Barnet Football Club has chosen a new site within the Green Belt at Underhill for a proposed £14 million new football stadium.

Instead of opting for the school playing field of the Ark Pioneer Academy -- as previously suggested -- the club’s chairman Anthony Kleanthous (see above) has decided to see whether Barnet Council will give permission for a stadium further south along Barnet Lane.

A planning application to be submitted by the end of December will propose building a 7,000-seat stadium on the open green space which backs on to Grasvenor Avenue and which extends south to the Dollis Valley London Loop footpath.

Mr Kleanthous told a news conference that the site now being suggested was on council-owned land and was within the Green Belt.

However, he hoped that a way could now be found to allow Barnet FC to return as close as possible to the site of its former stadium at Underhill.

“Since the club left Underhill, there is a recognition that Barnet has suffered from the loss of its football club.

“This is an attempt to see if we can return to the club’s original home which would help provide a sustainable future for Barnet FC and benefit the town.

“The site would be well away from the school and further along Barnet Lane.

“Our team of architects and planners think it would fit in well with the Green Belt countryside of the Dollis Valley.

“Bringing the club back to Underhill from The Hive at Edgware will provide jobs and create enhanced opportunities for local businesses. Long term we think it will help attract new investment.”

Among those at the news conference was Iain Dalziel (right) of the Bring Barnet Back campaign who was shown the images of the new stadium.

He said fans in Barnet would be delighted that an application was finally going to be submitted to Barnet Council.

“We have been waiting a long time for this news and hopefully we can all work together as a community in Barnet and get the club back where it belongs at Underhill.”

At present the green open space being suggested as the site of the new stadium is bounded on the northern side by the Ark Academy playing field and a children’s playground; on the eastern side by alms houses and a school in Grasvenor Avenue; on the southern side by the London Loop footpath and Dollis Brook; and on the western side by the training pitches of Wingate and Finchley FC.

Mr Kleanthous said that he and his team had been working for the last two years, trying to find a site, listening to people and finally the club had settled on this site for their planning application.

The main stadium would be three-storeys high with changing rooms and a medical centre on the ground floor; club offices and a hospitality suite on the second floor; and boxes for spectators on the top floor.

There would be lightweight one-storey stands on the other three sides of the stadium each with 12 rows of seats. Modern floodlights – which be used on only ten to 15 match days a year – would contain the light within the stadium.

The entrance to the stadium would be along the existing approach road to the playing fields off Barnet Lane. Inside the ground there would be parking space for 40 to 50 cars.

Manuel Nogueira (above, centre), of AndArchitects, said the new stadium had been designed to blend in with landscape, with tree planting and other measures to improve biodiversity on the surrounding land.

A pond would be created on the land between the stadium and the London Loop footpath, and this would take surplus surface water and help increase biodiversity.

Sean McGrath (far left) planning consultant with WSP, explained why the club had abandoned the idea of seeking to build the stadium on the school playing field of the Ark Pioneer Academy.

“We listened to all the comments made at our public presentation in mid- November.

“Although Barnet FC was keen to work with the Ark Academy, we realised the school had no wish to give up its playing field and that the stadium would be too close to the school. For that reason, the previous site did not really work for us.

“All the advice we have been given is that the best option would be to see if a new stadium would be acceptable further to the south on the much larger green space.”

Originally the club had hoped to submit an application by mid-October, but rethinking the location meant it would now be with the council by the end of December.

Once the application was validated by the council there would be several weeks of consideration and the club hoped the scheme could be considered by the planning committee at its March meeting.

If planning approval could be obtained by the summer of 2025 work on the stadium could take place over the 2025-26 season and if all went well the club could be playing in Barnet once again for the 2026-27 season.

Mr Kleanthous recalled the trouble ending to Barnet FC’s time at Underhill.

He said a previous Labour controlled council had initially approved plans to build a 10,000-seat replacement stadium at Underhill, but that approval was rescinded by the incoming Conservative controlled council on the grounds that it would be a breach of the Green Belt.

“When we left Underhill and the original stadium site was sold, we had no choice. At that time there were no circumstances under which the council would give us the go ahead.

“With the change in control of the council back to Labour and with the realisation that Barnet was a vibrant town when it had a football club, we find that many in the town would like the club to return.

“The people of Barnet realise what they have lost. We have also learned a lot as a club. We have scaled down the stadium. We realise that in a Green Belt site, it can’t be too commercial, and we hope this application will be approved.”

Mr Kleanthous said the existing Barnet FC stadium at The Hive would be retained as a training facility if a new stadium was built at Underhill.

The Hive had always been a training and development centre and was available to various clubs including the London Broncos rugby league club and the London Bees women’s football club.

Mr Kleanthous said the club was hoping to regain its academy licence and there was also a possibility it might offer facilities for the UK version of American football.