Firstly as a new poster I should admit that I don't actively go to Barnet games any longer. I am an Arsenal Season Ticket Holder home and away for my sins... However from my earliest memories The Bees are the Club that I have "followed". I have always looked out for their results and get along to Underhill a few times a season. I'm so sad that Barnet are leaving Underhill as it holds so many memories for me. I grew up in Sherrards Way (down from Fairfield Way) and I can still remember looking at the flood lights from my bedroom window from the age of 5 until we moved when I was 11! It was captivating. My old man drank in The Old Red Lion for years and we would often go to games after I'd played for Barnet Youth on the playing fields behind the Cricket Club. I seem to remember going away to Enfield once and I certainly remember being in some packed crowds at Underhill over the years. This was when we could change ends at half time and a couple of quid would see you entertained for the entire day and early evening until my Mum came looking for me. From the age of 11 I was a Season Ticket Holder for 3-4 years. My best mate at school's Dad used to work for the Club (Doug Perry - he dealt with the mascots on Match Day and was also Alex Higgins Manager and Renee and Renato's but I digress...). This allowed us free rein around the ground on matchdays from around 11am and we would roam around the place from The Silver Suite to the Players Lounge to the Club Office where we would annnoy Beverley Bacon. After the game we would dive in to the players buffet. I still remember watching Linvoy Primus demolishing a plate of fried chicken on more than one ocassion. We were always crowded round the Manager for his interview afterwards as Doug Perry wrote match reports for the local paper. Mullery and Clemence stand out. Those were the days (or not!). I seem to remember that Helen Chamberlain was going out with Sean Devine at one point and I was caught by her saying that "That bird from Soccer AM is over there." as she stood outside the tannoy room watching a game. She wasn't happy. The best game I saw at Underhill was when we beat Man City. An early Dougie Freedman goal saw us defend like the alamo to prevail 1 nil. I've still got the programme at my parents house signed by the likes of Andy Dibble and Uwe Rosler when they walked into the ground hours before kick-off. I can also remember us playing Blackpool (sat in the rafters of the East Stand to get a better view), Bolton, Cardiff and Swansea. How football moves on.. Away games wise we went everwhere.. Bury, Walsall, Lincoln, Chesterfield, Orient, Northampton, Carlisle to name just a few.
But my abiding memory is the season we won promotion from the Conference (2nd time). What a season! We were like a runaway train. The day we sealed it was immense. I was in Batchwood Nightclub in St Albans that night. All the players were there and we mingled with them and bought them drinks like they were mates.
I can't believe that Underhill will cease to be our home in a matter of months. The players we saw there and the teams that passed through on their way to the Premier League will be like ghosts in years to come. Underhill, we will never forget you.
