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Early days yet, but positive signs as a new season begins.
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By:
Max Bygraves
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07/08/2022
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This article has been viewed 1361 times.
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When I wrote this article at the end of the last campaign, I really didn’t expect to be in the position I found myself in yesterday.
For the first time since 2012/13, I am a Barnet season ticket holder. It’s quite a surreal, strange feeling.
The club did something really sensible this summer by making the season tickets so affordable. Almost to the point where it was silly not to take the gamble. Credit where it’s due. After a lot of consideration over the summer, along with a friend in a similar position, the plunge was taken.
I am well aware that I’ve said many things which hugely contradict with the action of buying a season ticket in HA8. I can’t pretend I feel fully comfortable with the idea just yet, either. Even after yesterday. But things certainly feel on the right trail. I came home from the game last night with a feeling I’ve not had for a long time.
I enjoyed being there yesterday focusing just on the football, no chip on the shoulder and not thinking of any wider context. I was there to watch Barnet, as a Barnet fan.
Chatting in the bar at half time, someone said they’d expect to see some sort of a negative write up on here ‘as usual’ today. I don’t hold anything against them for that - the tone of this website is pretty consistent!
It was even before our seven-year hiatus post-Underhill, I would add…
As I responded to them, however, I’m trying to look at this season as a proper fresh start. A total new beginning. A chance to build a new connection with the club and indeed, the act of regularly going to football again whilst watching a team that I have a true affiliation with rather than trying to force one somewhere else.
It’s going to take some time to feel a real passion for it. But I’m hopeful. It’s an odd mix of feeling like a completely new supporter and then also that feeling of comfort of a normal Saturday football routine returning once more.
Yesterday was thoroughly enjoyable, from start to finish. The sun was shining, there were many old faces present and Barnet played with a real purpose, spirit and professionalism that hasn’t been apparent for a long time - even from the viewpoint of an occasional spectator.
It was clear that the players knew their roles and every one of them stood up and were counted. In the past few seasons, it’s fair to assume that many of our players would have been bullied by a physical Halifax side. Yesterday, none of them were coming second to anything. It was an honest performance and all you could want from the opening day when expectations are (fairly) realistically low - but everyone could do with some reassuring.
It was pleasing to see so much recruitment done early this year and the players being carefully identified by the manager. The excellent BeesPod interview with Dean Brennan a few weeks back offered a very interesting insight to this process. It was also really pleasing to hear the manager talk with some ambition. I understood why last season he was saying things like being in the third quarter of the league despite it being frustrating, so I like the fact that he’s now owning everything and looking upwards. It makes it all feel a bit more worthwhile.
From the first performance, a mention must go to Sean Shields. He’d caught the eye and even more so, the ear, before a ball was kicked from his interview comments about going to games at Underhill as a youngster. That kind of chat will get you everywhere with the fans. But his performance and especially final delivery in and around the box was very impressive. A fantastic assist for the early opener (and great finish by Mason-Clark, too). I can only assume Richard Tricky Dicky Graham was one of the players he used to watch at Underhill…
Nicke Kabamba up top as well worked his socks off. From one viewing, it would appear there are some limitations there but certainly not in terms of work rate or finishing one on one. A promising start indeed for the new number 9.
Halifax didn’t offer too much, but the defence looked solid, too. Let’s not take away the significance of a Barnet clean sheet after the last two seasons. Both Wynter and Collinge put in some excellent challenges, especially the latter to deny a great opportunity in the first half.
The play offs or even the top half may be a bit pie in the sky but if we are at least pushing to win games, looking do as well as we can and not accepting taking a hammering every other week, that’ll be a step forward. It always comes back to that cliché of wanting a team that plays for the shirt and given the confidence the manager is talking about the character of his new recruits; it sounds like we can be more optimistic of this for a while. The proof will now be in the pudding of the next few months of football; but yesterday was very much the right beginning.
This is not the same Barnet FC I fell madly in love with as a youngster. My match day experience is not going to be like when I was last a season ticket holder. The results won’t have the same positive or negative impact on my day, weekend or week. And I feel like that’s all absolutely fine; today, I feel enthused about hopefully starting over.
I won’t be at every game. I’ll probably do well to make many more than half due to other personal commitments and circumstances, but such is the value in what the club have offered that this won’t be a great hardship.
I sincerely hope the buzz from yesterday sticks around. Personally, and on a wider scale. There’s no magic wand that’ll fix everything, and in a few weeks the picture could all look quite different, but let’s enjoy a few smiles on faces for now anyway; it’s been a while!
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