Skipper Micah Hyde and members of the Barnet squad took time after training on Thursday to record a message for an anti-knife video for the Youth Offending Team that will be shown across the borough.

After Community Manager Janet Matthewson had outlined the work being done in the local community to draw attention to the dangers of carrying knives, Hyde told the camera: "We are supporting the Barnet anti-knife crime project ... we hope we can all work together to make it a safer borough.

"Our football club has suffered a tragedy when one of our youth team players was a victim of knife crime".

19-year-old Oliver Kingonzila was killed in September 2008 in a knife attack. The midfielder had just previously represented England Colleges and had hoped for a career as a professional footballer. The attacker subsequently received a life sentence.

Dennis Signy