General Information
• For just £30 you can purchase a ticket to all of Barnet’s home matches in January. For full details please click here.
• Shuttle Buses will be in operation, for details please click here.
• The weather forecast for Saturday’s match is for light rain with maximum temperatures of 7C.
Introduction
• Barnet host Alfreton Town on Saturday in their first home match of 2014.
• The Bees endured a disappointing festive period losing all three of their matches.
• By contrast Alfreton are on a superb run winning their last five to catapult themselves to third in the Skrill Premier on 49 points.
• The Bees currently sit ninth in the table on 39 points, three points behind a play-off place.
• Saturday’s match could be Dani Lopez’s final match for the Bees with the forward’s loan spell expiring on January 14th.
• Jake Hyde is however in fine form scoring three in his last three matches.
• Alfreton sealed a 3-1 win over the Bees in the reverse fixture in September.
Team News
Barnet FC
• Jake Hyde, Dani Lopez and Keanu Marsh-Brown are all expected to start once more.
• Graham Stack is a major doubt following an injury against Luton Town so Nick Jupp could make his first Barnet start.
• Edgar Davids and Jon Nurse are still unavailable following red cards but Carl Fletcher could return.
Alfreton Town
• Nicky Law has no new injury worries but will again be without the services of John McGrath and Josh Law. McGrath is being sent for a scan on a knee injury and Law is still around another week away from able to return to action after a long-standing thigh injury.
Last Time Out
January 1st 2014
Skrill Premier
Luton Town 2-1 Barnet
Barnet: Stack (Jupp 23), Saville, Johnson, Stephens, Marsh-Brown, Yiadom, Byrne, Weston, Villa (Cadogan 75), Hyde, Lopez (Crawford 59).
Subs: Abdulla, Acheampong.
Goals: Hyde 71.
January 1st 201
Skrill Premier
Alfreton Town 1-0 Wrexham
Alfreton Town: Worsnop, Wood, Bradley (Shaw 78), Westwood, Franklin, Kempson, Rowe-Turner, Wylde, Meadows, Clayton (Wishart 65), Akinde.
Subs: Fenton, McFadzean, Atkins
Goals: Akinde 45
Last Meeting
21 September 2013 – Alfreton Town 3-1 Barnet
Barnet suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Alfreton Town as their run without a win stretched to four matches. John McGrath put the hosts ahead with a superb free-kick but the Bees hit back in the second-half through Keanu Marsh-Brown. From there the Bees were unable to push on and a Michael Clayton brace secured Afreton the win.
Barnet FC: Stack; Yiadom, Stephens, Acheampong, Johnson; Abdulla, Weston, Byrne; Gambin, Marsh-Brown; Crawford.
Subs: Luisma, Jupp, Mengerink, Casabella, Vilhete.
Alfreton Town: Atkins, Wood, Wylde, Shaw, Clayton, Bradley, Meadows, Fenton, McGrath, Akinde, Rowe-Turner. Subs: Franklin, Westwood, Law, Wishart, Taylor.
Subs: Franklin, Westwood, Law, Wishart, Taylor.
The Opposition
• The present Alfreton Town Football Club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfreton United Football Clubs.
• Within two-years they were promoted to the Midlands Counties League and after serval near-misses they won the title after ten-years in the division.
•In 1988 they joined the Northern Premier League First Division and after struggling in the first years of the division they gained promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division in 1996.
• However after taking a huge step forward they took two steps back when they suffered back to back relegations to send them back to the Northern Counties (East) League.
• The 2001/02 season saw Chris Wilder take charge and the Reds landed four trophies during the season, the most important of which was the Northern Counties (East) League title.
• Wilder departed for Halifax Town but success continued to flow under Dave Lloyd who guided the Reds to a second successive championship when they lifted the 2002/03 Northern Premier League First Division title.
• The following campaign saw yet another impressive outing for the Reds who finished fourth and thus gained a place in the brand new Conference North.
• Nicky Law took charge of the side ahead of the 2007/08 season and after a comfortable 16th place finish in his first season the Reds finished third in the two that followed. Play-off heartbreak was suffered in both seasons but Law led them to promotion in the 2010/11 season as champions.
• Law is still in charge and last season saw the Reds finish 13th in the Blue Square Premier, their highest league finish to date.
• In July 2011 Alfreton came to prominence following a 14-0 pre-season win over a Sheffield Wednesday XI.
