50 Years Ago

[Reckless]

How many of you were supporting the club in 1970? How many of you were not even born?
I saw the thread about 30 years ago and the game against Darlington in the Conference but this weekend was 50 years since what was at that point in my Barnet supporting career the biggest game I had experienced.
We had won through to the FA Trophy Semi Final against Macclesfield which was played at Victoria Ground Stoke. The team that afternoon still gives me shivers as it was so exciting for a 10 year old to watch these fellows and get so close to many of them personally over the years.
Jack McClelland, Jimmy Lye, Peter Jenkins, Gordon Ferry, Ben Embery, Gerry Ward, Barry King, Paddy Powell, Ricky George, Billy Meadows, Les Eason. Sub Tony Gregory.
We had thrashed Mosseley 8-1 in the previous round with all four forwards on the score sheet, Les with a hatrick, Paddy with 2, Ricky with 2 and Billy with the other goal. The previous week we had beaten rivals Hillingdon Borough 6-0 with Les and Billy getting a hatrick each in that game while a couple of weeks earlier we stuffed 10 past Burton Albion with Les and Billy getting 4 each. It was easy.

Why did we lose the Semi 0-1 in front of 8,000? In my opinion because the man below who scored 46 goals in all that season had picked up a painful thigh injury over the Easter Weekend at home to Dover and because of the small playing staff played again on the Monday against Brentwood as manager Dexter Adams chose to rest Captain Gerry Ward and Peter Jenkins, two key players Dexter felt would be vital in the game against Macc. In fact Les had played 6 first team matches in just 11 days! He recalls saying to Dexter "give me a few days at home and I'll be OK!" He sat in a hot bath for three days from advice given by other players and now knows that any doctor would have said the complete opposite. When it came to the match Les broke down within a few minutes and even though we had a good utility sub in Tony Gregory, Meadows had no partner and Bill always said "I was a different player with Eason alongside me, without him I just couldn't get going and their players were saying look at Eason he's done for. Gerry was only half fit too and normally he ran the show". The gap between styles was massive too, the pitch was really heavy and Macc defended very deep until they went ahead then closed ranks.
So many players from that era insist if we had had just 3 or 4 more players to call upon we would have won much more - there was always no money available from the board. At the end of the season Billy Meadows asked for a £5 a week pay rise to £25 (he had scored nearly 80 goals in 2 seasons by the way) and was refused so he went off to Hereford for £30.00 plus travelling expenses, Only 15 players were used regularly that year including Johnny Barr the reserve keeper. Ben Embery and Barry King played 73 games each.
I think it had got so bad financially at the club that was the reason Dexter Adams announced he was retiring at the end of the season, he could take us no further after nearly a decade as manager.
I ramble on as always also I am on SI working at home...... but really it was just an excuse to show this photo of the great Sir Les Eason in action in about 1970, with a tantalizing glimpse of the old main stand and the area of the ground with the atmosphere of the Moon, the North West Frontier!
Stay safe.
Reckless.

[hoppy]

Great write-up Reckless.
That was the inaugural year of the FA Trophy and it was decreed that semi-finals would take place at a neutral ground so the FA came up with Stoke City's Victoria ground as the neutral venue.
NEUTRAL MY ARSE!
Barnet to Stoke 147 miles.
Macclesfield to Stoke 22 miles.
No surprise then that Maccy had the lions share of the support that day.
Interesting to read Reckless's comments regarding the injury to Les Eason and the small squad of players. But what a talented squad it was.
However, Barnet only finished 7th in the Southern League that season, perhaps that was as a result of the number of games that our players had to take part in.
Despite goals flying in left, right and centre our average league attendance that season was less than 1400, not vastly different to what we get now.

[Reckless]

Annotation 2020-04-01 131808.png (525.62 KiB) Viewed 4093 times

Found this as well.

Annotation 2020-04-01 131808.png (525.62 KiB) Viewed 4093 times

And this one, Popular Side looking very old school.

[amberforever]

Featuring the great Sir Les again ?!

[0008158]

Great day out but poor result 4 of us went up by car,passed the supporters coaches scarves flying from their windows but it seemed to take forever but we all backed the national winner that day Gay Trip so it eased the disappointment on the way back I think we stopped at uttoxeter for beer and food .We got back to the Cavalier in East Barnet at about 10pm.Happy Days.

[barnet1958]

So many players from that era insist if we had had just 3 or 4 more players to call upon we would have won much more - there was always no money available from the board. At the end of the season Billy Meadows asked for a £5 a week pay rise to £25 (he had scored nearly 80 goals in 2 seasons by the way) and was refused so he went off to Hereford for £30.00 plus travelling expenses,

I can believe the club had no money. I played for the Barnet Sunday League in a Tuesday night friendly against Barnet and remember Billy Meadows coming into our dressing room before the match looking for some toilet roll.

[john dockers shorts]

Great read

[HertsBee]

Annotation 2020-04-01 131808.png

Found this as well.

Annotation 2020-04-01 131808.png

And this one, Popular Side looking very old school.

Is that you standing on the wooden box?

[Reckless]

No matey very rarely stood with the Wannamint brigade. As soon as i was tall enough I braved it behind the goal with the "boys". Wealdstone had a fanzine. One of the first, and they said Barnet had the hardest crew in the Southern League - whatever that meant?

[JWTBee]

I started supporting the Bees in the late sixties/early seventies.That team was absolutely fantastic & is still my favourite apart from the fact that Roger Figg wasn't in it! Figg & Eason - what a partnership!

[pgbee]

I started supporting the Bees in the late sixties/early seventies.That team was absolutely fantastic & is still my favourite apart from the fact that Roger Figg wasn't in it! Figg & Eason - what a partnership!

My first season was 71-72 with essentially the same squad when we did get to Wembley.

[StephenM]

I wonder if, in 30 years time they'll be Barnet messageboards with middle aged men telling stories of their first season following the Bees, remembering the exploits of Peter Scott and Louis Affor.

[RichardM]

I wonder if, in 30 years time they'll be Barnet messageboards with middle aged men telling stories of their first season following the Bees, remembering the exploits of Peter Scott and Louis Affor.

You seem to have forgotten Nicky Rust and Billy Manuel.

[pgbee]

I wonder if, in 30 years time they'll be Barnet messageboards with middle aged men telling stories of their first season following the Bees, remembering the exploits of Peter Scott and Louis Affor.

Let's hope so although more likely the exploits of Kelly Haag and Hoddle by name....nice to be thought of as middle aged as well.

[OB1]

My first season was 1957/58. The season before that they finished bottom of the Athenian League. In 1957/58 they finished 4th in the league and reached the semi final of the Amateur Cup. The following season, 1958/59 the won the league and lost in the final of the Amateur Cup at Wembley.