1919

Serious football was abandoned during the First World War but soon afterwards the Barnet & Alston team resume duties in the Athenian league as Barnet FC.

Prior to the war they had finished runners-up (1912-13) and 6th (1913-14) and in 1919-20 they finished third in an extended league of 12 teams. The following season they finished bottom with two points and several administrative changes were made for the following season.

1920's

In 1924-25 it was Exeter City who, once again, ended a promising run in the FA Cup. This time the game was played in Exeter but the score remained the same at 3-0. In 1925-26 Barnet went a step further this time losing 3-1 to professional opposition at Brentford. In a close game, George Sparrow and Arthur Snaith were kept at bay by the wonderful saves of the Brentford keeper. In 1926-27 the club again met professional opposition. This time they travelled to Brighton losing 3-0. On March 21st 1925, George Sparrow became the first Barnet player to play international football, playing football for England against Wales at Plymouth.

In 1926 Alfred Shilling retired as President and was replaced with Mr W.

Watson. Mr George Sanderson became Hon. Secretary (later Chairman). A new stand was built at Underhill, costing £1,200, the bulk of which was loaned to the club by the new president and three other local gentlemen.

In 1927 Barnet win the Herts. Charity Cup beating St. Albans in the final 3-1. This was a fine performance considering the saints were champions of the Isthmian League (1923/4, 1926/7 and 1927/8). As a reward for an excellent season the team went to Holland during the Easter.

In 1929, Tom Goss took over as team secretary and introduced some junior plays from Tottenham Hotspurs to play for the club. These included Taffy O'Callaghan, Willie Evans, A.Day and W.Whatley all of whom became internationals and between them they gained 17 Welsh caps. The team went onto become runners-up in the 1929-30 Athenian League equalling their highest position for 10 years.

1930's

Optimism was high for the 1930-31 season, especially with new youngsters Lester Finch, Arthur Morris and Jack Richardson. Early defeats in a friendly with St. Albans (5-2) and in the league against Walthamstow Avenue

(5-1) were followed by an unbeaten run to the last game of the season when beaten 3-2 by Sutton United. However, Barnet had already become champions of the Athenian League by 12 points. In 1931-32 Barnet repeated the league success winning the Athenian League by 3 points over Hayes. This season Barnet played 16 cup games. In the FA Cup they beat Dulwich Hamlet (winners of the Amateur Cup) before losing 7-3 to Queens Park Rangers at Underhill in front of 7,000 fans. They went all the way in the Middlesex Senior Cup for the first time. In 1932-33 they repeated the success in the Middlesex Senior Cup and were finalists in the London Senior Cup, losing to Ilford. In

1933-4 the club had a long run in the Amateur Cup, beaten in the semi-final by Leyton at Ilford. They finally won the London Senior Cup (which dates back to 1883) in 1938 when beating Leyton 4-0 at Highbury in front of 20,000 spectators.

In the Athenian league, Barnet were runners-up in 1937-8 but struggled in the other seasons to repeat the two earlier championships.

It was during this period that Lester Finch, Barnet born and bred, became England's regular outside-left between 1933 and 1939. The club also lost the services of Arthur Morris who some rate as one the finest centre forwards of the time. In eight seasons he scored 400 goals for the club.