After two years out of the Football League Barnet returned to the 92 clinching the Vanarama Conference crown. However the Bees return in a much different state to which they left. For seasons they were dogged in relegation battles that finally got the better of them, but now they are back brimming with confidence and in smart new facilities. We caught up with sports reporter for the north London Times series Tom Bodell to find out more.

Groundsman: Claiming the title after leading the way for so long – obviously you’re delighted – did you always feel you had enough to get the job done?
Tom: Martin Allen told me after the final whistle against Gateshead on the final day of the season it was ‘obvious’ to him they would win promotion in pre-season. Well he wasn’t the only one. I backed them at 12/1 in pre-season for promotion so come April 25, I was very happy indeed!

I just felt the experience of Allen, coupled with the quality of players they had added – guys like Sam Togwell, Lee Cook and Charlie MacDonald – put them in a strong position and although there were some wobbles in the turn of the year, they had built up such a lead it afforded them a slip.

If you have goals you are halfway there and the form John Akinde was in last year, even when they were not playing well he, more often than not, pulled them through and if he was not firing on all cylinders they could lean on Luisma Villa (13 goals), Cook (eight goals) or MacDonald (eight goals).

Groundsman: Did you manage to get to many non-league grounds during your season in the Conference?
Tom: Unfortunately I only made it to 12 away games last season as I was often required to cover our other teams – Watford and Leyton Orient – and that was my one great frustration from last year as I love visiting quaint little grounds!

Groundsman: What was your best and your worst memory from your non-league travels?
Tom: There wasn’t one particularly bad memory but after back-to-back losses to Lincoln City and Grimsby Town in January – scheduled for a Sunday and 12.45 no less – I was pretty put out. Throw in the defeat by Forest Green Rovers at The Hive a few weeks later and I was confidently telling anyone who would listen Barnet had shot it.

However, that all made the final day sweeter and my best memory would be the final few weeks of the season which were simply an exercise in ticking off games.

The Bank Holiday Monday win at Dartford had a particularly significant feel about it in good weather, live on BT and with more Barnet than Darts fans in the ground, it was almost a home game.

It was a real muck-and-nettles kind of game where substance far outweighed style in the importance stakes and afterwards Barnet’s significant travelling support stuck around to serenade former player-turned-occasional pundit Giuliano Grazioli live on air. At that moment I had no doubt in my mind it was not going to slip.

Two weeks later it very nearly did, though, and the trip to Kidderminster Harriers was memorable purely for the relief of Luisma’s goal. It might not have been his best but in the grand scheme of things it meant the most and as a final goal in black and amber goes, it was a pretty special way to sign off.

The final day win over Gateshead was, of course, something else. For Mauro Vilhete, the homegrown, longest-serving player at the club to score both just capped it off.

Mauro is a lovely lad and when I grabbed him in the carpark for a word afterwards, he was absolutely speechless. He simply could not believe this had happened to him. He had written himself into Barnet folklore and the ensuing chaos after each of his goals and at the full-time whistle will live long in the memory.

Groundsman: Do you think the club are in a better position now than say 18 months ago, especially now the club have left their spiritual home?
Tom: Yes, like it or lump it Barnet are better off at The Hive and if you take the emotion out of the move it is easy to see.

Though less fans make the trip to Edgware than Underhill – and relegation coincided with the move, lest we forget – this is a 24-hours-a-day business.

The Hive hasn’t the romance of Underhill – which has recently been sold off for good – but it surely brings in more money on a matchday and certainly during the week, which can only be good for the club.

The facilities are far better and I expect the club do better now from people coming to the ground to eat, drink or use the gym during the week.

On a football front, Allen is older, wiser and has very much learnt his lesson about chasing the money since leaving Underhill for Notts County when the Bees were last in the Football League. He has also improved as a manager and by his own admission has changed since he was younger.

The squad is younger, hungrier and packed full of quality rather than other club’s cast-offs as it was in 2013 when Barnet dropped out the league.

Groundsman: How many of the current 92 grounds have you ticked off your list?
Tom: I’ve only done 39 – most disappointing!

Groundsman: Which grounds will you be aiming to tick off over the coming season?
Tom: Hopefully all those I have not done in League Two: Wimbledon, Accrington, Carlisle, Crawley, Dagenham, Exeter, Luton, Mansfield, Morecambe, Newport, Northampton, Notts County, Oxford United, Portsmouth, Stevenage, Wycombe, Yeovil and York.

Plenty to be getting on with!

Groundsman: Finally – what can fans visiting The Hive Stadium next season look forward to?
Tom: I’ve already spoken pretty glowingly about The Hive from a neutral perspective but for away fans it is a pretty good setup, I would argue.

Away supporters cannot access the main bar in the East Stand but there is the Jubilee Bar in the West Stand for travelling fans only. You can sit, in a cordoned off section of said stand, or stand behind the goal.

Access is pretty good via the Tube with Cannons Park Station a ten-minute walk from the ground. There is also plentiful car parking – priced at £5 with tokens collected from the bar – at the other end of the ground.

It undoubtedly lacks the soul or character of Underhill but it is a good, modern ground for a small league club.

Thanks to Tom for taking the time to speak to us. Keep up with Tom as he follows the Bees on their return to the Football League on the North London Times Series website www.times-series.co.uk and on Twitter @TBBodell.

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