On this weekend two years ago (20th of September 2021), Barnet FC announced that they had parted ways with Head Coach Harry Kewell after a dismal start to the season where the Bees only managed to pick up two points from seven games.
Kewell’s last match in charge is what I believe signalled the end of some of the darkest days in the modern era for Barnet. It was a 2-0 loss away at Bromley and the players in that match-day squad have had some vastly differing and very interesting experiences since.
Goalkeeper: Sam Sergeant
In goal for the Bees that day was Leyton Orient loanee, Sam Sergeant. Sergeant was only at the club for two months to cover for the injured Aston Oxborough, but I thought he was one of the better performers during that dismal early part of the season. He made ten appearances in total for the Bees before heading to Wealdstone on a seven-day loan later in the season. After four more appearances for Orient last season, Sergeant was released, and he is now playing at Waterford in the League of Ireland.
Right Wing-Back: David Sesay
Like Sergeant, Sesay was another player who performed pretty well under Kewell during the early part of the season but was not tied down to a long-term contract. He joined the Bees on a one-month rolling contract and was hesitant about committing to the club; this led to him leaving after making six appearances and joining Wealdstone soon after.
Sesay was never able to nail down a place in the Wealdstone team, and he was released at the end of the 22/23 season. He has since joined Weymouth. Interestingly, he was named in Sierra Leone’s squad for the 2021 African Cup of Nations, but he failed to make an appearance at the tournament. He currently has four caps for his country.
Centre-Back: Harry Taylor
Harry Taylor is a player who I am sure a lot of fans have kept tabs on since he left the club due to the loyalty and dedication he showed whilst at The Hive. Taylor made well over 150 appearances for the Bees and played more regularly after Kewell was sacked. However, he parted ways with the club at the end of the 21/22 season and moved to Southend United, where he has also been a regular starter. He has been given high levels of praise by fans for his performances at centre-back this season.
Centre-Back: Ben Richards-Everton
Big Ben Richards-Everton also started in Kewell’s final game and, at that point in his Barnet career, he was still seen as a liability. Someone who was meant to be a marquee signing of sorts the season before, BRE struggled in his early days at Barnet under the likes of Tim Flowers. He managed to somewhat redeem himself once Dean Brennan took over from Kewell, making 39 league appearances and being one of the very few ever-present players in the 21/22 season.
However, he was released at the end of that season and spent last year at Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United on loan. Again, he failed to impress initially, and he is now at Gloucester City in the National League South, where, until recently, he had been working under Flowers.
Centre-Back: Joe Widdowson
Probably the saddest story on this list. Many Bees fans will remember what happened to Widdowson. He started his Barnet career well, showing versatility and an eye for goal. But, a reckless challenge from Macauley Southam-Hales in a match away at Stockport meant that Widdowson had to get stretchered off with a season-ending injury. The Bees released him at the end of the season and I don’t believe he has played football since, though he has made a couple of appearances doing punditry on Leyton Orient games.
Left Wing-Back: Sam Beard
The only starter to still be at the club, the 21/22 season was probably Beard’s best in black and amber. Though he only made 25 appearances that season, Beard was impressive every time he set foot on the pitch and he got rewarded with an England C call-up. He played 42 times last year, but his performances weren’t at the same level, which led to Brennan signing Ben Coker to compete with him.
Beard started this season as the second-choice left-back and has been sent out on loan to Eastbourne Borough for two months in order to gain match fitness. His Barnet career currently looks like it is in the balance.
Central Midfield: Mitch Brundle
Mitch Brundle, a sort of fan-favourite during his time at The Hive, has probably had the most interesting career since Harry Kewell departed. Brundle captained the side under Kewell and was used both in central midfield and centre-back. He remained an ever-present in the early days under Brennan and he was the only player to have played every minute for the Bees when his contract was mutually terminated for personal reasons in January 2022.
He spent the rest of the 21/22 season at Farnborough before returning to Dover Athletic, the club where he made his name as player/assistant Manager. When Andy Hessenthaler left Crabble, Brundle was given interim and then permanent control of the team, and he was the youngest manager in the UK at the time.
Brundle managed to save Dover from consecutive relegations by the skin of their teeth after a final-day draw, but his Dover side have not started this season as well, and they currently sit in 23rd place.
Central Midfield: Kian Flanagan
Flanagan was one of a number of young players signed by Kewell and Brennan in the summer of 2021, but his Barnet career never really got going. He got a good amount of minutes under Kewell and in the early days under Brennan, even winning the man-of-the-match award in a match against Aldershot on BT Sport.
Fans could clearly see that he had raw talent that could be harnessed, as could Brennan. Flanagan was contracted for the 22/23 season, but he was never able to get regular minutes after a big injury at the end of the 21/22 season meant he had to miss preseason. Flanagan currently doesn’t have a club, though it was rumoured that he was training with AFC Croydon Athletic this summer; rapper Stormy owns a ninth of their club.
Attacking Midfield: Serhat Tasdemir
Tasdemir is one of a number of players to have moved between Barnet and Peterborough as he joined the Bees on loan for the 21/22 season, and his disastrous spell at the club has left Bees fans permanently weary of any incomings from The Posh. Tasdemir actually played 19 times for Barnet, but he often looked disinterested and had a poor work rate.
By the end of the season, he was a player that Brennan had fully phased out of the team, even though he featured a lot under Kewell. He appeared at Buxton at the start of last season before moving to Turkish second-tier side Kocaelispor.
Striker: Adam Marriott
Marriott was the Bees’ player of the season in the 21/22 season, though I don’t remember him being as good under Kewell as he was under Brennan. The diminutive striker got 18 goals in 36 games for the Bees, and many fans were gutted when he moved to Bromley last summer. He has played reasonably well and got a decent number of goals for the Ravens, but he hasn’t quite played to the same level that he did at Barnet. Consequently, he isn’t always a guaranteed starter for Andy Woodman’s team.
Striker: Mason Bloomfield
One of the few players who performed as well as, if not better under Kewell than he did under Brennan, I rated Mason Bloomfield quite highly during his time with the Bees, though Dean Brennan perhaps didn’t. He showed good strength and the ability to hold up the ball well during his 21 Barnet appearances, but Dean Brennan didn’t have a great deal of trust in the striker.
The gaffer made references to how Bloomfield was only really 18 or 19 in football terms due to his lack of experience in full-time, professional football and Marriott was undoubtedly the preferred option up front after Kewell departed. He moved to Bromley towards the end of the 21/22 season but has since dropped down a level and become a more prolific striker in the National League South, particularly at Farnborough, where he spent most of last season.
Conclusion
When looking at that team for the game against Bromley and where the players have gone since, it’s pretty clear to see why Barnet struggled as much as they did under Harry Kewell. Picking the likes of Tasdemir when he had Ephron Mason-Clark in the squad and trusting players who just weren’t good enough at the time left the Bees in big trouble even at that early stage. Sacking Kewell and replacing him with Dean Brennan has turned out to be one of the best decisions in recent history.
Joining in 2023, Aryan specialises in predictions and National League content for The Real EFL.
