Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous has hit back at councillor Brian Coleman following his astonishing attack on the club after their relegation.
Former mayor of Barnet Coleman reacted to Barnet’s exit from the Football League last weekend by saying: “If I had the power I would be ordering that the church bells in Barnet be rung in celebration. Thank you and Hallelujah!”
Coleman added he was “not the only Conservative adding a little champagne to my orange juice over breakfast” and also criticised Kleanthous.
His extraordinary outburst followed years of wrangling between Barnet Council and the club over lease issues regarding Underhill Stadium which eventually led to Barnet’s decision to move out of the borough. Barnet will relocate to neighbouring Harrow next season and Kleanthous said: “If they want to drink champagne and dance on our grave, that is fine.
“I am just happy to be away from all that negativity and all that backstabbing. We have put that behind us. We are not licking our wounds, we are not feeling sorry for ourselves, we are not going to cry about relegation. We will pick ourselves up and get on with it.
“Some people are like that I am afraid. It is unpleasant. They are vindictive, so it is nice for us not to have to deal with those sorts of people anymore. We have had a difficult end to the season but we are looking forward to getting on with doing everything is a positive manner.
“Since we announced we were moving away from the borough, there has been a real positive feel about the place. We will be back. The club are moving forward stronger than ever and will continue to do that.
“We understand how they [Barnet Council] feel about their local football club. I do not want to get into throwing sticks and stones. We do not want to continue with the silly squabbles we had with Barnet Council. We just want to get on with our future.”
Kleanthous believes Barnet were forced out of the borough by Barnet Council, who subsequently allowed Saracens rugby club to move into a new stadium at Copthall. The venue has since been transformed into a 10,000-capacity stadium with a synthetic pitch and been renamed Allianz Park.
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“He [Coleman] made it clear they would never allow the club to expand in the borough,” said Kleanthous. “He also made it clear the Council fell over backwards to assist Saracens.
“They were considered a better class of clientele than our football supporters. Which is quite damming. I am afraid that that is what we have had to endure with the local Tories in Barnet. We are not really surprised by their behaviour but we hold no grudges.
“As far as we are concerned, we have put them behind us. We have got a wonderful new 44-acre facility in partnership with Harrow Council and we are looking forward to a bright future.”
