THEY PLAYED FOR BOTH: Barnet & Gillingham

Last updated : 07 September 2012 By Jaybee

In recent seasons,  a number of players have played for both Barnet & Gillingham.

Last season, in goal for Barnet was Dean Brill who joined the Bees from Oldham Athletic and whose last minute save at Burton Albion in May kept the Bees in League Two. Brill made 45 appearances for the Bees before re-joining Luton Town in the summer, from where he had in 2006/07 joined Gillinham on a short loan spell.

Darren Dennehy joined Barnet from Cardiff City in the summer of 2010 but injuries wrecked his time at Underhill and he only made 29 appearances for the Bees before being released at the end of 2011/12. He had a loan spell with Gillingham in 2009/10 under Mark Stimson who was later to sign him for the Bees.

Former Gills, Jordan Obita and Charlie Stimson have also played for Barnet in the last two seasons.


In the Current Barnet squad are former Bees Curtis Weston, Barry Fuller and Olly Lee. All three joined Barnet in the summer. Weston was released by Gillingham at the end of 2011/12 having scored 19 goals in 167 appearances for the Gills after joining them from Leeds in 2008.

Lee was on loan at Gillingham last season and joined Barnet after he was released by West Ham.

Former Underhill favourites, Ben Strevens and Adam Birchall are in the current Gills' squad. Strevens scored 45 goals for the Bees in over 200 appearances and scored the goal that clinched promotion and the Nationwide Conference title in 2005 for Barnet. He left Underhill a year later to join Crawley Town. In the summer, Strevens left Wycombe to sign for Gillingham.


Adam Birchall joined Barnet, initially on loan, from Mansfield Town in 2006. He scored 26 goals in over 100 appearances before being released at the end of the 2008/09 season, joining Dover. He joined Gillingham last summer but injuries have greatly restricted his chances  so far.

Simon King joined Barnet from Oxford United in the summer of 2003 and went on to make 146 league starts for the Bees as well as 3 appearances as a substitute and scoring 6 goals, including the goal that won the game against Halifax Town that clinched the Nationwide Conference title for Barnet in 2005. He was voted supporters' player of the year for 2006/07 before moving to Gillingham for £200,000. He had a loan spell at Plymouth but has since moved to SPL side, Inverness Caledonian Thistle. King scored 3 goals in over 100 appearances for Gillingham.

Barry Cogan joined Barnet from Millwall in August 2006. He played 39 times for Barnet including 6 as a substitute and scored 3 goals before joining Gillingham in the summer of 2007 on a free transfer. He afterwards moved to Grays and then Crawley Town but now plays for Dover.

Stuart Lewis started his career at Tottenham but never made the first team and joined Barnet in January 2007. He only made 2 league starts and 2 appearances as a substitute before moving on after two months to Stevenage Borough. He joined Gillingham in January 2008. He now plays for Wycombe.

Barry Fuller started at Charlton and joined Barnet on loan in January 2007 and made 15 league appearances for the Bees scoring one goal against Peterborough in a 2-2 draw at London Road. He turned down an offer to join Barnet on permanent terms and joined Stevenage in the summer of 2006. He moved to Gillingham in January 2008. Fuller joined Barnet in the summer of 2012 after being released by Gillingham. Fuller made over 150 appearances for the Gills.

Ashley Carew started as a youngster with Gillingham but dropped out of league football and had spells at Bromley, Welling and Fisher before joining Barnet in the summer of 2007. He left in 2009 and currently plays for Cambridge United.

Dominic Naylor joined Barnet in August 1991 after a spell playing in Hong Kong. He was a member of the Barnet side that won promotion to division two in 1993, but left shortly afterwards and joined Plymouth. He made 50 league starts, plus 1 appearance as substitute for the Bees. He joined Gillingham from Plymouth in 1995 and left a year later for Leyton Orient.

Andy Hessenthaler joined Gillingham from Watford in 1996 and made 273 starts, plus 30 as a substitute, scoring 20 goals in nearly 10 years as player and player-manager. He joined Barnet as a player in January 2006 and made 35 starts plus 5 appearances, scoring 2 goals before leaving in May 2007 to join Dover Athletic as player-manager. He was appointed Gillingham manager in 2010 but has now become Director of Football at the Priestfield. 

Danny Westwood joined Barnet from Gillingham in 1981 for £2,000 and made 55 appearances and scored 12 goals in two years at the club. 

Gary Breen joined Barnet in December of 2008. He left in 2010. He made 51 league appearances for Gillingham, joining them in 1992 from Maidstone and left in 1994 for Peterborough for £70,000.

Lee Harrison played for Gillingham in 1992, while on loan from Fulham. He joined Barnet in 1996 and made 234 league appearances in his first spell at the club before joining Leyton Orient in 2003. He re-joined the Bees in 2006 from Peterborough but left in 2010. He is currently caretaker manager with Newport County.

Other players to play for both clubs include  Ross Flitney, Mick Bodley, Josh Wright, Tommy Black, Austin Berkley, Guy Butters, Peter Beadle, Marlon King, Jon Ford, Billy Manuel and Manny Omoyinmi.

Current Barnet head coach, Mark Robson has coached at Gillingham and of course, Gills' new boss, Martin Allen has had three spells in charge at Underhill, the most recent being last season when he oversaw the Bees retaining their League Two status.