THEY PLAYED FOR BOTH: Barnet & Birmingham City

Last updated : 14 August 2012 By Jaybee

A number of players have played for both Barnet and the Blues. In recent years at Underhill, there has been Gary Breen who joined Birmingham from Peterborough in 1996 for £250,000 and then, less than a year later moved to Coventry City for £2.5m!!! Breen joined Barnet from Wolves in 2008 and made nearly 50 first team appearances at Underhill in two seasons. Breen represented the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup.

Paul Furlong joined Birmingham from Chelsea in 1996 for £1.5m and played for a while alongside Breen. Furlong left Birmingham for QPR in 2002. He scored over 50 goals for Birmingham. Furlong joined Barnet in 2009 from Southend United, initially on loan and was a big hit at Underhill, scoring 14 goals in over 60 appearances for the Bees and scoring his 200th career goal while at Underhill.

One of the most popular ex Birmingham players to come to Underhill has been Ian Hendon. ‘Hendo’ had a short loan spell at the end of 1994/95 with Birmingham while at Leyton Orient. Hendon had a short loan spell under Peter Shreeves at Barnet in 2002/03 while at Sheffield Wednesday and then signed for the Bees the following summer under Martin Allen, where he was made club captain. In his first season at Underhill, Barnet reached the Conference Play-offs and the following season, Hendon captained the Bees to the Conference championship and promotion to League Two.

Hendon made over 150 first team appearances for the Bees, scoring 20 goals before being made assistant manager, under Paul Fairclough, in 2007. In January 2009, he took over as manager and did well in his first season, pulling the Bees away from relegation trouble, but after a fine start, Barnet fell into free fall and two matches before the end of the season, Hendon was sacked as manager.

Other players to play for both teams include; Oliver Allen, Mick Bodley, David Howell, Kenny Lowe, Gary Bull, Garry Poole, Roger Willis, Jonathan Hunt, Ken Charlery, Steve Barnes and Kevin Dearden,