In 1991 League football at last came to Underhill for the first time in its history after a season full of tension, thrills, despair, excitement and goals.
Chairman Stan Flashman
and Manager Barry Fry fine tuned the squad - Roger ‘Harry’
Willis from Grimsby and Enfield defender David Howell both for
£10,000.However as the season began to simmer some awesome talent
began to arrive at Underhill as Big Stan wrote out the cheques. In
October midfielders Kevin Durham from Wycombe (£15,000) and Paul
Richardson from Kettering (undisclosed fee) plus a winger Tony Lynch
from Wealdstone (£15,000) put pen to paper just for starters!
To set the scene, The
Channel Tunnel was completed, in the cinema we watched Goodfellas and
Dances with Wolves and we all joined the “New Kids on the Block Fan
Club”
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| David Howell |
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| Roger "Harry"Willis |
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| Gary Bull |
August
Barnet’s opening game
was a hard fought 3-3 draw at Macclesfield Town but Slough Town then
came to Underhill and were completely overwhelmed 6-1 as Gary Bull
netted four. A 2-0 victory at Northwich and a dogged 0-0 at home to
Altrincham made it an unbeaten start in August which must have
impressed new club sponsors Levitt Homes.
September
September arrived and
David Regis scored an absolute beauty from fully 25 yards in the 3-1
defeat of Barrow. As I watch this goal on video over 20 years later
it still amazes me that a ball can be propelled at that velocity with
the minimum of leg back lift. Three days later league favourites
Kettering Town arrived at Underhill and 4,261 fans witnessed a first
league defeat for the Bees albeit in a thrilling encounter.
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| David Regis |
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| Gary Phillips |
A magnificent Gary
Phillips penalty save helped us to a 3-0 win at Kidderminster while a
5-0 crushing of Boston Utd on a chilly Tuesday night warmed the souls
of another 3,000 plus gate at Underhill. Nearly 4,600 showed up for
the visit of Wycombe Wanderers and they were also royally entertained
in a 3-2 thriller At the end of the month The Bees were sitting in
2nd place in the table 6 points adrift of Kettering with a game in
hand and 2 points ahead of Colchester Utd.
October
This month saw the
departing of Paul Harding and Dave Regis, both to Notts County for
big fees It hardly seemed to matter to the team as they recorded a
stunning 4-1 victory at Cheltenham Town, including a ‘Bully’
hatrick, a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Stafford Rangers and an 8-1
mauling of Fisher Athletic at Underhill. Bull’s second four goal
haul of the season in this game was overshadowed by substitute Lynch
who scored with his very first touch in an amber shirt and then added
another shortly afterwards.
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| Tony Lynch |
November and December
Three 1-1 draws were to
follow against Merthyr Tydfil, Gateshead and Telford Utd but Barnet
were still in touch in 2nd place. A 3-2 defeat at Runcorn ended a 17
match unbeaten run in league and cup matches but bouncebackability
was the word of the season and the team responded with a clinical 4-1
win at Yeovil which included a great ‘Lynchy’ hatrick and Andrew
Clarke supreme.
An edgy 2-1 win at home
to Cheltenham came off the back of a epic 1-0 replay win at 4th
Division leaders Northampton Town in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup. The
Match Of the Day cameras had joined over 5,000 at Underhill to see
the team hold the Cobblers to 0-0 but on a very hostile night at the
County Ground Kevin Durham scored direct from a corner and Barnet
held on. Film evidence illustrated the reason for the hundreds of
Barnet fans jumping around on the pitch that night. It was not only
to celebrate an emotional victory but to fight off hypothermia!
.jpg) |
| Kevin Durham |
Colchester United were
Barnet’s festive opponents and the 0-0 on Boxing Day at Layer Road
was a total lottery due to the appalling condition of the pitch and
gale force winds. The return at Underhill on New Years Day bought the
Bees down to earth with a bump as the visitors deservedly won 3-1 in
front of 5,105 fans. Squeezed in-between was a fine 4-1 victory at
Welling Utd with winger David Tomlinson, making his debut, having a
fine game.
January
Barnet had dropped to
3rd in the table but January was packed to the rafters with incident
and exciting arrivals. The team frankly didn’t do themselves
justice when a classy Portsmouth visited for an FA Cup 3rd round tie.
In front of Underhill’s biggest gate for 18 years 6,209, it
finished 0-5 and possibly should have been more. The fans however
were more than compensated with the return of the ‘Goalden Vision
or The King Of Underhill’ Nicky Evans from Wycombe Wanderers for
£25,000 while another £40,000 was spent on the ‘Glen Hoddle Of
Non league’ Kenny Lowe from Barrow. Flashman and Fry meant business
and before long top non league international Mark Carter joined the
squad from Runcorn also for £40,000.
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| Kenny Lowe |
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| Nicky "God" Evans |
A last minute Andy
Clarke goal grabbed 3 points at Sutton Utd leaving the Bees 11 points
behind Kettering but with 3 games in hand. A poor performance at home
to Northwich Victoria (1-1) was in the end quite fruitful as all the
other title challengers dropped points. Amends were made by beating
Bath City at Underhill 2-0 yet that game was seriously lacking in
atmosphere as the hallowed West Bank had to be closed off due to the
mysterious fire which had destroyed the old clubhouse.
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| Andy Clarke |
February
Approaching February
Kettering had 60 points from 27 games, Colchester 54 from 26, Barnet
52 from 25 and Altrincham 49 from 24.
Nicky Evans’ first
goals since his return helped Barnet to a fine 3-1 at Boston but a
4-2 reverse at Barrow was tough to take – it's a very long way to
Barrow! That game was to mark the last Barnet appearance by Andy
Clarke as he moved to Wimbledon in a deal worth a staggering
£350,000. The Dark Shark had been a revelation in Barnet colours
since Barry Fry had discovered him playing Sunday morning park
football some two years earlier.
The team then scraped a
3-2 win at home to Yeovil and then picked up another 3 points with a
2-0 win at home to Runcorn.
March
March was a mixed bag
as a win at Gateshead (3-1), a shock home defeat to Merthyr Tydfil
(2-3) and nervy 1-0 win at home to Sutton Utd, courtesy of a goal
from loan signing Paul Culpin from Peterborough illustrated. However
the performance of the month was reserved for the visit to Rockingham
Road Kettering. 1,200 Bees fans saw two Bull goals, and a first goal
for Mark Carter in an amber shirt win the game 3-1 with Evans
outstanding. Barnet were top of the table.
Hard tackling utility
man Duncan Horton was signed from Welling Utd for £25,000 to bolster
the defence but even he couldn’t help the Bees overcome an
Altrincham side who were on a phenomenal run of form inspired by a
name for the future in winger Paul Showler. 1-4 was the result.
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| Mark Carter scores at Kettering |
April
The first two Underhill
games of April certainly didn’t ease the tension as firstly a
Telford side, including a revitalised ex Bee Steve Humphries in goal,
took a point in a goal less draw. Then a Kidderminster side, who had
not won a Conference game since Christmas, rocked the boat by
snatching a 3-2 win. It was looking bleak for the Bees with 6 games
remaining, they needed to put together a high quality run of results
and others to slip up. Fry rallied his troops to go on an all out
assault with the message that miracles can happen.
The lowest Underhill
attendance of the season saw the team regain their form as they
easily dispatched a Macclesfield side 3-1. They followed this by
winning by the same score at relegation threatened Slough Town. The
next three games played in just six days were to elevate the Bees
back to the top of the table. Incredibly at a vital time Altrincham
dropped six points. A 2-2 draw for the Bees at Stafford Rangers was
disappointing as they had led 2-0 at half time but the game for
tearing hair out was the last home fixture of the season versus
Welling Utd. The Barnet superiority was shown by a two goal lead
courtesy of a Bull finish and the ‘Goal Of The Season’ from the
charismatic Frank Murphy - three defenders left standing and staring
into space in midfield the fourth sold the perfect dummy and the 25
yard chip over the goalkeeper was perfection. Booker and Robbins
equalised completely against the run of play but with just 3 minutes
remaining Mark Carter was hacked down in the area and ‘Mr Cool’
Gary Bull stepped up to slot home the penalty. The ground erupted and
Bully should have been granted the freedom of Barnet.
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| Frank Murphy "Goal of the Season" |
Monsoons hit
Buckinghamshire on Monday 29th April as over 1,600 Bees fans made the
journey to Wycombe Wanderers. The Duke Of Kent was present to
officially open the new Adams Park and he immediately became a Barnet
fan as Gary Bull scored two goals in the opening five minutes. Kenny
Lowe scored a third before Wycombe pulled one back near the end. This
game was perhaps the club finest performance of the season and TV
cameras caught the soaked to the skin players celebrating with the
ecstatic soaked to the skin supporters.
The following evening
over 200 Bees fans were present to cheer a Slough Town side on
against Altrincham at Wexham Park. Unbelievably the Bucks boys were
3-1 down but grabbed a last minute equaliser to leave Barnet needing
just a draw from their visit to Fisher Athletic to be crowned
champions.
May
I am sure that
virtually everybody knows what happened on Saturday 4th May 1991 at
The Surrey Docks Stadium but for the uninitiated - Barnet won 4-2
after trailing 0-1 and 1-2. Harry Willis opened the scoring for the
Bees with a header after Lowe had chipped the ball against the bar,
David Howell powered in a headed equaliser leaving Gary Bull to steal
the show with a turn a volley to dream about and final minute penalty
with Bees fans already over the barriers ready to invade the pitch.
Over 4,000 of them were present to see Edwin Stein presented with
the Conference trophy at long last.
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| Barry Fry Lifts the Trophy |
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| Dressing Room Celebrations |
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| Stan Flashman & Barry Fry |
What went on during the
evening at the Brookman Park Hotel to celebrate the Championship win
I can't tell you, as every supporter and player I know who attended
doesn't remember. Surely no-one begrudged Barnet’s achievement
after 3 times runners up and everybody connected with the club fully
deserved the success.
Barnet had scored 103
league goals including 30 from Player Of the Year Gary Bull in only
30 games while Barry Fry used only 28 players in league matches and
Gary Phillips played in every one of them.
The Football League
finally embraced Barnet FC with open arms and the show rolled on.
GM VAUXHALL CONFERENCE RESULTS ATTENDANCE AND SCORERS 1990-91
GM VAUXHALL CONFERENCE RESULTS ATTENDANCE AND SCORERS 1990-91
| Macclesfield Town | A | Drew 3-3 | 1,917 | Nugent Bodley Bull (pen) |
| Slough Town | H | Won 6-1 | 3,193 | Bull 4 (1 pen) Nugent Own Goal |
| Northwich Victoria | A | Won 2-0 | 819 | Harding Regis |
| Altrincham | H | Drew 0-0 | 3,696 | |
| Barrow | H | Won 3-1 | 2,431 | Regis 2 Harding |
| Kettering Town | H | Lost 0-1 | 4,261 | |
| Kidderminster Harriers | A | Won 3-0 | 1,344 | Bodley Durham Clarke |
| Boston United | H | Won 5-0 | 3,138 | Bodley G Cooper, Willis Clarke Regis |
| Wycombe Wanderers | H | Won 3-2 | 4,569 | Clarke 2 Poole (pen) |
| Bath City | A | Won 4-1 | 1,041 | Clarke 2 Willis Regis |
| Cheltenham Town | A | Won 4-1 | 1,476 | Bull 3 Willis |
| Stafford Rangers | H | Won 2-0 | 2,850 | Bodley Clarke |
| Fisher Athletic | H | Won 8-1 | 2,923 | Bull 4 Lynch 2 Clarke Bodley |
| Merthyr Tydfil | A | Drew 1-1 | 1,175 | Bull (pen) |
| Gateshead | H | Drew 1-1 | 3,045 | Willis |
| Telford United | A | Drew 1-1 | 1,485 | Willis |
| Runcorn | A | Lost 2-3 | 634 | Bodley Bull |
| Yeovil Town | A | Won 4-1 | 2,768 | Lynch 3 Clarke |
| Cheltenham Town | H | Won 2-1 | 2,309 | Bull Clarke |
| Colchester United | A | Drew 0-0 | 3,946 | |
| Welling United | A | Won 4-1 | 1,777 | E Stein Willis Bull Lynch |
| Colchester United | H | Lost 1-3 | 5,105 | Poole (pen) |
| Sutton United | A | Won 1-0 | 990 | Clarke |
| Northwich Victoria | H | Drew 1-1 | 1,842 | Willis |
| Bath City | H | Won 2-0 | 2,096 | Clarke Durham |
| Boston United | A | Won 3-1 | 1,751 | Evans 2 Richardson |
| Barrow | A | Lost 2-4 | 1,584 | Bull Willis |
| Yeovil Town | H | Won 3-2 | 2,262 | Evans 2 Bull |
| Runcorn | H | Won 2-0 | 2,450 | Richardson Bull (pen) |
| Gateshead | A | Won 3-1 | 972 | Lowe Evans Bull (pen) |
| Merthyr Tydfil | H | Lost 2-3 | 2,594 | Evans 2 |
| Kettering Town | A | Won 3-1 | 4,540 | Bull 2 Carter |
| Sutton United | H | Won 1-0 | 3,551 | Culpin |
| Altrincham | A | Lost 1-4 | 3,000 | Culpin |
| Telford United | H | Drew 0-0 | 2,842 | |
| Kidderminster Harriers | H | Lost 2-3 | 2,521 | Murphy 2 (1pen) |
| Macclesfield Town | H | Won 3-1 | 1,335 | Durham Bull Murphy |
| Slough Town | A | Won 3-1 | 1,548 | Evans 2 Lynch |
| Stafford Rangers | A | Drew 2-2 | 1,306 | Bull (pen) Willis |
| Welling United | H | Won 3-2 | 2,451 | Bull 2 (1 pen) Murphy |
| Wycombe Wanderers | A | Won 3-1 | 4,488 | Bull 2 Lowe |
| Fisher Athletic | A | Won 4-2 | 4,283 | Bull 2 (1 pen) Willis Howell |
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