There’s a saying at Potters Bar Town which is pretty simple, but for them, it’s often relevant: “It’s never dull at the Bar.”
It’s true, or at least it often feels that way.
Sometimes, it’s stealing victory from the jaws of defeat having trailed in added time against Concord Rangers to win 4-3.
Or on other days, it looks more like gaining automatic promotion to Step 3 whilst the owners are on holiday in full anticipation and excitement for the playoffs next weekend.
The saying rarely lies.
Many fans of the club feel the peak of the extraordinary was in October 2019, when Barnet travelled to the Lantern Stadium in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.
When Josh Walker gave Barnet the lead and Alfie Pavey stepped up to take a spot kick to double the lead early in the second half, for many teams, that would be that.
But not only was R’avan Constable’s penalty save superb, diving low to his left and then roaring in delight towards the Barnet fans, it seemed to spark something in Bar.
With a capacity and club record 2,011 crowd in attendance on the day, almost four times their second best attendance at the time, the Scholars’ supporters began to believe there was hope.
Bar began to force chances, but as the clock ticked away, maybe that belief began to fade slightly.
The very, very final glimmer of hope arrived for them in the 101st minute, when they won a corner which was floated in from the left-hand side.
Picking out the aerial presence of James Budden with the cross, he was able to flick it across the box, and the rest, really, is engrained into the club’s history as perhaps its greatest moment since its inception in 1960.
With just one very heavily deflected touch of a football at the back post, Andy Lomas was a Potters Bar Town legend.
The impact of reaching the fourth qualifying round replay of the FA Cup was massive for the club.
Aside from having the huge crowd and BBC cameras in the ground on the day, the ramifications of that one moment alone stretched for years after the ball hit the net.
Not only was the ground upgraded, with an improved main stand and bar area, but the playing budget increased and Bar were able to secure safety in the Isthmian Premier League in their first season there.
The club have also retained their Step 3 status since and have used the funds from the cup run to ensure the squad is at the best possible level, almost five years on from the game.
Whilst the Scholars were beaten 3-1 by Barnet, they had a lot to be proud of in that tie as well, taking the lead through Ben Ward-Cochrane and selling out a packed away end at The Hive.
The club also saw an influx of Barnet fans amongst their supporters, who had liked what they had seen from the cup games they’d seen from then-manager Lee O’Leary’s side.
Bar even gained a new catchphrase to summarise how beautifully unpredictable they could be, coined by BBC commentator Conor McNamara and still used by the club today.
For a community club in south-east Hertfordshire often competing with the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal for attention, Andy Lomas brought eyes to the club all over the country, who were treated to their first taste of the realisation that is truly never is dull at the Bar.