Football players, fans and families mingled in the sun today during a community fun day.

The Hive in Camrose Avenue was buzzing with activity as people from all over Edgware and Barnet flocked to Barnet FC’s new stadium.

Bees fans of all ages met their heroes and took part in cross bar competitions, played football on an inflatable pitch and tested the speed of their feet in speed scoring competitions.

The best performers had the chance to win prizes including free tickets to games and training sessions. 

Children from Kingsbury Greek School performed Greek Cypriot dances, and even persuaded some of the players and Bees' mascot Mr Bumble to join in.

The event, organised by the team’s community trust, a charity which does outreach work with people across the area, was designed to introduce the local community to the stadium ahead of the new season.

The trust’s manager Birtug Kazim said: “The most important thing is to build good relations with the people living round The Hive.

"We kept the music low and there have been no problems with traffic – we want to show the people around here we can manage events like this as part of their community.”

Jordan Ilan, 12, who was collecting autographs from the players, said how excited he was to be there.

He said: “It’s fantastic to be here, I’m meeting all my heroes. The games here are really addictive, especially the speed shot football competition.”

Local resident Priya Vadher added: “I live just round the corner, I’ve driven past the stadium loads of times but I wanted to see what it was like inside.

“It’s really lovely here, the stadium is a good addition to the Edgware community.”

Stalwart Bees fan Andy McTeare from New Barnet, who had been bringing his sons to the fun day for a number of years, said how much they were enjoying the day.

He added: “It’s a really good event. It’s nice for my sons to meet the players, it really is a community club.

“I’ve been supporting The Bees for 20 years and I think The Hive is a fantastic facility, shame it’s not in Barnet.

The players said how much they enjoyed the day, adding they were looking forward to the new season.

Defender Jordan Brown said: “We’ve got our first pre-season match next week, we want it to be a lucky stadium. Today’s been really good fun and it’s been great to meet the fans.”

Midfielder Mauro Vilhete added: "It's really nice to meet the local community. We've exciting times ahead, we've just got to see what happens."