Barnet FC

Next up on #GetTheBadgeIn is... @BarnetFC!

I've started following them quite closely on National League TV. They also have an amazing badge that will be instantly recognisable to anyone who remembers Year 8 History - The Wars of the Roses. So many clubs feature either the white rose of York (Think: Leeds) and dozens feature the red rose of Lancaster on their badge (Think: Man City). Barnet shows both together with crossed swords in reference to the 1471 Battle of Barnet.

But before we go down that foggy road, let’s look behind the scenes at the club’s foundations. Once again, it is another ‘company team’ from the Industrial Revolution that helps get the ball rolling (I do wonder, if football had been invented today, where would the teams come from? Internet start-ups? (Hashtag United), Lidl Athletic? Tesco Metro FC? Deliveroo United (known for great deliveries into the box…?).

Anyway. Barnet.

Originally, the club began as New Barnet FC, formed by ex-scholars of Cowley College and Lyonsdown Collegiate School and known as “The Hillmen” (Barnet sits on a ridge that overlooks London – hence the ‘High’ in High Barnet). However, it was Alston Works AFC that would go on to cement Barnet’s footballing legacy.

Alston Works AFC was established by the employees of Alston Works, a dental manufacturing giant in Barnet. By 1891, they had grown into Europe’s largest producer of dental equipment, renowned for quality innovations such as the “Twentieth Century Chair,” the UK’s first pump chair. The team, therefore, were known as "The Dentals" and wore amber and black kits, representing the company colours. These distinctive colours would be retained to the modern day. In a neat coincidence, their current kit sponsors are TIC Health, a private provider of medical screening and diagnostic services. An echo of an echo here. Sort of.

In 1907, Alston Works AFC moved to Underhill Stadium, where they played their debut match—a 1–0 victory over Crystal Palace—a positive start at a ground that would serve as Barnet’s home for over a century (and may host them again – see the end).

So that’s the team – what about the badge?

The club’s crest, designed in the 1950s, is packed with imagery. The green hill on the crest is a nod to High Barnet, with the yellow and black flags referencing the club’s colours.

As already mentioned, the rest of the badge symbolises the rival Houses of Lancaster and York and the 1471 Battle of Barnet. During the battle, King Edward IV led Yorkist forces against the Earl of Warwick, who had betrayed Edward and switched to fight for the Lancastrians. On the morning of the battle, Warwick ordered his men to attack through dense fog – and ended up brawling with a friendly unit who were flying the flag of the Earl of Oxford (a large yellow star) that looked too much like Edward IV’s flag (a large yellow sun) for their liking. The Yorkists looked on with amusement. This, understandably, unnerved the remaining Lancastrians, who accused each other of treason, and many simply gave up and left the field.

In the confusion, Warwick himself decided to make a run for it. However, before the battle, he had been persuaded by his younger brother, ‘the Marquess of Montagu,’ that it would be more inspiring to their men if they left their horses behind and fought on foot alongside the rank and file. This decision proved fatal. Both brothers were caught and killed by the Yorkist army. Lesson: Never listen to your younger brother.

So that explains the battle. As for the club’s nickname, ‘The Bees,’ opinion is split, but it is almost certainly due to a) their black and orange colours inherited from the Alston Works dental factory, and b) the presence of several large apiaries (beekeeping farms/hives, apparently – I had to Google that word) near their original Underhill ground. Their stadium today, located in Harrow, is called ‘The Hive,’ in a neat reference. That said, the move away from Barnet was never popular, and there are plans afoot by many of the team’s fans to move ‘Back to Barnet’ and redevelop the old Underhill site. The plans for the new stadium look great – let’s hope it all goes through.

They’ve just achieved promotion to League 2 – I’m sure they’re buzzin, #BarnetFC🐝