Former Barnet goalkeeper Scott Tynan recalls the highs and lows of his time at Underhill

Signed in September 2004, Tynan had been travelling with the club on a matchday on a non-contract basis and turning out for Shrewsbury Town’s reserves before he was finally put under contract at Underhill in time to make his league debut in a 3-0 win at Exeter City in October.

Deputising for the injured Shane Gore, Tynan would go on to establish himself as the Bees’ first choice between the sticks, playing 27 times en-route to the Conference title.

But even then, not everything was going smoothly behind the scenes.

“Because I wasn’t training with the team, I was just turning up on match days, it was quite weird,” explains Tynan. “I chose Barnet because there was something about the place.

“To be honest, I had a fall out in the summer after promotion because some promises were made which weren’t kept. I thought I was going to Accrington Stanley on a free transfer and when I was going to sign the release papers they asked me for £50,000 to release me from my contact.

“I got myself into a lot of debt staying that season and in the summer they offered me a rise of £60 a week to stay,” reveals Tynan.

“In the end the chairman convinced me to come back though they had signed Ross Flitney by that point and had given him the number one shirt – which felt like a massive kick in the teeth.

“I had been in to the chairman at the end of the season and he did as much to help me as he could. I went in off the back of the Arsenal game in pre-season and he made me an offer which was nothing to do with Paul Fairclough’s budget.”

Tynan, now 31 and retired following a string of injuries and operations, would eventually sign a new deal to remain at Underhill but it was a sour note after what had been such a memorable season.

“Winning the title against Halifax was a bit of a blur,” he says.

“I remember the teams that gave us a game that year – I know it sounds disrespectful – but Exeter, Dagenham and Carlisle were good teams and gave us a game. We felt we had the best side, though, and I think we were all confident it was a case of when rather than if we got promoted.

“They (Carlisle) had games in hand but we had opened up a ridiculous gap of about 17 points and when you are that far ahead you are just completely confident.”

He added: “At the turn of the year we played Stevenage home and away (winning one and losing the other). I will never forget Graham Westley sent through a text saying he would ruin our promotion push. But after the second game I thought we would kick on from there.”

And kick on they did, sealing League Two football with three games to spare. There was one more high point for Tynan – the League Cup trip to Manchester United the following season.

In Barnet’s first season back in the league a third round trip to face United at Old Trafford should have been a glorious occasion for the former Wigan Athletic and Nottingham Forest stopper but he nearly missed out all together.

Summer recruit Flitney was given the nod to start. But the former Fulham stopper’s night was over inside two minutes after picking up a straight red card and Tynan was thrust into the limelight.

“It was brilliant but it was scary as well,” recalls Tynan. “I knew from the start I wasn’t going to be playing because things were going on off the field.

“So I was a bit down to be honest. I am not going to lie, I was annoyed not to be in the team.

“I stayed in a hotel near the ground and did not really feel part of it. It was a little bit surreal. It was a great night and the score was a bit disappointing but considering the sending off it was not too bad.

“I can’t escape the fact I got the appearance by default so it was more special for me to win the league.”

The Saturday prior to the clash against Manchester United – who unsurprisingly won 4-1 – Tynan had been in goal as the Bees were crushed 4-0 at Mansfield Town, their first real beating since winning the title six months earlier.

It was the beginning of the end for Tynan, who now joint owns two tattoo studios in Liverpool and a third in Leicester with former Nottingham Forest team-mate Wes Morgan.

“He (Paul Fairclough) put me back in for Mansfield before the Manchester United. We got battered and a few things were said in the dressing room afterwards and it was then he told me I would not play at Old Trafford.

“[After Ross Flitney was sent off] I presumed I was playing the following Saturday at home to Rushden & Diamonds but he kicked me out the ground, threw my bag out and I had to go down the road to a cafe.

Picture: Action Images

“He then tried to get me barred from the ground and from there I knew my days were numbered,” acknowledges Tynan.

“I went on in the Monday and he said ‘Go and see the chairman and he will sign your release papers’ but the chairman said he would be a fool to let me go for free.”

Tynan would play once more for Barnet – a 3-0 Football League Trophy defeat at home to MK Dons – before finally being granted an end to his Underhill hell.

Ironically it would be Rushden & Diamonds, the side against whom the relationship between Fairclough and Tynan finally reached breaking point, who rescued Tynan in a £10,000 swoop in January 2006.

“People said I went to Rushden and Diamonds for the money but it was nothing to do with that, the contract there mirrored my one it Barnet. It was a sour end to what was a great time,” rues Tynan.

“My dad saw a post on the forum saying I was a money grabber and he – stupidly – posted something on there saying that wasn’t the case and if they knew the real story they would not have been saying those sorts of things. I got reprimanded by the club for that.

“It hurt me when the fans were saying what they were saying and it just became too much. I knew I could not do another year like that.

Picture: Action Images

“I just felt I got backed into a corner but at no point did I say I wanted to leave Barnet – that was the most upsetting part of it all. When I forced a meeting with the manager he said my time would come and by the time January came around it had never arrived.”

Tynan concludes: “I got to play against Barnet later that season and the reception was good. I had a great relationship with the Barnet fans. I went back the following season to watch a game and a lot of people came up to me, had a chat and were asking how I was.

“I Ioved playing at Barnet. If I felt I was given a fair chance I would have stayed there for as long as possible.”