Small-time Barnet? Not with Ian Hendon at the wheel

The big push: Ian Hendon, fooling around with his players at the club’s new training complex, is determined to steer Barnet out of League Two
Andrew Fifield11 April 2012

Ian Hendon strides across the gleaming polished floor of The Hive, Barnet's training complex, peels off no less than four sets of gloves and stretches out an arm.

At first, it's not clear whether he wants to shake me warmly by the hand or the throat. It is just over a week since Hertfordshire hackles were raised by my Football Focus gag, which suggested the squad needed X-rays to prove they had a backbone, the kind of joke that would struggle to make the cut for a cheap Christmas cracker.

After politely declining an invitation to explain the remark in front of the slighted squad in their Underhill dressing room, a 'clear-the-air' meeting has been scheduled at the club's new headquarters in Canons Park, north-west London. Hendon is running late so I am directed to a squashy sofa, although the naughty step might be more appropriate.

Luckily, Hendon is not the type to hold a grudge. The 38-year-old, who celebrates his first anniversary in charge of the Bees on New Year's Day, is politeness personified, even if he remains a little peeved at Barnet's status as the punch-line of a thousand cruel gags.

"We know our place - that there are bigger clubs around and that we'll never be an Arsenal, Tottenham or Chelsea," he said. "It's just whenever Barnet get a mention, it seems people are taking the mickey out of us."

But no longer. Last week, Barnet played host to two of English football's most prominent aristocrats: Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's director of football development, and the England manager Fabio Capello, both of whom swept in to officially open The Hive.

The site is worthy of such high-level dignitaries. Built for £11million - the costs were split between Barnet, Harrow Council and the Football Foundation - and covering 44 acres, the facilities are enough to make several more renowned members of London's football fraternity wince with envy.

They include 10 grass pitches, two astroturfs and enough dressing rooms to accommodate not just the Barnet first-team squad but also their Centre of Excellence and Ladies' team. There is even a Starbucks in the foyer. It is a far cry from the days of training at Queenswood Girls School near Potters Bar, where players, management and backroom staff were shoe-horned into three tiny rooms and faced a half-mile trudge to reach the playing field.

"There was no telly, video facilities, anything like that," Hendon said. "My staff and I had to change in the referees' room. "It wasn't our own place so we couldn't leave anything there and we always had to be gone by 1pm at the latest so we could make way for the hockey teams that used it.

"I didn't even have an office until we moved into the new site - no Barnet manager has in the last five years. I used to work out of my study at home and in the car to and from wherever we were training.

"Now I've got my own space with a computer and television. When Mr Capello was down here opening the site, he came into the office, took one look at the whiteboard and the computer and said: 'Ah, this is where the work is done.' Comparing it to other places I had trained in my career like Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham, this is far better than any of them. You come in and just think: 'Wow.'"

The Hive is the next stage of Barnet's development. Work at the site is not yet complete - banqueting facilities are now set to be constructed on the upper levels - and there is talk of leaving the historic but tired Underhill for a new stadium on the site.

Those bold plans might be at odds with the Bees' cosy, small-time image but they are evidence of a new-found, and defiantly unapologetic, ambition. Much of that stems from the hard-working chairman, Tony Kleanthous, but Hendon has also played his part. Having steered a free-falling side away from relegation danger when he succeeded Paul Fairclough last January, Barnet made an explosive start to the new League Two season and his side were top in September before injuries started to bite.

Eight games without a win have checked the club's progress but a seven-point gap to the play-off spots is hardly insurmountable.

Hendon's reputation is also blossoming. The message boards of his old club, Notts County, are abuzz with talk that he should become the club's next manager but not even the prospect of the club's supposed millions and working with Sven-Goran Eriksson can cloud Hendon's focus. "I've got a job to do here," he said. "This club are progressing. Who knows what can happen? The chairman and myself are ambitious, we have a squad who can compete with anyone in the league. We could be in League One next season."

Morale is certainly buoyant. As Hendon stomps through The Hive's main entrance, there is some playful banter with Paul Furlong, Barnet's veteran striker, who somehow managed to dodge snow-sweeping duties before training.

"Still, all the other lads pitched in to clear up," Hendon said. "That shows we have a bit of backbone, wouldn't you say?"

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