Dean Brennan has offered his condolences to Harrogate Town and manager Simon Weaver after Barnet beat the Suphurites 2-1 to confirm their relegation to the National League.
Callum Stead opened the scoring inside two minutes, tapping into an empty net after Harrogate defender Bobby Faulkner’s loose pass allowed Idris Kanu to run through on goal before Stead finished comfortably.
Byrn Morris’ penalty levelled the scoreline for the hosts just before the half-hour mark, but Philip Chinedu came off the bench to snatch the winner for Barnet in the 82nd minute, sealing Harrogate’s relegation to the National League after six years in the EFL.
The Barnet manager spoke to the BBC post-match and raised some interesting points about the reality of elite-level sport and how “cruel” football can be at times, despite owner Irving Weaver injecting resources into the club year after year.
Weaver’s son, Simon, has been the club’s first-team manager since 2009 but will attempt to get Harrogate back to the EFL at the first time of asking next season.
“It’s positive for us but heartbreaking for Harrogate. We had to come here today and do a professional job,” Brennan told the BBC post-match. “I thought the players' application towards that was fantastic. It’s a horrible feeling (Harrogate’s relegation). It feels like you’re at a funeral today.
“I know Simon particularly well, and his dad. They’ve invested a lot in this football club, and it shows that in elite sport there are no prisoners. I suppose the league doesn’t lie through the 46 games.
“From our own point of view, we haven’t scored enough goals all season. We have in the last 13 games, but to get 76 points and not get in the playoffs is incredible, really. That probably hasn’t happened for a long time. Last year, 70 would have got you in the play-offs. It is what it is. We’re not going to cry about it. We’ve had a positive season.”
Harrogate’s relegation sees the club fall out of the English Football League for the first time since 2019.
Speaking post-match, Brennan said: “It’s ruthless. It’s selfish, and you have to move on. It’s horrible, and at times it can be cruel. You can work your socks off, invest heavily and do what you have to do, but sometimes it just goes against you.
“What happens in moments like that is it makes you stronger. You need to go through the tough times. We’re heartbroken that we haven’t got in the play-offs. Our level of performance all season has been good. It’s just the last final actions. We have a huge summer ahead to try to convince certain players to stay with us.”
Brennan then reflected on Barnet’s first season back in League Two but was insistent that the club need to be ambitious if they are to get to where they want to be.
“We are pleased. There are loads of positives within it. We’ve played some fantastic football; attack-minded,” he said. “How the players have adapted when I’ve changed the system, and I’ve changed it again today, how they’ve understood how I want them to play.
“The huge thing for us now is how do we get into the top seven? How do we go from eighth to seventh? That’s a huge question for this football club this summer.”
Asked if he had an answer to that, Brenan swiftly responded: “That’s down to the board. That’s over to them now. They know what I want to do, so it’s up to them.”
Barnet bring the curtain down on their first campaign back in the EFL with a points total of 76 – cruelly failing to reach the play-offs in an otherwise highly-impressive season.
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