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Underhill
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Memory
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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19/04/2013
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This article has been viewed 2049 times.
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"So the time has come. This has been spoken of for countless years, but it has now arrived. Barnet Football Club will no longer call Underhill Stadium their home.
For now, allow me as ever to sidestep the politics and the controversies of the move and take this time to reflect on the memories of the time that I have spent at this place.
It's such a simple thing, yet it holds so much passion, endearment. So fierce are the feelings towards a series of buildings cast around a rectangular green. A poisonous, yet joyous addiction afflicts us all. By this time tomorrow, these feelings we have become so accustomed to will be consigned to the past.
Most of us will remember the moment we first cast eyes upon Underhill Stadium. Some however may have been so young that they were not even aware of what surrounded them. Lifetimes have been spent with this venue as a constant. Material things in our lives may come and go, but for some of us, Underhill has been engrained into us until we know no different. I myself can't really claim to include myself in this bracket having spent only a mere 40% of life as a Barnet supporter. Some of you, however, will have grown from youth to old age with this place etched into your very being.
Despite my modest years, I can owe an awful lot of what I hold dear to Barnet. My closest friends, my fondest memories, two things that any human being will cherish most can all trace their links back to the East Terrace. I can't imagine many of us have hugely differing paths. The people you have seen over the years, got to know, become friends with, recognised far from home, all because you decided that at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, you decided there was only one place to be.
We all might have a different idea of what has made Underhill special to us. Whether it be a piece of footballing genius, or that night where the stadium was bouncing, everyone has their own tales. Tales that could take a lifetime to tell. Where do I even begin to start with all the people I've liked, disliked, argued with, talked to, hugged after a goal, sung with, drunk with, all in the name of Barnet FC. Special is what it is, and for one day at least I may just allow the recent years of disillusion sink away to leave just memories, be they or good, or bad.
You may share some of my memories, you will certainly have far more of your own, and we can all point to the huge moments that everyone remembers such as promotion against Halifax, or relegation against Torquay, or a massive Playoff fixture, or realising just how big the slope is. What I find is that it's the small things that make it more unique and special. Whether it was that time I got a little bit heated after a penalty award on a Tuesday night at home to Farnborough, or maybe the first time I experienced what an East Terrace bundle was like, or the constant repositioning to get a better view around those old obstructive floodlight pylons, or just saying hello to someone who I would still speak to ten years on, these memories are endless, unique, and brilliant.
I will always have time to hear people talk about their memories and what they've found to be so special. One thing that's for sure is that whenever anyone talks about something that at Underhill, however long ago it was, they've always got a smile on their face. ""Do you remember the time when..."". It's fascinating to hear these stories sometimes. Stories that link all of us, despite the fact I barely even existed when the events were unfolding.
If I were to list everything I can remember and tell a story about, I'd be up long into the night, as I'm quite sure we all would. Unfortunately, owing to our once again precarious position we cannot lap up tomorrow and enjoy it for what it is. Then again, without a bit of tension and peril, it just would not be Barnet, would it?
It's hard to say what emotions I'll be feeling tomorrow. Will it be sadness, anger, indifference, happiness? Who knows? One thing that is for sure though is that once those gates close, Barnet will not be the same again. I'll leave it to your interpretation on where we go from here..."
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