Hadley

Hadley FC is a non-league football club based in Arkley, a couple of miles east of Barnet in the county of Hertfordshire, that was formed in 1882.

Hadley initially played their matches on Hadley Common, in Monken Hadley, in the London Borough of Barnet. Hadley became members of the North Middlesex League before joining the Barnet & District League after World War Two, and moving their home ground to Wrotham Park.

In 1955 the club moved to play at North Barnet Playing Fields and joined the North Suburban Intermediate League before becoming members of the Mid-Herts Football League. Hadley were crowned as champions in 1975-76 and 1976-77.

Hadley joined the Hertfordshire County Football League the following season, winning the Third Division title at the first attempt. To progress up the league’s the club moved to a new ground in St Albans Road, Barnet, but it was only available for one season, so once again Hadley were on the moved again; this time to Chandos Avenue in Whetstone in 1985.

The latest move worked well for the club as they were promoted to the Premier Division in their first season at the ground. The club made the move to the Amateur Football Association and the Southern Olympian League, moving grounds at the same time to Woodside Park Club in Totteridge.

In 1992 Hadley moved to the Brickfield Lane ground in Arkley, which was the former home of Wingate FC, who departed to merge first of all with Leyton and then later Finchley. In 1999-00 the club re-joined the Herts County Senior League. 

The Division One title was won under manager Ian Gray in 2001-02. They went on to be crowned as Premier Division champions in 2003-04 and 2004-05 with Mick Hore at the helm.

Hadley applied to join the Spartan South Midlands League for the 2007-08 season but the move was blocked by the Herts County League. Hadley left that league to join the West Herts Saturday League and winning the league title after Guy Slee had taken over as manager.

It was a case of second time lucky, as Hadley were accepted into Division Two of the Spartan South Midlands League for the 2008-09 season with Ian Gray returning to lead the side as the previous boss moved into the Chairman's seat.

The first team entered into an agreement to share Parkfield, the home of Potters Bar Town for their matches, while the club’s other sides remained at Brickfield Lane.

Hadley continued their progress with promotion to Division One at the first attempt, and then going up to the Premier Division straight away in 2009-10 as league runners-up. 

The team consolidated their place in the top flight of the SSML, as Alexis Nicholas was appointed as player-manager in January 2012, bringing in a new influx of players. Franco Sidoli arrived as Hadley manager for the 2012-13 campaign.

Geoff O'Vell replaced Sidoli in the summer of 2013, lasting one season as the team finished in mid-table before former top flight star Micky Hazard who led the team to ninth place in the 2014-15 league season; the clubs highest ever finish. 

The Herts Charity Shield was lifted in 2015-16 while the Bricks ended their Spartan South Midlands campaign in sixth position.

Brickfield Lane was brought up to the league requirements with first team matches commencing on the ground from the start of the 2016-17 campaign, which saw Hadley struggle and narrowly avoid relegation despite a run to third qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Hazard departed in October 2017 to be replaced by Anthony Clarke who led his side to another sixth place. This was surpassed with a third place finish in 2018-19 before the club was moved to the Essex Senior League after non-league reorganisation.

Hadley were sat in fourth when the 2019-20 season was ended early owing to the Coronavirus pandemic as well as emulating their previous best FA Cup run.

Hadley FC will play in the Essex Senior League in the 2020-21 season.

My visits

At Potters Bar

Hadley 1 Eastbourne Borough 4 (Wednesday 5th October 2016) FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Replay (att: 302) 

Despite Hadley getting Brickfield Lane up to the required standard for league matches, they entered into an agreement with the local residents that the floodlights must go off at 9.30pm. Therefore it wasn’t possible to stage a replay at the ground that had the possibility of going to extra time. The match was moved to Parkfield, home of Potters Bar Town FC.

My pal Tony Foster had never been to a game at the venue, so he drove. A decent crowd was already gathering when we arrived. Admission was £7, with the programme an extra quid. The bar was doing a thriving trade and Hadley had set up their own gazebo doing hot drinks and cakes.

Parkfield hadn’t changed from my previous visit. To read a full description and see additional photos please click here. 

We headed round to the far side of the pitch near to the dug outs, where Hadley coach, the former Tottenham and Chelsea midfielder Micky Hazard was quickly losing his temper with the near side linesman.

The first game the previous Saturday had ended in a goalless draw. Plenty of supporters had travelled up from Eastbourne. Hadley came flying out of the blocks eager to impress and cause a cup upset. Hazard and the rest of the coaching team gave plenty of encouragement to their players and advice to the officials.

The ‘home’ side really did play some lovely football and it was by no means against the run of play when they took the lead on the half hour mark. Hadley’s defence cleared a corner to winger Zane Gangadeen, who set up Ivan Machado, whose twenty five yard shot went flying into the top corner of the net.

The Borough players appeared to be a little rattled, although their strength and quality gradually came to the fore. Their star man Elliott Romain was scythed down just a few minutes after the opener in the penalty box, with Nat Pinney putting away the spot kick.

The same player made it 2-1 just before the interval when he put away a knock down from a cross. At half time we went round for another cuppa. The bar wasn’t selling alcohol, much to the grumbling of the fans.

Hadley gave it their best shot after the break, putting plenty of pressure on their National League South colleagues. Hesham Benmansour broke through but dragged his shot wide. It was to be the last decent change for Hadley.

With fifteen minutes remaining Romain broke away before dragging the ball back for Gavin McCallum to fire home. Charlie Mann was having a superb game in the Hadley goal, doing his very best to keep the score down, but he was helpless in the dying embers as Romain turned home a cross shot from Josh Street.

We headed back having both enjoyed an excellent evening out. I was dropped off at Stanmore in time for a few drinks back at Kingsbury.

At Brickfield Lane

Hadley 1 Edgware Town 2 (Wednesday 10th October 2016) Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division (att: 95)

Steve Barnes decided to accompany me to this match and cheer on our local side. We met early and headed by bus to Barnet, where we enjoyed seeing England knock off the winning runs in the ODI cricket against Bangladesh in the Butchers Arms.

We also enjoyed fine ales in Ye Old Mitre Inn and the brewery tap of Barnet Brewery in The Black Horse before taking the 107 bus to Brickfield Lane. There was time for a swift half in the foodie, but decent Gate pub and restaurant over the road from the ground.

The programmes had already sold out on our arrival. Admission was a very reasonable £6. It was good to see a sizeable support for the Wares in attendance in the very smart little ground.

Although the clubhouse wasn’t fully complete fitted out it was open with tea, snacks and cakes available. Micky Hazard was in there chatting away and obviously enjoying being involved at the grass roots level.

Once past the pay hut behind the goal, the rest of that end had a narrow piece of hard standing. To the right was similar with a small stepped cover on the half way line. Both those sides were enclosed by neat wooden fencing. 

The far end had a strip of hard standing and then open grassed areas. The final side was fairly open with land for training beyond the pitch and a new modern seated stand.

The first half saw some excellent football being produced by both sides. With Edgware struggling since their promotion, I expected a very difficult night for them on the evidence of the Hadley side I’d seen in the FA Cup the previous week. The visitors more than held their own before going behind to a goal from Hesham Benmansour.

After the interval Edgware put in arguably their best performance of the season. The returning Stu Blackburne was having a fine game. The pressure eventually told when George McCluskey smashed home after keeper Mann parried a cross.

The winner came when a cross went all the way through to Blackburne who lobbed the keeper. The three points were well deserved. We went back over the road for another quick half while waiting for our bus to arrive.

We still had time to head down to Kingsbury to round off a fantastic few hours out with a celebratory couple of pints.

Hadley 0 Hitchin Town 3 (Wednesday 7th December 2016) Herts Senior Cup Round Two (att: 61)

I headed to Brickfield Lane for the second game of the day, following the UEFA Youth League clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre between the home side and CSKA Moscow.

After taking buses and getting snarled up in awful traffic I headed to the Red Lion in Barnet after a couple of pints over the road in Ye Old Mitre Inn. My choice of the second pub was because I needed a proper feed and it was part of the Toby Carvery chain. I left full and most satisfied!

The 107 bus seemed to take forever along the A411 towards the ground. I headed straight to the pay box to secure a programme, but they were still to arrive. It seemed that there had been a traffic accident in Barnet that had caused the jams. The Hadley chairman was stuck in it along with the programmes.

The game only kicked off a few minutes late, despite the congestion. It turned out to be an excellent contest on a carpet of a playing surface. Both sides tried to play football the proper way. The Canaries, who were the cup holders, fielded a strong line up.

Hadley were playing mainly on the break, and it was the visitors who went ahead after twenty five minutes. Hadley keeper Mann had already pulled off a fine save before he could only parry a shot from Ben Walster for Mason Spence to put home the rebound.

The second goal came six minutes later when Liam Brooks was brought down in the box. Walster put away the penalty with aplomb. At half time I enjoyed a much needed warm cup of tea and a very pleasant warm mince pie. It seemed quite appropriate with Christmas looming.

Hadley played some really nice stuff after the break with Bwanga having a fine game up front. However, it always looked likely that the third goal would be at the other end, and so it was. Spence put home a Walster cross at the far post.

Despite around five minutes still remaining, I caught a bus that was due to save a further long wait. I didn’t miss any goals.

I took buses to the Wetherspoons at Colindale with the intention of meeting friends who’d been at Wembley for the Tottenham v Moscow Champions League game; only to find that only Doombar bitter was available. I headed to Kingsbury instead!

Hadley 0 Colney Heath 0 - Hadley win 4-1 on penalties (Saturday 19th December 2020) FA Vase Third Round (att: 150)

I sat at home on Saturday morning, hoping that the Brickfield Lane pitch would survive further rain after passing an initial 10am inspection as I had a hunch that the chances of matches over the following few weeks could be minimal. Hadley’s Tweet that there had been another deluge around midday had me concerned.

A further inspection was to take place when the match referee arrived, leaving me in the potentially awkward position of being left without any game if I was stuck halfway on public transport.

On the bus towards Edgware from Queensbury the visitors Tweeted that the game was on. Previous experiences had told me that it was best to wait for the hosts to confirm. At Edgware there would still be time to get to the game at Rayners Lane.

As it happened, there was no need for concern. All was good and I jumped aboard the 384 bus towards Cockfosters. This relatively new service cut out the time spent on the 107 through Borehamwood, travelling up the A1 to Stirling Corner.

The jolly driver set the tone for the rest of my outing. I’d ordered my place online. Unfortunately, a mate couldn’t make it, but I was assured that the ticket would be taken up, by the amiable Olly Heed who was distributing the tickets from outside the Windmill Pavilion.

My eyes must have resembled the old fruit machine reels landing on jackpot as I saw people with beers, which was an unexpected bonus. I joined the queue where the couple behind the counter poured the bottles and kept everyone in check with social distancing.

I was impressed that Hadley had seemingly got involved with local brewers as I ordered a Dunstable Pale Ale, only to realise it was Whitstable. A sign of excitement and age catching up with my eyesight!

As it happens the club did have their own ale; Brick IPA from the Muswell Hillbilly Brewery, but sadly none was available. Not to worry, a couple of Kent’s finest did the job before I proceeded through the gate.

The near end had a basic roof added in recent times, adding to a neat and tidy set up. My initial impressions were that the pitch was better than I anticipated, although the areas around the dug outs were muddy, and surface water lay beyond the perimeter fence.

Taking up a position just past the away side bench I was in a good position to see a couple of incidents that could have put a very different slant on the result. An early ariel challenge by a Heath centre back could easily have been construed as a deliberate elbow and resulted in a red card.

Shortly after, a touch too many from the defenders saw Hadley forge a chance that fell to Solomon Ofori a few yards out, but his weak effort on goal was saved by Alex Clarke. The visitor’s bench was going spare with their side, instructing them to wake up.

There was a nasty clash of heads which delayed play when Hadley’s Luke Alfano and Paul Wright smashed into each other. Wright continued bandaged up but Alfano had to go off. While that incident was accidental, there was plenty of niggle going on elsewhere.

Teddy Stacey fired low across the box for the home side without a teammate getting on the end, while the Magpies had a couple of efforts blocked up the other end. Marcus Mealing had a shot easily saved by Hadley custodian Luke Ward.

At the interval I grabbed another beer, making hay while the opportunity still existed. News was breaking of a more stringent lockdown as I had a pleasant brief chat with veteran striker Scott McGleish who had a run out the previous week since he left Edgware Town and was mulling over where he’d play next.

I also had a nice quick chat with a fellow fan taking pictures, albeit with a better camera. It turned out to be Stuart Fuller, the chairman of Lewes FC. I told him you could get a photo of Arkley Windmill from behind the far goal.

The match continued to be quite fractious and stop start in a fiercely competed local derby. The referee handed out multiple cautions, including to both managers. The Colney Heath bench were especially forthcoming with their feedback. I really couldn’t see either side scoring, especially after Clarke made a brilliant save from a fierce Ed Davis drive.

Ofori continued to cause problems for the defence. I saw him as a Step 5 version of Raheem Sterling, being of a similar stature and style of play, getting into good positions and with lots of tricks but just lacking in the danger zone.

His side continued to show more attacking intent but some dogged and determined defending from the Magpies meant a lack of clear cut chances. Long and loud appeals for handball in the Colney Heath box from players and fans alike were waved away.

As the game drew to a close, I noted just how well Hadley had organised the day and how volunteers were still doing their bit, with balls that went outside the ground being returned promptly and then sterilised before being available for further use.

Penalties would decide the match and were thankfully to be taken at the clubhouse end with Bradley Marriott making it 1-0 to Hadley. Jay Lovell and Jack Woods both put their kicks over the bar for the away team either side of Sam Edwards making it 2-0.

It was 3-0 when Billy Baird slotted home. Colney Heath scored to make it 3-1 before Davis sealed his side’s place in the fourth round draw sparking off celebrations as the crowd slowly made its way out. I thought it was a fair result.

Waiting for a bus back over the road there was something happy but sad watching queues of cars waiting to get back onto the main road. I was happy that I’d witnessed a really decent occasion but was saddened while listening to news updates that it was going to be some time before we’d see the likes again.