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Football: Wherever it may be

~ Laurence's football travels

Football: Wherever it may be

Tag Archives: The Hive

Don’t Fence Me In

24 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by laurencereade in B

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Tags

Barnet, Football, groundhopping, Middlesex Senior Cup, Non League, Staines Town, The Hive

Tuesday 17th December 2019 ko 19.45

Middlesex Senior Cup 2nd Round

BARNET 1 (Chime 9)

STAINES TOWN 1 (Ibe 83)

No extra time, Staines won 4-3 on penalties.

Att 63 at Pitch ATP1, The Hive, London

Free Entry

Online Programme

Team Sheet 50p

“I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
Can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in.” Gene Autry

I’ll admit I was rather scraping the barrel with this one, but my defence is that I didn’t quite know what I was letting myself it for. What I did know is that The Hive has no end of side pitches, some grass, some 3G and at least one with a stand. Continue reading →

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Looking After Number One

20 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Barnet Copthall Stadium, Barnet Council, Barnet FC, Cambridge United, Conference, Curtis Weston, Edgar Davids, Harrow Council, high barnet, Kwesi Appiah, Luisma Villa, The Hive, Wealdstone FC

Saturday 16th November 2013 ko 17.30

Conference Premier

BARNET 2 (Villa 38 Weston 45)

CAMBRIDGE UNITED 2 (Appiah 29 32)

Att 2,853 (Ground Record)

Entry £21

Programme £3

Tea £1.50

Pie £3

I like Barnet, I always did, right the way back in the early 90’s when, as a student I used to catch the Northern Line to its terminus at High Barnet, then counter-intuitively walk down to Underhill.

The place reminded me of my club Oxford United’s spiritual home, The Manor, with the sloping pitch, and the hotpotch of stands and bits of terrace. It was magical, but unsuitable for the rigours of League football so a move was inevitable, however painful. I paid my my farewells last season, but the move has not been without controversy, Continue reading →

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The last train from High Barnet

04 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by laurencereade in B

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Arsenal, artesian basin, Barnet, Barry Fry, Edgar Davids, FA Cup, Hertfordshire, high barnet, James Constable, Lee Cox, oxford united., sean rigg, soccer, Stan Flashman, The Hive, Tottenham, Underhill

Saturday 3rd November 2012 ko 15.00

FA Cup First Round

BARNET 0

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 56 Rigg 80)

Att 2,246 (834 away)

Entry £21

Programme £3

Tea £1.50

Teamsheet FREE

I have connections with this part of North London, my grandfather grew up in Sebright Road, just a stone’s throw from Underhill. Back then Barnet was a village in Hertfordshire, set on the lip of the artesian basin that London itself sits in, and was connected to the metropolis by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway. Nowadays Barnet is part of Greater London, swallowed up by the big city and the railway is a terminus of the Northern Underground line. As games are played at the local football ground the trains rumble in and out of High Barnet station above the pitch. Seeing an underground train from below is rather counter-intuitive, but does make a trip to Underhill unique. Continue reading →

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Just Nod If You Can Hear Me

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by laurencereade in D, W

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Tags

Andrew Bulford, Barnet FC, Dunston UTS, FA Vase, final, Football, groundhopping, northern counties east league, Stephen Goddard, The Hive, Thomas Lipton, Wembley Stadium, West Auckland Town

Sunday 13th May 2012 ko 3.00pm

FA Vase Final

DUNSTON UTS 2 (Bulford 32 79)

WEST AUCKLAND TOWN 0

Att 5,126

At Wembley Stadium

Entry, Programme & Team Sheet- Complimentary (Many Thanks to Dave Morrall of the Northern Counties East League)

I really hadn’t planned on doing this one, but when Chris Berezai phoned me to say Dave Morrall, chairman of the NCEL had offered us complementaries for the final, well who’d say no to that?  So my suit and tie travelled up to Chris and Jenny on Sunday morning, and the two of us must have looked like we were off to church, as we left Long Eaton!

It was easy enough to park at Stanmore Tube station, and we passed The Hive, home to Barnet FC’s training facilities, and potentially their new stadium too, between Stanmore and Canons Park. It’s just 4 stops to Wembley Park, so there was plenty of time to collect out tickets, and enjoy a local chinese meal. After that it was a short walk to beneath the Bobby Moore statue to the hospitality entrance. Our tickets gave us access to the Bobby Moore lounge, which gives you a large bar and food area behind the seats directly below the Royal box. We got a free programme and team sheet, and noticed that food and drink prices were just as stupidly expensive as everywhere else in the ground. £8 for a burger is way beyond a joke.

Our seats were just to the right of the dugouts, a few feet from where the “Wally with the brolly” once forlornly stood, and on a sunny day I did notice there wasn’t much roof over our heads. However padded seats and armrests are not to be sniffed at, and there was a little clip in front of you for your programme!

What was utterly lacking was a half decent attendance. With this being an all Northern League final, that league’s policy of not taking promotions due to excessive travelling was borne out by the 85,000 or so empty seats! In these straitened times though the FA should take most of the blame. This is a competition for clubs a minimum of 5 promotions from Football League status so to ask people to spend £25 a ticket (no concessions) plus £4 for £2 worth of programme, plus the cost of getting there, is at best insensitive and at worst crass. Surely charging £10 each would have produced a better crowd and more revenue. The alternative would be to move the final to somewhere more suitable, although one hopper’s idea of Hartlepool was I think a little wide of the mark. I did comment though that it would have been a darned sight nearer for both sides to have played at Hampden Park.

The game saw Dunston take on the World Champions as West Auckland famously won the Thomas Lipton Trophy representing England in 1909 and again in 1911. On this occasion West Auckland were undone by the predatory Andrew Bulford who completed the feat of scoring in each tie. While West Auckland had far more possession, they created few chances and once Bulford latched on to a Stephen Goddard flick-on, he opened the scoring with a neat lob over keeper Mark Bell.

The second half carried on in much the same vein, and when West Auckland switched to 3 at the back in search of a goal, it was inevitable that there would be more space for Dunston to exploit. And exploit they did. Bulford hit the post, and soon after strike partner Goddard did exactly the same. The two combined nicely for the winner, Goddard again flicked on, and Bulford capitalised on hesitancy in the West Auckland defence to fire past Bell, taking his Vase tally for the season to 15.

The Hive in Stanmore. The half built stadium originally for Wealdstone, but now at one end of Barnet’s training ground. The replacement for Underhill?

Inside the Bobby Moore lounge


Man of the match Andrew Bulford


 

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