Barnet signed a number of new players for the new season, prominent among them were two players from Hyde & Kingsbury; George Hughes, a defender, who was to become one of the club’s outstanding players throughout the 1920’s and into the 1930’s and wing half, George Meadows, who like Hughes would prove a great servant to the club. Also new to the club was W Harding, a local player who could play at either full back or half back and whose son, Tony, would play in the 1950’s and 60’s for the club with great distinction.
The club opened up their Athenian League season with a 1-0 win at Underhill against Kingstonian with Mercer, a player retained from the previous season. The Barnet line up was; Laker, Hughes, Merry, Plum, Allen, Meadows, Wilding, Paul, Sparrow, Mercer, Thompson. Only Allen, Sparrow, Mercer and Thompson had played in 1920/21 for Barnet.
The Athenian League had expanded now to 14 clubs with Cheshunt re-joining the league along with Enfield, Sutton United and Guildford City while Wimbledon and West London Old Boys had left. The league was beginning to take on a more familiar, modern look.
Unlike previous seasons, Barnet played a number of Athenian League games early in the season. They followed up their narrow win over Kingstonian with a goalless home draw with Chelmsford and a 1-1 draw at home to Luton Clarence with a goal from W Paul. In the team too was free scoring striker from the previous season, J Fillistone and J Fletcher a left back who became a regular in the team. Playing for the reserve team were winger G Deeks, who was to become a long serving player with the club and H Stringer who was to score a number of goals for the first team by the end of the season.
A third league draw in a row, at home to Southall, with Paul and Walter Allen, a rare goal, preceded Barnet’s first cup game of the season, a trip to Cricklewood to play Hampstead Town in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup but a 3-0 defeat, their first of the season, ended the clubs FA Cup involvement for another year.
Athenian League fixtures resumed and Barnet maintained their unbeaten run in the league with a 4-3 home win over newboys, Guildford City with George Sparrow scoring twice, his first goals for the club. Barnet had 7 points from 5 games and were placed 3rd in the league behind St Albans and Metrogas.
Barnet saw a number of players eave around this time, including leading players such as Logger Mason, Mercer, Fillistone and Ernie watkins who joined Finchley and then Birmingham City. Soon after new winger, G Parke left to join Guildford. The departures may well have contributed to a loss of league form with just 2 points taken from the next three games and without a goal being scored, though the club remained 3rd with 9 points from 8 games. There was definitely a lack of goals.
November saw a return to cup action in the 3rd qualifying round of the London senior Cup with a 1-1 draw at Hurlingham against Civil Service from the Southern Amateur League, a competition that Barnet had previously played in. Fillistone returned briefly to score the goal. In the replay at Underhill, George Sparrow scored a hat trick but the match was abandoned in extra time with Barnet leading 5-4 and it took a third meeting before the tie was resolved with Sparrow scoring all three goals in a 3-2 win for Barnet.
In the next round, Barnet travelled to Wembley Park to play the Metropolitan Police, but this game too ended up being abandoned, this time after 6o minutes through for with Barnet leading 2-1 through 2 Sparrow goals.
Barnet won the replayed game 4-1 with Paul scoring a hat trick and went through to meet Catford Southend, a former Athenian League club who now played in the London League. Sadly, despite being drawn at home, Barnet went out of the competition losing 3-1 with Paul scoring for Barnet.
In between the LSC games, Barnet also went out of the FA Amateur Cup at the 1st round stage, losing 3-1 at barking, another London league side. Paul again scored the Barnet goal. The same day that Barnet were losing to Catford, the reserve side played at Hertford Town in the Herts Charity Cup and lost 4-0.
A disappointing end to the year was cemented with defeats in the league at Hampstead Town (3-1) and at home to St Albans (0-3), and an uninspired goalless draw at home to Cheshunt on New Year’s Eve. Barnet ended the year in 6th place with 10 points from 11 games. Metrogas and St Albans headed the table.
The new year got off to a poor start with a heavy 5-0 defeat away at Kingstonian foolowed by a 2-1 defeat at Guildford, Paul scoring again as Barnet slumped to 9th in the table. However, following a 1-0 home win over Hampstead in the 1st round of the Middlesex Senior Cup, H Stringer scoring, things gradually improved though there was a third league defeat in a row with a 3-1 loss at Bromley with stringer scoring again.
Barnet then won the next three games; league wins at home to Chelmsford (5-1 with Harding grabbing a hat trick), 2-1 at Sutton (Stringer and Sparrow scoring) and a 2-1 home success in the 2nd round of the Middlesex Senior Cup against Southall with goals from Stringer and Parke who had returned from Guildford. Barnet were now 7th in the table with 14 points from 16 matches and through to the semi-finals of the Middlesex Senior Cup.
However, that was pretty much as good as it got that season as their league form declined badly with only two wins in their last 10 games; 3-1 at home to Sutton and 2-1 at home to Hampstead and Barnet finished a disappointing 12th just two points ahead of bottom club, Kingstonian.
In the Middlesex Senior Cup, on 25th March, Barnet faced Botwell Mission, who were later to become Hayes FC, in the semi-final at Enfield and won comfortably 3-0 with goals from George Sparrow and A & H Stringer. The Barnet line up was; Green, Hughes, Fletcher, Plum, Allen, Meadows, Deeks, H Stringer, Sparrow, A Stringer, Beckett. A Stringer and G Beckett had both arrived from East Ham United a few weeks earlier.
In the final, Barnet were expected to defeat RAF Uxbridge, but lost 2-1. H Stringer scored the Barnet goal but he also missed a penalty. The Barnet team was the one that had won in the semi-final. So the club had come close to winning a trophy that season, but in the end the season had to be seen as a rather disappointing one, the club finishing in their lowest position yet in the league. St Albans retained the title with Metrogas finishing second but they left the competition along with Chelmsford.
George Sparrow was Barnet’s leading scorer with 13 goals, though he also had 5 goals chalked off in two abandoned cup matches. H Stringer scored 12 goals and Harding and Paul 9. It was clear that scoring was a problem with just 29 goals coming from 26 matches and at the time it wasn’t clear that Geordie Sparrow was going to become quite the prolific goal scorer that he turned out to be.
