Chairman Tony Kleanthous, in the second part of his answers to supporters' questions, reveals that Barnet FC has planning permission for a Football League standard stadium at The Hive ... but says that he is still working with Barnet Council to see if they have an alternative site in the borough.
He also explains the League 2 squad budgeting system where clubs are only allowed to spend 60 per cent of turnover on players.
(Click here for a link to Part 1)
John Williams asks: I think everybody is impressed with the facilities at The Hive, but how do you weigh these up against the provision of a strong and competitive team on the pitch? I would humbly suggest that the flagship of any football club should be a successful first team. The new training facilities have a part to play both as a community asset and when it comes to drawing players to the club. However, I think many players would put a club's ambition far ahead of any training facilities. There is little point in having the best training ground in the Blue Square Bet Premier, particularly when relegation would severely jeopardize a thriving youth set-up.
AAK: To footballers, the Hive is the strongest possible indication we can give of our commitment and ambition and the better the players we can attract the more competitive we will be on the pitch. Football League 2 operates a squad budgeting system where we are only allowed to spend 60% of our turnover on players and due to our small crowd and lack of commercial facilities our income is very low and our budget one of the lowest in the division. The Hive will help us overcome this problem in three ways, we will be able to boost our income from the revenue the site generates, attract more talented players who want to train in top notch facilities and hopefully bigger clubs will also be more willing to loan us their players knowing they will get a good education. This is a long term project and its very early days yet as The Hive has only been open a few months but the initial signs are encouraging.
Phil Harding, a supporter for 40 years asks: What is your plan for transforming this club from a struggling lower league side to a successful lower league side, or beyond? How can we break out of the cycle of low attendance? = no money = no success on the pitch = low attendances, etc?
AAK: I published a document in 2003, Working Together, which told all supporters the long term plan we have been working to, I am not aware of any other club that has been so open with their intentions and these have not changed.
1.Update Underhill Stadium - most of the major work for the £2m improvements were completed this summer with the installation of new floodlights, new away disabled toilets and the club shop.
2.Build New Training Facilities - completed with the opening of The Hive in December.
3.New Youth Academy - the Centre of Excellence is up and running and we are building to academy status at the Hive.
4.New Stadium - we have planning permission for a Football League standard stadium at The Hive but we are working with Barnet Council to see if they have an alternative site in the Borough.
These are the foundations which I believe will eventually help us break out of this cycle but, of course, we must try and do all this whilst constantly improving the first team. The club is ready for promotion but we need to build a squad that's capable of competing. As you all know we have started this season with a new manager, new coaching and medical staff and practically a new squad and we have not finished team building yet so we will have to see how things shape up in the coming months.
Phil also asks: Is there any prospect of a new ground within my lifetime (another 35 years I guess)?
AAK:You echo my sentiments! Although we have the stadium at the Hive, I never really intended this to be for our first team so we are still pursuing other options and I hope to announce our intentions as soon as I am able.
Martin Smith asks: If the season is not going to plan, will the club/chairman take drastic action earlier this season and not leave it to the last minute?
AAK: This is difficult to answer. I'm a big believer in loyalty and I always try and back my managers so let's hope no more drastic action is needed!
Martin also asks: Will the club ever be a top 10 club rather than a middle of table/bottom club, given that we always seem to have to get rid of the better players when we have them?
AAK: I hate having to sell our best players but with the new Bosman rules and European freedom of movement you cannot keep hold of them as you were able to in the past. This is why we need to grow the infrastructure of the club and training ground to show we are progressive. We all like to go to work in a nice environment and footballers are no different, however, our low budget makes competing on salaries very difficult.
Daniel Whiting asks: Do you think the club has moved on since you took over or gone backwards. If forward, why have the crowds dropped so significantly?
AAK: It pains me that you feel the need to ask this question. I took over a club nearly £2m in debt, a squad with an average age of 31, no youth set up, a dilapidated stadium with a capacity of 3,900, an unpaid CVA, no assets, no facilities and an average support of 1,500 with hardly any kids. Actions by both the Football League to expel us and the Council to suppress us nearly brought the club to its knees and to compound matters the Bosman ruling took away our most important revenue stream with the corresponding reduction in transfer fees. We did not meet Conference ground criteria let alone Football League criteria and we trained in a park! No one has had to deal with the problems we have had to deal with and yet we endure, thrive and prosper.
On the field, we have achieved the clubs highest positions in The FA Cup, League Cup and League Trophy and made the League play offs twice. I m not sure what to say about the low crowds, you look to your fans for support and we could really do with more of them getting behind us more regularly, the glass is sometimes half full. I can't kick a ball or score a goal so you will have to draw your own conclusion as to whether we gone forwards or backwards?
Joe Clifford and Dan Hitchman ask: I am 13 years old and I am a membership holder, so I go to many matches at The Underhill. I really would like to be a mascot or a ball-boy at a Barnet FC home match. Or maybe sponsor a match ball.If I have to pay or anything I will. I also have a friend who is a membership holder but he's on holiday at the moment. He would also like to be a mascot or a ball-boy.
AAK: Contact Tony Peck in the ticket office for details, 0208 441 6932.
Graham Steed asks: You have been quite open about the fact that the newly fixed up Underhill is only a short to medium term home for the club. Are there any sites for a new stadium currently under serious consideration?
AAK:We are constantly looking for a suitable site and we hope to make an announcement as soon as we have secured something.
Dan Flitney asks: It's great to see the new floodlights finally installed and working. Underhill is certainly looking a lot brighter these days. Are these floodlight pylons designed to be "portable" so as to take them with us if and when we move to a new stadium?
AAK: Yes, they were made to our specific design.
Dan also asks: I have heard that with the increased number of permitted substitutes in a match (now 7 per team), our changing rooms may need to be expanded to comply with new FL rules. Is this the case, and if so what would we do in the short term to handle this?
AAK: Yes, this is a big problem because we do not have enough space under the stand. At the moment The Football League are aware of the issues and we hope to get dispensation.
Mark O'Meara asks: Your responses to previous questions have suggested that our Club is being held back by the smallness of our home crowd. But Dagenham & Redbridge achieved promotion last season despite their average crowd being almost identical to our own, at fractionally above the 2,000 mark. And, of course, our own average crowd would have been higher, if there had been more to cheer. Why do you believe that our crowd needs to match the League 2 average attendance (which was 3,853 in the 2009/10 season) in order for us to compete for promotion?
AAK:Dagenham did fantastically well last season as we did when John Still was managing Barnet but there are many more examples the other way! My comment was that if we had an average crowd in the division then I think we can get promotion and this is because the League 2 squad budgeting system limits our spending on players, so a bigger crowd means a bigger budget means better players but that's not to say we are not trying our best with the budget we have to work with. There is no doubt that the small crowd holds us back but are grateful for the supporters we do have and are trying hard to boost attendance…although a winning team is the best tonic.
Andrew Gregory asks: Firstly: Brilliant that you've done this again. The answers last year were very interesting. Much appreciated. Really makes fans feel like part of the club. Secondly: Thanks Tony for sticking with the club all these years. Best Chairman in the land. It sounds like it has cost you a lot though, both financially and otherwise, so my first question is: Do you think it's all been worth it?
AAK: Definitely not. I couldn't begin to tell you how exhausting it's been but I've worked too hard and love the club too much too just let it go to waste.
Andrew also asks: I've been living in Norway now for 12 years, so I have to admit it's been a little while since I was at Underhill. However, I remember countless games in the Barry Fry era (at least in the last years of it) with a seemingly packed out ground. Despite all the chaos and upheaval, it never seemed to be a problem getting people through the gates. Do you think this was solely due to the fact that we were near the top of the league and played all-out attacking football, or was the chaos, craziness and uncertainty around the club the very thing that attracted people? Don't get me wrong, I think the order and solid foundation that you seem to have brought to the club is the right way forward, but could it also be holding it back?
AAK:I have pondered this many times, of course attacking winning football will certainly boost the crowd at any club but the teams in the division are much, much more organised and tougher now so this is easier said than done. Also, the financial changes mean the bigger clubs are getting stronger and stronger in every division. The publicity in the Fry/Flashman era certainly put the club in the spotlight as in those days people would read the papers in the morning and then go to the local match in the afternoon. Nowadays with all the TV coverage and success of the Premiership the landscape has changed considerably and to the detriment of smaller clubs. I have a particular gripe with the Premiership with regards to the £1.2billion they get for overseas TV rights, yet they allow this coverage to be beamed back to the UK. This coupled with the alcohol restrictions at stadiums mean a large number of football supporters now end up in the pubs watching Premiership matches rather than coming to live games and supporting their local club.
David Nickolls asks: I recognise and appreciate all the work (and money) that has gone in to building a sound infrastructure for the club. However, although it's early days, all the signs at the moment are pointing to us being involved in another relegation battle this season, and I can see little or no chance of attendances improving under those circumstances. It's obviously a classic 'chicken and egg' situation - attendances won't improve unless the team achieves success, but we can't afford the players necessary to do that unless attendances improve. How do you see this being overcome in the short term? It hurts me to say this, but I'm beginning to think that we would be better off just taking a relegation to the next level, in the hope that we could compete in the top half of that league, rather than fighting this seemingly never-ending battle at the foot of League 2. What are your views on this? Is it possible we might have to accept that our natural level is the Blue Square Premier, at least until we can get a new ground and/or the Centre of Excellence starts to produce results? (I know it's been said that this may have to close if we were relegated, but then how is it that clubs like Borehamwood manage to run one?
AAK: In reply to a question from Phil Harding earlier I gave the long term plan to break the cycle but in the short term the thought of relegation haunts me and is definitely not the answer. Struggling against relegation every year is wearing and we do not want to keep finding ourselves in this position. Every season we start with the hope of at least reaching the play offs and this season is no different but you have to remember it's a new team and they need support. We can't just throw in the towel and get on their backs when the goings hard and certainly we have had a poor start but this is when the club and team need you most. If we are to get promoted then we need to all be positive and get behind the team because they are young and the nervousness and discontent on the terraces will quickly feed through to the team. We won't give up and with the help of sponsors and supporters we can do it!
To clarify your point on youth, I believe Borehamwood have a development centre whereas a Centre of Excellence is more stringent, requires about £400k a year of investment and can only be run by a League club so you would lose the right to operate one if relegated as happened to us in the past.
D. Bland asks: I think it's obvious to all supporters that we are very lacking in the striker department. I was surprised when Mark Stimson announced that his squad building was complete. Are there further funds available if required to either (a) buy someone or (b) loan someone?
AAK: The early injury to Steve Kabba and poor start to the season has forced a rethink and we are looking to try and strengthen as soon as possible.
