Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous insists the Bees have only just begun after returning to the Football League earlier today by clinching their third Conference title.

A 2-0 win over Gateshead at The Hive rendered Bristol Rovers’ 7-0 victory against Alfreton Town irrelevant as Martin Allen’s side secured league football for next season.

Mauro Vilhete, the club’s longest-serving player, scored a goal in either half to get the promotion party underway and speaking afterwards, Kleanthous was aiming high.

Conference trophy in hand, he stated: “We intend to [go through League Two]. We have only just begun. It has always been the plan [to move through the leagues]; it is just now we have got the vehicle to make the journey with.

“I am bored with the Football League already – let’s talk about the Premiership,” he joked.

The win is Barnet’s third Conference title after wins in 1991 and 2005 and as the league will be renamed the National League next season – a move driven by Kleanthous in his role as Football Conference Director – the success has extra significance.

“Three times,” said Kleanthous, who has been chairman since 1994. “ This is the last Football Conference – it’s the National League from next year – so we are the only team who will ever win the Conference three times. It is not just the league win, it is the biggest win.

“We are Barnet and that is the way we do it.”

Turning to the squad, Kleanthous eulogised: “Mauro (Vilhete) is super. But they are a great bunch, right throughout; the manager and the team.

“Throughout the season they have given me confidence when I have been down they have picked me up. They have been fantastic. They have said they will do it from day one and they have seen it through.

“I doubted it all the time – I am a huge pessimist but fortunately they (the players and staff) are all optimists.”