News from The Barnet Society

Barnet’s shock 1-0 defeat of Sheffield United – to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup – has re-awakened tales of other memorable matches from the years Barnet played at the Underhill stadium before the club moved to Edgware in 2013.

 “Come on you Bricks” is now rivalling the Barnet football chant of “Up the Bees” as supporters of Hadley Football Club promote their much-improved recent performances and refurbished football ground. Hadley FC – which is even older than Barnet Football Club – plays at Brickfield Lane, Arkley, hence their nickname “The Bricks”.

Barnet might have lost its football club, but another of the town’s sporting traditions is still making history: Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Football Club is about to start a year of commemorative events to celebrate its centenary.

Almost five years since Barnet Football Club played its last game at Underhill, its stadium off Barnet Lane is finally being demolished to make way for a 1,200-place Ark Academy secondary school. Demolition contractors moved onto the site in the second week of January.

After facing a barrage of complaints and criticism over proposal to build a new school for almost 2,000 pupils on what was formerly the Barnet Football Club stadium, the Ark Academy network admitted its plans were “not yet a done deal”.

A football team for former East Barnet grammar school boys that has expanded over the last sixty years to become a community-based amateur football club, has been celebrating the performance of its top players.

Barnet Football Club’s vacant stadium at Underhill is to be demolished to make way for a proposed new free school – Ark Pioneer Academy – that would eventually accommodate more than 1,800 pupils.

A campaign to get Barnet Football Club to return to the town in a new purpose-built stadium is to be stepped up, after what local supporters believe could be some promising signs.