Barnet FC have announced the signing of Oli Hawkins, who has made 249 appearances across League One and League Two, as per the club’s official website.
An ‘Old-Fashioned Centre-Forward’
Speaking to club media upon his arrival, Hawkins described himself as an ‘old-fashioned centre-forward’, saying:
“I feel like I’ve got a lot to bring – and that I’ve still got a lot to prove after my last two seasons when I was probably quieter than I should have been.
“I still think I’ve got a season or two left in me to score some goals and really do well for a team”.
Hawkins is certainly right about being quiet over the past season. The 33-year-old failed to find the back of the net in the league for Gillingham, despite making 25 appearances, albeit mostly from the bench.
His spell with the Gills in general has been quite barren. The towering striker has scored just eight times in 74 appearances across two-and-a-half seasons for the Kent-based side.
It represents a far cry from his days as a youngster under Dean Brennan at Hemel Hempstead and at Dagenham and Redbridge.
In the 2014/15 season, the London-born man found the back of the net 14 times in 44 games in all competitions for the Tudors. He backed up this impressive goalscoring form by scoring 10 times in 21 games in the first half of the 2015/16 season.
After taking the second half of that campaign to bed in at the Daggers, he exploded into life in his first season in the National League, scoring a very impressive 18 goals and providing a number of assists for his teammates.
This saw the target man earn a move to League One Portsmouth, where he got a reasonable seven goals in each of his first two seasons.
An injury-hit 2019/20 season saw Hawkins fall out of favour at Fratton Park and his goalscoring returns have consistently diminished since, despite dropping into League Two with Mansfield Town and, most recently, Gillingham.
Writer’s View
As both Brennan and Hawkins have alluded to, the 33-year-old will be as valuable off the pitch as he will be on it next season.
Barnet’s squad is largely made up of players who have spent the vast majority of their careers in non-league, but Hawkins’ will provide valuable EFL experience and also be a good character in the dressing room.
Being 33 years old, he is not the same player that Brennan had at Hemel physically. He will not do as much running, something that is so vital in the Irishman’s high-tempo, high-pressing system, but he is an excellent physical presence who can win headers and flick-ons. This may mean that Lee Ndlovu starts the majority of matches whilst Hawkins is tasked with trying to make an impact from the bench.
The Englishman has also been deployed as a centre-back a lot in recent years due to his aerial ability. This versatility will be an added bonus for a Barnet squad that has to cope with strict registration windows for the first time in a while.
