Underhill deal snubbed

Barnet FC Holdings Ltd, which was sold the freehold of the stadium for £10,000 two years ago, was willing to concede defeat in the High Court action if the council guaranteed it would agree to the club's new plans to upgrade Underhill and ultimately find it a new home in the borough.

Bees' chairman Tony Kleanthous, the sole director of Barnet FC Holdings Ltd, said he had also been willing to sell the freehold back to the council to avoid going to court.

"We were trying to broker a deal with them right up to the court case in the light of this supposed new support they were giving us," said Mr Kleanthous. He claims the cost of the case would pay for the annual salary of three players with the ability of the club's top goalscorer Giuliano Grazioli.

"With the council pushing this case, I do start to wonder whether there is any goodwill there at all. All that has happened is that the council has wasted a lot of money and the cuts are running a lot deeper."

The council's High Court battle to get a rectification to the contract of the freehold sale began on Monday (Jan 12) and is expected to finish today.

An error by a council officer in the placement of a bracket in the contract means the council will not receive a share of the profits if Underhill is sold ten years after the contract was signed on February 27, 2002.

But Grant Crawford, representing the council, argued that correspondence prior to the signing of the contract had assumed the profits would be split and there had been no mention of a ten-year clause in favour of the club.

But Andrew Hunter, representing Barnet FC Holdings Ltd, said there was no concluded agreement between the parties until contracts were exchanged.

Council leader Victor Lyon said the council fought the case because it needed some protection if Barnet FC decided to leave the borough. "They can't give a cast-iron guarantee that, if they wanted to go somewhere else, there would be some residual value as far as Barnet (council) is concerned," he added.