Dan Tomlinson attended the screening of the Underhill documentary reports Hana Rajabally

A road sign with with 'Underhill' on it in London Borough of Barnet — Barnet FC hope to build a new stadium near their former Underhill base – (Credit – David Floyd)

Newly-elected MP for Chipping Barnet Dan Tomlinson has attended the screening of a critically acclaimed film about Barnet FC’s former ground.

Tomlinson, the first Labour MP ever to be elected for the constituency, opened the screening of the film Underhill, held at the Barnet Everyman Cinema as part of the Bring Barnet Back campaign

In a speech addressing supporters of the campaign, which aims to see the Bees move from their current stadium at The Hive in Harrow to a new site near their former High Barnet home, the MP pledged his support for the club’s return to the borough.

Tomlinson said: “This is my first big event since I was elected as the MP for this constituency. On this issue I’m looking forward to working really closely with you. I know there are lots of people in this community who want to see Barnet FC come back to the borough and I’m one of those people.

“We have to work with the council, we have to work with yourselves, have to work with the local community to find a way forward and I want to play a positive role in being part of those discussions and seeing if we can bring Barnet FC home to Barnet.”

The event was organised by the Bring Barnet Back team as well as the filmmaker Simon Emmett who produced the documentary, and Barnet FC chairman Tony Kleanthous.

The documentary captures Barnet FC’s last few months at Underhill Stadium before it was demolished and they were forced to relocate to The Hive in Harrow in 2013. According to the campaign team it “perfectly encapsulates the special relationship between the club and the local community.”

After the private screening of the documentary, a Q&A was held with three former Barnet FC managers: Barry Fry, Paul Fairclough and Martin Allen.

The Underhill screening represented the final event in the first phase of the Bring Barnet Back campaign, which aims to build a broad coalition of support for bringing the club home to Barnet.

Earlier this year, it successfully raised more than £5000 in a fortnight and is continuing to fundraise through selling t-shirts, stickers and other merchandise.

If you’d like to support the Bring Barnet Back campaign, please visit: https://www.bringbarnetback.com/

View Hana’s Barnet Post video on the campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vuBIFxPI5k&t=10s

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