans come early and spend lunch time in one of the pubs, cafes or restaurants in the high street, use the shops, then wander down the hill to the game.
There’s a reason why businesses way up on the high street are already displaying posters supporting the return of the club.
This needs to happen. Would be great for the local community.
Barnet FC lost a sizable amount of its fanbase since the move to Harrow, about a third looking at the data. I suspect that much and more would return if they moved back home.
6,000 would be about right if the aim is to become a football league club again in the near future and to meet minimum capacity standards. Agree 8,000 isn’t needed at this moment in time.
TK had looked at alternative sites and there isn’t really anything on the table.
It’s time to bring the club back to its spiritual home. The area really is a shadow of its former self without it.
There could be some huge wins here for all parties concerned, including local businesses, the school & residents (drop offs / sports facilities), the club and its local fanbase.
Great news. Bring Barnet FC home.
I would love to see Barnet back where they belong. So long as local people are taken into consideration and have no problem, for the good of the community Barnet FC should be welcomed back with open arms
It would be fantastic to see this happen. Not only do Barnet FC belong in High Barnet, but the move would help alleviate school congestion and boost local businesses in the area. It feels like win-win to me!
I can’t see why the local council and football club can’t come together with a plan to create a win win for everyone. Much needed community facilities within the stadium and a home for the football club which represents our town.
Barnet high street has been dying a slow death and could do with an injection of energy which the club returning would bring.
Why couldn’t the rainbow centre be housed within the stadium?
Community facilities are housed in many other football/rugby stadiums
Losing the club from Barnet has had a huge negative effect on the town.
It would be fabulous if all the years of trying to find a location that could sustain a football league club could finally be realised on the doorstep of Underhill .
Let’s get the town buzzing and bring the bees back.
I welcome this news for two reasons.
Firstly, it would be wonderful to think of professional football returning to Barnet in the long term, accepting the many hurdles which need to be overcome.
More immediately, this announcement and the intention behind it give the ultimate lie to Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Club’s absurdly transparent and cynical threat to ‘follow the Football Club out of Barnet’ if LBB did not lie down in front their proposals to annex the green space of Byng Road Playing Fields for their own purposes.
Personally I’m not a big fan of football and have no interest in watching it, however I can’t see why anyone would be opposed to Barnet Football Club playing in Barnet.
A bit of extra tax income for the council can only be a good thing as well when so many local authorities seem to be on the brink financially.
Barnet FC move back into the borough from The Hive. It would probably boost attendances at home games. But we should look at the numbers going through the turnstiles of late to see the current appetite.
The article states: “An artist’s impression of the new stadium – which would have a 6,000 to 8,000 capacity.”
But if one looks at the attendances at The Hive for Barnet FC games, the typical attendance per game over the last 13 games is in the range of 1,600 to 2,000, with one game seeing 671 fans, 2 games with just over 2,000 and one at 4,041 (vs Southend Utd, 3 Dec).
Why not consider a ground share in the London Borough of Barnet as an alternative to building a new stadium. The question then is where and would it be feasible – financially and logistically. One has to be realistic about these things.
See this link for Barnet FC’s attendances (5 Aug-3 Feb ‘24)
https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/barnet/attendances
How doe a few thousand pints and kebabs being bought 20 or so says a year revolutionise an area? Most will drive in and out only spending on overpriced mediocre football.
It’s nonsense to talk about how great it would be for the local economy given the operation for 20 days a year. People already park on grass verges a weekends for the local kids football, so a few thousand cars on match day will clog the local area. This is just a ruse by Kleanthous to get the fickle fans inside. What ambitions does he have for the club, he either wants great things that will outgrow the stadium, will that be declared, or does non league forever?
20 days a year.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the town in many respects. It would be a much needed boost to the local economy, as well as bringing extra tax income to the council, not to mention the media attention that comes with having a professional football club.
The idea that it could return so close to it’s historical home makes it an even more attractive proposition.
Hopefully it will even help the school and their traffic issues.
It is of course green belt land, however it is somewhat of a ‘nub’ which really only serves to separate one part of Barnet from another part of Barnet, rather than another town so perhaps there could be some wiggle room there.
I really hope that the Barnet Society engages positively with the football club and the council to help bring an important part of the town’s history home.
Whilst I see that Barnet football club should be in Barnet, the rainbow centre have been promised that they will be relocated to the old cricket pavilion in Barnet Lane once it had been redeveloped and turned into Barnets first net zero building. What’s now going to happen to the Rainbow Centre
Barnet Society should be doing everything they can to help support this proposal. It would be a huge boost to the town in terms of money being spent on local businesses directly and the wider prestige of the football club returning to where it belongs.
I’m hopeful that as the council has changed hands since Barnet left Underhill that the Labour administration will look upon this more favourably.
Come on Barnet Society – think very carefully about how this can work please.
How can this ever be a bad thing?
Barnet Society is correct to fulfill its duty of providing robust scrutiny to this non-trivial development on the green belt. However above all I think this proposal presents an opportunity to galvanise the area and return to it a beacon of true identity. Barnet Society should seek to be a major partner in this endeavour rather than defaulting to a position of resistance.
By all means work to mitigate as far as possible any adverse impacts and ensure all interests are accounted for, but I think you risk doing a serious disservice to the area and its history if you do not support this in principle at the very least.
In the spirit of partnership and collaboration I suggest an immediate dialogue between the Barnet Society and the very well informed and capable members of Barnet FC supporter’s association.
I see Barnet Council have voiced their opposition to this already.
Not surprising I suppose, bearing in mind it was them that went out of their way to oust one of the few remaining community assets the town possessed.
Welcoming Barnet FC back to Barnet would be incredible – a huge boost to an ailing town, a focal point for local people of all ages and backgrounds.
My fear is the plan will be derailed by the same forces that hounded the club out of its home in the first place, which would be incredibly sad.
This is great news for Barnet. I always used to go to the matches. Barnet football club should be in Barnet not Harrow. The supporters will come back and its good for the local economy
Absolutely diabolical plan. This area is totally saturated with traffic with two secondary schools so close to each other. Residents cannot park near their own homes in the weekend as there are so many people attending football matches already . How on earth do they plan to host such a large number of visitors in an already heaving area .
With correct mitigation, this is a no brainer for our town. Almost year round economic benefit, traffic alleviation and more importantly our area being something to relate to again!
This is excellent news for Barnet. A football club that is actually in barnet. Good news for the local economy.
Good to see this get some attention and of course Barnet Society is correct to fulfil its duty in scrutinising any proposals for the benefit of the area.
However the tone of resistance in this article is concerning. Local residents already scored one own goal in opposing the original South Underhill only to find discover too late the reality of their ultimate impotence when the too big to fail Ark Academy came to town.
By all means challenge Kleanthous wherever necessary but please do so from a position of collaboration and true representation.
While this is feels like very welcome news – I can’t help but feel cynical.
Why now? Who owns that area of land? I assumed it was the school’s playing fields? Where’s the money coming from for this?
If the new stadium is opposed by residents and the Barnet society then the town is finished. The economic benefits this would bring to a run down closed of field and to a currently failing town centre would be immense.
This is excellent news and should be hugely encouraged. The site now is under-used and of no significant benefit. The football club can include areas for on going community use. The council can then add the skatepark etc that they promised