Barnet Football Club, 1888-1901

Barnet FC was formed in 1888 after previously being called New Barnet FC (1885-88) and previous to that Woodville FC (1882-1885). The "hillmen" or “violet & blacks” were formed by ex-scholars of Cowley College and later Lyonsdown Collegiate School in New Barnet.

In 1882 ex-scholars of Cowley College (corner of Station Road and Lytton Road, New Barnet) formed a football team under the association rules called Woodville FC. Playing in Woodville Road, New Barnet they played other local teams including Alma FC (later Hadley FC), East Barnet Boys, Aldenham Institute, Silesia College, Marlborough Rovers and Hampstead.

Regular players included: Wicks, H.Hochstrasser, Berry, Gladstone, Siddal, Stewart, J.H.Paton, J.Bean, C.H.Nicholls, Blewitt, H.Jessop, Yulland and Boyce. John Patton being the first captain of the club followed by Harry Siddall.

By the start of the 1885-86 season Woodville had merged with Lyonsdown FC who consisted of ex-scholars of the Lyonsdown Collegiate School in Potters Road, New Barnet. They renamed the club New Barnet FC and played in the college grounds which today would be the site of the Cromer Road School, New Barnet. The rules of the new club were outlined by the club secretary W.E.Boyce:

• That the club be called the “New Barnet Football Club”
• That all games shall be played under the Association Rules
• That the colours of the club shall be black jerseys, stockings and caps with white knickerbockers. This rule is compulsory and if broken a fine of 6d will be imposed.
• That the subscription for the season be 6s payable in advance......

The initial members of the club were: C.H.Thompson (captain), H. Hochstrasser (vice-captain), W.E.Boyce (secretary), F.Erviott (treasurer), John Paton, H.Day, C.Nicholls, W.Wicks (committee), H.Jessop, S.Thompson, H.Cartwright, J.Huntley, J.Munro, A.Page, James Paton, Arthur Berrey, J.Heath, John Paton, Fred Blewitt, Page, Berridge, A.Cartwright, E.Sweeting, Hill and Jago. 

Research has shown that over the next three seasons New Barnet FC played over 50 friendly games including a 5-0 win over the Tottenham Hotspurs first XI on 7th November 1885.

1888 - Barnet FC

In 1886, Mr Bullen Spicer became the new proprietor of Cowley College and became involved in the New Barnet Football Club. In 1888 he arranged a meeting with local gentleman to establish the club on a sounder financial footing. In readiness for the 1888-9 season they had renamed themselves Barnet FC and moved to a new ground at “Mrs Cook’s farm” which is now the Victoria Recreation Ground, New Barnet. An advert in the Barnet Press lists the following officials:

• Captain - J.S.Hill
• Vice Captain - H. de Hochstrasser
• President - J.E.Grocott
• Secretary - A.Berrey
• Treasurer - C.B.Jessop
• Ground - Mrs Cook’s Farm, Victoria Road, New Barnet

The Vice-presidents of the club are as follows:

• The Right Honourable Viscount Grimston MP.
• L.G.Hasluck Esq. (previous Lyonsdown FC)
• R. Hasluck Esq. (previous Lyonsdown FC)
• The Reverent D.W.Barrett, M.A. (vicar of Barnet)
• John Lovell Pank, Esq. (East Barnet County Councillor)

Barnet FC played in the Black & Violet colours. Initially they played friendly games in a semi-organised basis called the ‘Olympian league’. They also entered the London Junior Association Cup reaching the semi-finals in their first season. Barnet’s first game was a 2-0 defeat away at Hendon Rovers FC, September 29th followed by a 7-2 win against Magpie FC in Balham. The team: Taylor (goal), Hochstrasser, Blewitt (backs), Berry, Jessop, Wilson (half backs), Paton, Hill (captain), Thompson, Sweeting and Cartwright (forwards).

Mr. John Lovell Pank, Esq. would become president of the club in 1889 and would remain so until the end. Mr. Pank, a keen sportsman, was a most generous donator to the club and attended most games, home and away.

1889 - Queens Road

At the end of November in the 1889-90 season the club moved to a new ground which was reported in the Barnet press:

“The Barnet team, having transferred their quarters to High Barnet, opened their new ground at Ravonscroft Park, on Saturday last. The change from a swampy to a dry ground will be a great boom to both players and spectators, and the members are greatly indebted to Mr Anneveld for supplying the long felt need...”

The ground called “Ravonscroft Park” was at the end of Queens Road on Barnet Common (and later called Queens Road) on ground today occupied by the Barnet Grammar School. Entrance to the ground was 3d for men, 1d for boys, with ladies and soldiers in uniform free. Season tickets were available to members at 2s 6d. Mr Anneveld, later to become a vice-president of the club, initially leased the field to the club, then later created a financial plan for the club to own the land.

They were inaugural members of the North London League in 1892-3 finishing 5th with 7 points. They were also members of the league in the following season 1893-4 finishing 3rd with 13 points. Woodford FC were champions in both seasons. In 1892-93 Barnet did the double over Finchley FC, winning 6-1 and 4-1. Hornsey dropped out of the league after being fined £5 for not having a pitch ready for the game against Barnet!

1894/97 - North Middlesex League

In 1894 the club benefited from additional players from Clifford FC (a New Barnet team emanating from the Tudor Park area) and went on to have success in the North Middlesex League division II (1894-5 runners-up), division I (1895-6 runners-up) and the premier division (1896-7 champions). They also competed in the London Junior Cup, Middlesex Junior Cup and the Senior Cup competitions from 1896. Three seasons in the North Middlesex league and three honours. Receiving the clubs first honours as runners-up in NML II were the following players: W.J.Wilmott (captain), P.Toone, W.H.Searle, W.Kinsley, H.G.Simpson, H.Monnington, W.R.Shears, E.R.Shears, A.Cove, R.Simster, E.Hale, J.W.Dresser and L.Walters.

The early days saw wins against Tottenham Hotspurs and Thames Ironworks (West Ham) as well as very competitive games against local rivals North Enfield, Finchley FC and Hendon Town. However, their biggest rivals by far were another local team called Barnet Avenue FC. Up to a 1,000 spectators would see these two teams battle it out at the Queens Road ground – the rivalry often extending long into the evening! In 1896 there was much talk about the two clubs merging but at the Barnet FC Annual General Meeting it was decided to remain separate entities with Barnet FC as a senior club and Barnet Avenue in the junior leagues.

1897/1901 - London League

Barnet FC then played in the London League division II (1897-98 champions) and London League division I. The London League included Thames Ironworks, Clapton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspurs Reserves, Millwall Athletic Reserves and Woolwich Arsenal.

1901 - The end of the “Violet & Blacks”

After being suspended for 6 weeks by the London Football Authority in 1899 (for paying excessive expenses to amateur players) they struggled to pay off the clubs growing debts. By the 1901-2 season, in a bid to reduce expenses, they leased the Queens Road ground to their rivals Barnet Avenue and dropped back into the North Middlesex League. Barnet FC played their last few games at Underhill (off the high road and adjoining the cricket field; so close to the current ground). Unfortunately the clubs debt remained and they dissolved in November 1901.

And so it remained. A proud amateur team struggling to make headway against an increasing trend of professional teams. Most of the London clubs at the time were reserve teams of professional clubs - such as Tottenham Hotspurs, Queens Park Rangers, Millwall and West Ham United. Whereas the crowds had flocked to see Barnet FC in the earlier days (Queens Road had seen 1,000 spectators and a Finchley FC v Barnet FC game had 1,500) they had now fallen off dramatically to the low hundreds.

There were many clubs in Barnet at the time but the next decade would be dominated by two of them – Barnet Avenue FC and Alston Works Athletic FC

All material copyright Tony Rayner @2006 and/or KickIt Books

This site is in no way connected to Barnet FC and the views expressed here are my own interpretation based on my research. The official Barnet FC history is available on the clubs web site.