IT NEVER rains, but it pours at The Hive – and I’m not just talking about the sprinkler that caused us hacks to move three times while interviewing Edgar Davids last week!
Whatever the arguments for and against Barnet playing in the borough of Harrow, on a ground that Wealdstone have the right to share, no-one can deny that a superb stadium and community sport complex have been built.
Two issues that arose last week were, first, that there is clearly some opposition from local residents, judging by the woman who pulled up as I walked in demanding that she be allowed to park for free inside the grounds because she “can’t park outside [her] own house since they built this thing!”
Chairman Tony Kleanthous says 95 per cent of locals are supportive, so she’s obviously part of a minority in that case.
The chairman, meanwhile, was “saddened” by criticism from Salisbury fans who thought it unfair they had to pay £21 to sit in the West Stand because the away terrace (normal cost £16) wasn’t open. “With a new ground costs are greater, and we have to take a decision on which away area to open when we are told that only 50-100 fans are travelling,” he told me.
I can see why City fans feel hard done by, but also understand why the seated stand – in which Salisbury fans were charged £2 less than the Bees in there – was chosen because, Kleanthous says, “some supporters can’t stand for 90 minutes”.
You’ll read elsewhere in today’s paper about the storm that was about to erupt over planning for that West Stand and floodlights.
Arguments abound, but I hope it is all sorted out so that Non-League can continue to enjoy its newest ground, with a pristine pitch one online report referred to as “3G” this week.
It isn’t, so no rules have been broken there. But it certainly looks as good!
