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| Wembley 1972 |
Being at Wembley Stadium to watch my team in a cup final as an 11 year old was very very special. In 1972 the FA Trophy competition was in its infancy having been born two years previously. It was basically a revamp of the old FA Amateur Cup and Barnet had made the semi final in its first season narrowly loosing out to Macclesfield Town in the semi final stage but the run up to this final was I have to say graced with some of the finest football ever seen at Underhill. What is even more fascinating is that it was achieved with a first team squad of just 15 regular players.
Dover Athletic
Barnet entered the competition at the
1st
round stage in January and easily swept aside a Dover side at the
Crabble Ground by 6-0. Dover, with the best defence in the Southern
Premier League that year, only conceded 13 league goals at home all
season! Jack McClelland saved a penalty kick midway through the
second half with the Bees already two up courtesy of Colin Powell and
Les Eason. |
| Lou Adams |
Lowestoft Town
A seaside trip on a coach to Lowestoft
Town was the reward in the 2nd
round – our coach left early in the morning to allow for a bit of
what was then known rather quaintly as “Wallop Time” in the local
pubs. Dicky Plume replacing Gerry Ward was the only line up change in
a game that rarely got into 2nd
gear and finished 0-0 in front of 1,338 fans. Barnet made no mistake
in the replay three 3 days later running out 5-1 winners thanks to
goals from Eason (2) Adams, Colin Flatt and an own goal. Very vivid
is the image of Paddy Powell’s shot at goal that stopped dead in
the mud short of the goal line allowing Eason to flick the ball in
with Paddy already celebrating “his goal”.
The meagre 727 attendance was due to the fact that the game was played on a Tuesday afternoon, kick off 2.15pm. It was a time of industrial strikes and a three day working week plus the Electricity Board were enforcing power cuts left right and centre therefore no Underhill floodlights – I had the mumps that day honest!
Wigan Athletic
Away from home again, the 3rd
round of the competition pitted us against some serious quality
opposition in the guise of Wigan who were at the time a power in the
very strong Northern Premier League and on the verge of election to
the Football League. A partisan crowd of nearly 5,000 saw Barnet come
from behind to win 2-1 thanks to a brace from Colin Flatt. Yet that
doesn’t tell the whole story and there were other notable
performances on that day. Defenders Ben Embery, Gordon Ferry, Jimmy
Lye and Peter Jenkins soaked up wave after wave of Wigan pressure but
it was McClelland who was the real hero making save after save.  |
| Jack McClelland |
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| Colin Flatt |
Dartford
In
the 4th
Round we were yet again drawn away this time at Southern League
rivals Dartford. Heavy snow had fallen overnight but had melted to
leave the pitch waterlogged but Barnet’s performance made light of
the conditions and they recorded an excellent 2-0 victory with Barrie
King’s midfield show particularly impressive. After a Paddy Powell
goal was ruled out for offside, a Flatt diving header was cleared off
the goal line and Eason had hit the bar twice, the Bees took the lead
on 52 minutes. Eason skipped past two challenges and fired in a low
cross to perfectly set up Powell. Nine minutes later King’s precise
through ball found Eason who took the ball immaculately in his
stride, rounded the goalkeeper and slid the ball into an empty net
for a classic goal.
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| Les Eason |
Telford United
The
semi final was played at Northampton’s now demolished County Ground
and our opponents were Telford Utd. I have to admit recalling very
little about this game – unusual for me I know – but I do
remember the pitch dust rising from “Mr Cool’” Dickie Plumes'
last minute penalty winner. The facts are that 4,481 saw the 1-0
victory which set up the visit to the twin towers against Stafford
Rangers.
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| Plume Penalty at the County Ground |
Stafford Rangers –
The Final
It
was Barnet’s first Wembley appearance since 1959 and just like then
it bought despair rather than joy. Les Eason told me “It was the
only time I played there unfortunately but the day is a complete
blur. I have been told by ex players that you have to play more than
once at Wembley to really appreciate it”. Colin Powell said of the
occasion “We didn’t turn up on the day as a team yet it was so
special; the boys had visited the week before to look around it was
extraordinary, but we missed early chances and frankly were well
below par”. Ben Embery reflected “I can boast that I played at
Wembley, it was the pinnacle of my career and I still get goose bumps
when I think about the day, I was so excited. Unfortunately we didn’t
do ourselves justice and were well beaten 0-3, but it was the most
incredible experience”.
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| Ben Embery and Jack McClelland |
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| Paddy Devastated |
For that season in 63 first team matches in which Ben Embery appeared in 61 of them and Les Eason in 60, manager Tommy Coleman called on the services of just 15 regular players. In hindsight was this the reason why a season that promised so much and was so memorable was not the great one that it should have been? I can tell you that in those 63 games 125 goals were scored with Lou Adams netting 28, Powell 27,Eason 24 and Flatt 15, an incredible goal ratio for a forward line. Finally a list of those 15 names for you ‘oldies’ to study and enjoy. Jack McClelland, Mick Coffey - who shared the goalkeeping duties, Jimmy Lye, Peter Jenkins, Ben Embery, Gerry Ward, Gordon Ferry, Barrie King, Paddy Powell, Les Eason, Lou Adams, Colin Flatt, Dickie Plume, Ian Fusedale and Jimmy Godfrey.
Plume, Ward, Ferry, Powell, Flatt
Embery, Lye, Adams, Eason (Insert Coffey)
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