The Football League has turned down Barnet's request to change homes mid-season next term.
The League have told the club that, without a firm plan regarding their subsequent home, they would be unwilling to allow a mid-season move. The request came about after the club failed to reach agreement over land used by them that is currently owned by the council with lease agreements that expire next December.
The club have subsequently announced their intentions to leave Underhill this coming summer, claiming to have rejected a council plan to remain on the current site by reducing capacity to 5,100 because - in the words of chairman Tony Kleanthous - the club would not 'go back to the cloth cap days of cramming people in and letting them use a wall as a toilet!'
The club currently have no plans on a future home. Fans, so far, have generally welcomed the announcement with suggestions that their 'The Hive' training complex or Stevenage's Lamex Stadium could be destinations.
Update: The local council have responded to Barnet's statement. Council leader Richard Cornelius told the local press:
“I just don’t recognise this version of events. We have already offered Mr Kleanthous a 15 year extension to his lease at a cost of £7,000 a year. That would let him run the ground safely at its current capacity. The club has also been offered a licence for vehicles to use Priory Grove for a nominal fee ‘whilst the club’s Underhill land is used as a football stadium’”
“I can only assume this latter point is the stumbling block.”