| Underhill Stadium | |
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| Home of the Bees | |
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| Full name | Underhill Stadium |
| Location | Westcombe Drive, Barnet, London |
| Built | 1907 |
| Opened | 1907 |
| Owner | Barnet F.C. |
| Tenants | Barnet F.C. Arsenal Reserves |
| Capacity | 5,300 |
| Field Dimensions | |
| 115 x 75 yards | |
Underhill is the home of Barnet F.C.. It is situated in Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet and has a capacity of 5,300. It is the smallest Football League stadium in London, and is famous for its slope from the North to South end. It is also used for Arsenal reserve games. The 2007/2008 season will be Barnet's 100th year at Underhill. The club are in the middle of a fight with the town council as they struggle to implement plans to build a new stadium. Underhill does not meet the Football League's criteria and the club faces expulsion to the non-league, however having mostly solved the problem of vehicle access to the ground thus meeting one of the FA's criteria, they have been granted permission to stay at Underhill for the 2006-2007 season[1]. The only Football League criterion Underhill currently fails to meet is having 2,000 covered seats. Underhill has six stands, on the bottom end of the ground is the south stand which is currently being redeveloped. The East Terrace which is split into three sections, with the home fans allocated the two southernmost parts and the remaining section allocated to away supporters. The tiny North Terrace backs onto Westcombe Drive, where residents can watch the action. The Main Stand is flanked by two smaller stands, the North West Terrace and Family Stand. In the South West Corner of the ground stands the Durham Suite, named after Bees midfielder Kevin Durham who died in 1991. In December 2007, permission was granted for Barnet to finally bring Underhill Stadium up to Football League regulations. Work began immediately on a new 1,000 seater stand at the South end of the ground which would provide disabled facilities and bring the ground up to the required 2,000 seat standard. Plans are also afoot to redevelop the North end of the ground and provide new floodlights in each corner of the ground, however these plans are not as urgent as the aforementioned South Stand development and should take place in the future. Historically, the South Stand was known as The West Bank, a partially covered terraced stand. It was home to Barnet's more vocal support until it was demolished in the mid-1990s. Vocal support is now generally located in the East Terrace towards the halfway line and has had to move slightly over the years due to numerous tweaks to segregation in that area of the ground. Older supporters can reel off many a story about The West Bank and it was regarded as a 'spiritual home' for Bees supporters.
Contents |
Details
Pitch
- Length: 105 metres
- Width: 68 metres
Records
Record Attendance: 11,026 (Barnet-Wycombe Wanderers, 23 February 1956)
Address
Underhill Stadium Westcombe Drive Barnet Herts EN5 2BE
External links
References
| Football League Two venues, 2007-08 |
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Adams Park | Blundell Park | Christie Park | Crown Ground | The Darlington Arena | Deva Stadium |
