Paul Fairclough gets top rating for his performance last season in the London Football Report.

The Barnet manager, now in his fourth year at Underhill, collected an end-of-season 75 per cent 'good' mark, with seven per cent rating him 'very good' and 18 per cent saying that he was 'OK'

The report, published in the Evening Standard, was the result of a survey of 2,814 fans from all the London clubs in May.

The survey is complimentary about the Bees, who vie with Arsenal for top marks in most categories.

Barnet supporters chant that Tony Kleanthous is "the best chairman in the land" - and the London Report gives him and the board of directors a 42 per cent 'very good' rating and 33 per cent 'good. Only QPR (67 per cent) and Crystal Palace (44) better the 'very good' mark.

The fans were asked how much it cost to watch a home game, including ticket, merchandising and refreshments ... and Barnet was the cheapest in town.

The main bewildering statistic, against that, is that 45 per cent of Barnet supporters rated a trip to Underhill as ' too expensive'

Those surveyed had obviously not heard that prices had been frozen for the fourth season in succession and that cut-price season tickets obtained before June 13 offered football at Underhill for 23 League 2 matches at £8 50 a game.

The full findings of the report can be seen on http://footballfans census.com/londonfootballreport08/pdf


Dennis Signy