Why Barnet?

I thought I’d introduce my blog with answers to the question I hear most frequently (amongst the laughter and mocking, of course!) when I introduce myself and tell others who I support.

-       Why do you support Barnet when you live in Essex and there are hundreds of teams out there to follow?

The first thing I often like to point out, is, no matter what my location, at least I go and watch my team play, week in week out. Yes, I may not live around the corner, but I’d never dream of simply just watching my team on TV, or glory hunt a team because my friends like them, or because they win all the time. There’s no fun in that whatsoever; although of late, it’s mainly been downs, pride and passion in the lower leagues is immense. Of course that is with no disrespect to those that do support big teams – however, if you claim to support or follow a team, the very least you can do is attend matches. The fact that it takes me a good three-quarters of an hour to get to games doesn’t bother me (although of course, when we lose, it seems a lot longer and is often depressing!).

To cut to the chase, my dad is an Arsenal fan who used to go to Highbury as often as possible. But as is with the modern age, the feeling that once was enjoyment turned to disappointment as money took over and it became virtually impossible to get a ticket on the day. Thus, he started rooting for a smaller club which struggled to get by and wasn’t part of the whole commercial business – and chose Barnet. The main reason being, he had family from the area.

Ticket stubs from our promotion season



He chose to go to escape the dreaded Saturdays in – the wife and kid(s), usual excuses. I never really thought much of it. Then one day, when I was four years old, my dad dragged me to a game – not that I remember much of it; apparently the highlight for me was chocolate raisins at half time. What was a one-off from time to time (when I was free, and fancied it), became more and more regular.

When I was six, my dad bought both my brother (who has lost interest in the game) and I season tickets and we used to go together every other Saturday. The following season, my brother stopped going but my dad continued to go and I went back to going whenever I fancied and he paid for me on the gate.

Balloons that were released during our final
home game

The first full season I can remember would have to be the year before we went up (2003-04) – in my current surroundings of the Main Stand. I didn’t have a season ticket, but went to every home game. The same happened again the following season – when we finally gained promotion to the Football League. In fact, I found my old ticket stubs the other day, and couldn’t help but think how ‘tin pot’ those days were! After then, I knew I would be hooked for life – and since, have had a season ticket every season for the Main Stand.