Barnet were amongst the founder members of the Alliance Premier League, in 1979, which combined the best clubs from the Northern Premier League and the Southern League. There were 13 clubs from the Southern League and 7 from the Northern Premier League.
Barnet had been elected to the Southern League in 1965 and had turned semi professional, having been an amateur side before that playing in the Athenian League. They were placed in Division One (the second tier) and finished their first season in the league as champions with 69 points, 5 points clears of 2nd placed, Hillingdon Borough and were promoted to the Premier Division.
The following season they finished a respectable 5th in their first season at this level and established themselves as one of the top sides in the league, regularly finishing in the top half of the table; in 1971-72, they finished 4th their highest placing in the Southern League.
However, in 1974-75, they were relegated to the Division 1 (North) after finishing second from the bottom. In their first season, following relegation, they finished 9th. In 1976, Billy Meadows, a former player at Underhill, was appointed manager. Barry Fry was among the applicants who failed to get the job. In his first season as manager, Meadows took Barnet back to the Premier Division, winning the Division 1 (South) by 7 points from 2nd placed, Hastings United. The promotion side featured former Watford defender, Walter Lees, ex- Chelsea man, Marvin Hinton and Bob McNab, a member of the 1971 Arsenal double winning side. Up front was former Northampton striker, John Fairbrother who was quickly amongst the goals.
The following season, Barnet finished a creditable 7th and included in their side, former Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, AC Milan and England striker, Jimmy Greaves. However, in the next season, Barnet struggled and following a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Woking in the FA Cup, Meadows was sacked, in December 1978.
Barry Fry, who was scouting for Everton at the time, took over as manager of Barnet. Fry had been an apprentice at Manchester United and had won an England Schoolboys cap. He failed to make the grade at United though and moved on, first to Bolton Wanderers and then subsequently to Luton Town, Gravesend, Leyton Orient, Bedford and Dunstable. Injury ended his playing career prematurely and he became manager of Stevenage Borough and was later manager at Dunstable Town, Hillingdon Borough and Bedford Town, before becoming manager at Underhill at the age of 33.
For Barnet this was an important season as the position they finished in would dictate whether they were to be accepted into the new Alliance Premier League (APL) or were to remain in the Southern League. In order to make the cut, which would take them into the APL, they had to finish in the top 13. Things started badly though for Fry and Barnet lost their first match under him 4-0 at home to Weymouth and then lost 5-0 away at bottom club, Redditch.
Fry immediately set about rebuilding the side, getting rid of most of the players he had inherited, including John Fairbrother, who had been top scorer for the previous two seasons. Fry's rebuilt side, consisting of youngsters and players recruited from lower leagues and his former clubs, eventually found form and finished the season strongly. It was just strong enough for the Bees to make the cut for the APL, the club finishing 13th, just two points above Hillingdon Borough.