Barnet and Port Vale have met just six times before. Two games were in the Football League Division Two (now League One) during Barnet’s only season in the third tier of the league.
The first of the two games that season was played at Vale Park, in August, and Barnet crashed to a 6-0 defeat. Barnet held their own for the first 25 minutes against a well fancied Vale side and Vale found themselves down to 10 men after Bees’ striker, Kelly Haag was hauled down when clear through. However, Barnet then collapsed and Port Vale started to take the Barnet defence apart. However, the game is most known for the wonderful support of the Bees’ away fans who never stopped cheering on the team, banging a tune in support of the team against the corrugated iron at the back of the visitors end.
Barnet had nearly folded in the summer prior to that season and had lost most of the players that had won them promotion the season before due to action taken by the football league. This had the effect of knitting the Barnet fans together. However, it did leave the Port Vale fans feeling rather bemused as to why the Barnet fans were still cheering their team so much when they were 6-0 down!!!
The Barnet side that day was; Pape, Newson, Cooper, Smith, Walker, Barnett, Marwood, Close, Haag, Hoddle, Lynch. Subs: Evans, Carter.
In the return at Underhill in November, Barnet performed much better but Port Vale ran out 3-2 winners. Zeke Rowe and Kelly Haag scored the Barnet goals.
In 2008/09, the two sides met at Vale Park and played out a goalless draw. On the last day of the season, Port Vale beat Barnet 2-1 at Underhill with the Bees playing a number of squad players in the side. Abu Ogogo, in his last game for the club, was sent off in the first half for denying Vale a goal and giving away a penalty by using his hand to stop the ball going into the net. Danny Hart scored for Barnet in the last minute.
Last season, the two sides played a goalless draw at Underhill in a match which the Bees dominated and really should have won. Barnet finally gained a win over Vale with a fine 2-0 win in the return fixture in February, John O’Flynn scoring both the Bees’ goals.