A season of promise for the Bees

Nick Sandamas on Barnet FC’s first season back in the EFL

The main stand at The Hive Stadium, home of Barnet FC — The Hive (Credit – Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Many fans would say Barnet’s first season back in the EFL following a seven year absence was a success despite the fact that they missed out on a play-off spot by the skin of their teeth. This disappointing ending followed a great run of results from mid-March to the final game which yielded eight wins in the final nine games.

However many supporters were expecting the worst after a poor start which yielded three successive defeats and an early League Cup exit.

August to November 2025 – A slow start followed by a recovery

Eventually, at the fourth time of asking, the Bees got off the mark with back-to-back away wins at both Swindon and Cheltenham, who were defeated by an Ollie Hawkins goal.

Danny Collinge struck a late goal to salvage a point against Colchester.

September began with a 4-1 thrashing against Luton Town in the Vertu Trophy, followed by an even worse performance against Shrewsbury. The game saw manager Dean Brennan red carded by referee Kirsty Dowie, which would lead to repercussions later in the season. Barnet managed their first ever away win at Crewe Alexandra the following week.

Then, Nnamdi Ofoborh struck a brace as the Bees finally broke their home duck to beat Grimsby 3-0. A 1-1 draw followed against Oldham and they finished the month with a win in the Vertu Trophy on penalties against Brighton’s Under-21s after a draw. Callum Stead scoring late to take the game to penalties

October started with successive wins over Accrington and Tranmere Rovers with goals scored by four different players but this good run came to an end when Notts County scored deep in stoppage time to grab a smash and grab win.

Cambridge were beaten 3-2 in the final Vertu Trophy group game and this was followed by a 2-2 draw at Barrow.

November began with a disappointing first round exit from the FA Cup against Fleetwood.

Then in their next league game, the Bees flew into an early 2-0 lead against promotion chasing MK Dons thanks to Adam Senior and Shelton’s penalty but were pegged back and had to settle for a point.

Three successive draws followed to end the month in the top half.

December 2025 – February 2026 – Brennan banned

Senior set them on their way as Bristol Rovers were dispatched to the tune of 4-0 but Barnet then came unstuck at Chesterfield as they suffered their first away defeat since August.

Poor performances came against both Salford and Newport which resulted in one point, however they ended 2025 with victory at Bristol Rovers.

2026 arrived with Joe Kizzi’s brace securing all three points in a 2-1 win against Crawley.

Then their next game saw them beaten by Grimsby by a single goal.

New signing Kabongo Tshimanga made a goalscoring debut with two goals in a 3-2 home win over Oldham.

Then Shelton struck deep in stoppage time to beat Tranmere with the month ending with a point from a dull goalless draw away to Shrewsbury.

Tshimanga scored again but the Bees were held by Crewe, then went to Walsall the following Saturday and won 3-1. Idris Kanu on the scoresheet for his first goal of the season with the other goals coming from Senior and Tshimanga.

At this point, news filtered through that boss Brennan had been banned from the dugout for the next nine games following comments alleged to have been made in a game last autumn. After that, it was left to coaches Connor Smith and Jerome Okimo to shout instructions from the bench.

Cheltenham Town arrived the following weekend and parked the bus with the game ending goalless. Next up, despite Senior giving Barnet the lead, Ollie Clarke scored twice in the second half to secure Swindon all 3 points.

Then a poor performance resulted in a 4-1 loss at Colchester, Jack Payne with a fine hat-trick but this was quickly turned around with single goal wins against both Accrington and Chesterfield to put the Bees back in the play-off picture.

March – May 2026 – So near and yet so far

Only one point was gained in the next three games to seemingly end any hopes of a top seven finish but then an amazing run of results turned the tide which saw them fall within a whisker of joining the play off party.

It began in mid March with a fantastic away day success against MK Dons and victory over Cambridge thanks to Collinge’s early second half strikes.

With Brennan now back in the dugout, leaders Bromley were next to arrive at The Hive on Good Friday and the home side led 2-1 going into the last few seconds before George Evans scored in the 102nd minute to break Bees’ hearts.

However this didn’t derail their play-off bid as they went to Fleetwood on Easter Monday abnd came back with a fine 5-2 victory.

A late goal from Callum Stead secured all 3 points in a 3-2 win over eventually relegated Barrow.

Notts County were dispatched 2-1 at Meadow Lane with Tshimanga at the double followed by an astonishing 6-2 home win over Gillingham.

Callum Stead scored a remarkable five goals (the first to do so in an EFL game since 2012) including a ten minute hat-trick in what was ultimately his swansong in front of the home faithful. He finished with 16 goals for the season.

With the play-off bid now over, the Bees went into their last game of the season away to Harrogate (who were fighting for their lives) with a chance to finish in their highest league position since the 1999/00 season and achieved it with a 2-1 win. Phillip Chinedu scored the winner to relegate the Sulphrites.

Stead finished as top scorer with 16 goals and for 28-year-old Tshimanga scored an impressive 12 goals in only 21 games following his January move from Crawley Town.

So near yet so far for the Bees in what was a remarkable last nine games of the season. It could have been so much more had they been more consistent before that great run but anyhow it’s a stepping stone towards bigger and better things for next season.

With Anthony Hartigan, Mark Shelton, Callum Stead and Ollie Hawkins moving on, the rebuilding process begins.

A crucial summer ahead for the men in black and amber.

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

ACT NOW!

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.