Barnet and Stevenage Borough first played each other in 1986, but Barnet have also played matches against previous Stevenage sides well before that. 1965-66 was Barnet’s first season in the Southern League First Division and one of the teams they met in the league that season were Stevenage Town.
Barnet won the Division title that season, gaining promotion to the Premier Division in their first season. In the space of three days, the Bees completed the double over Stevenage, winning 3-1 at Underhill in front of, what turned out to be, the highest ever Barnet attendance during their time in the Southern League. 3685 fans saw Don Whyte, Roger Figg and Reg Finch score the goals for the Bees. Three days later, Barnet won 2-1 at Broadhall Way with goals from Dave Morris and Reg Finch.
In 1967, Stevenage Town were promoted to the Premier Division and the following season, the two clubs met again, the Bees completing the double again, winning 1-0 at Stevenage, through Keith Searle and 5-3 at Underhill with two goals apiece from Searle and Les Eason and one from Figg. Sadly, at the end of that season, Stevenage Town, who finished 18th, folded.
A new club, Stevenage Athletic was formed out of the old club, and Barnet met them for the first time in 1971 in the Southern League Cup, the new club having been elected to the Southern League that year. Barnet won 5-1, with two goals apiece for Colin Powell and Colin Flatt and one for Les Eason.
In 1975, Barnet were relegated to the First Division North and they again met Stevenage Athletic, completing the double over them in 1975-76. The Bees won 1-0 at Stevenage through Butler and 2-1 at Underhill with goals from Gary Williams and Ray Aggio. That season, the two clubs also met in the 2nd round of the Herts Senior Cup, Barnet winning 4-1 with Billy Meadows scoring a hat trick, the other goal coming from Steve Oliver. Stevenage finished bottom and, like their predecessors, sadly folded.
That same year, a new club, Stevenage Borough was formed. The first few minutes between Barnet and the new club were all in the Herts Senior Cup. In 1986, Barnet, now in the Alliance Premier League, won 4-0 in the final with goals from Glyn Creaser, Peter Brown and two from Dave Sansom.
In 1991, the two clubs met at the semi final stage, Barnet, now a league club, winning 2-1 with goals from Mick Bodley and Roger Willis. The following season, Barnet won 6-0 in a 2nd round tie with four goals from Mark Carter and one apiece from Gary Bull and Paul Showler. In 1993, goals from Brian Stein, Tony Lynch and Jonathon Hunt gave the Bees a 3-1, 2nd round win.
In 2001, Barnet were relegated back to the Conference and the two sides met for the first time for league points. For the first time, Barnet failed to win against a club from Stevenage. Indeed, Borough completed a double over the Bees that season, winning 3-0 at Underhill on Boxing Day and 3-2 at Broadhall Way. John Doolan and Toby Ashitola scored for the Bees.
The following season, the Bees won 2-1 at Stevenage through a penalty from Junior Agogo and a superb over head kick by Ben Strevens. Stevenage were in freefall and looking as though they were heading for the Southern League when they came to Underhill in March, but they came away with a 2-0 which sparked off a revival and stayed up.
In 2003/04, Barnet traveled to Broadhall Way and won 2-1 in a match which has become well loved by the Bees’ fans. After being under the cosh for most of the first half and going in 1-0 down at half time, the Bees came out for the second half a different team altogether and went on to win 2-1 with goals from Peter Beadle, on his Bees’ debut and Guiliano Grazioli (For a more detailed look at this match, see the Classic Encounters section on this website). In the return at Underhill, the match endless goalless, but it was an eventful match in which Barnet captain, Ian Hendon was sent off along with Stevenage’s Dino Maamria. The two sides also met in the 1st round of the LDV Vans Trophy (now revamped as the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) with the Bees winning 3-1 with two goals from Nicky Bailey and one from Lee Roache.
In 2004/05, the Bees ended the season as Conference champions and were promoted to League Two. The two clubs met over the Christmas and New Year festivals. Stevenage won a controversial meeting at Broadhall Way, on Boxing Day, 2-1 with Guiliano Grazioli scoring the Bees’ goal and Dwane Lee being sent off. It was Barnet’s first away defeat of the season.
In the return, a week later, at Underhill goals from Ismail Yakubu and Grazioli gave the Bees a 2-1 win this time, putting the bees 13 points clear at the top of the Conference.
The last time that the two clubs met was in November 2007 when Barnet won a 2nd round, Herts Senior Cup match 4-2 at Broadhall Way. Barnet’s goal came from Stephane Seanla, Anthony Thomas, Ashley Carew and Christian Doyle.
