Background
Barker was born in Stoke-upon-Trent and became a referee for the Football League and was also an avid supporter of his local team Stoke.
Barker was born in Stoke-upon-Trent and became a referee for the Football League and was also an avid supporter of his local team Stoke.
He retired from officiating in 1907 and when Stoke suffered financial meltdown in 1907-1908 which led to the club being liquidated and leaving the Football League, Barker and a number of wealthy supporters got together and bought the club back from the brink of extinction. They formed a new company re-branded Stoke Football Club (1908) Limited with Barker being appointed secretary-manager. Barker"s impressive efforts led to Stoke being included for re-election but lost out to Tottenham Hotspur and their exit from the Football League was sealed.
Barker placed Stoke in the Birmingham & District League for the 1908-1909 season.
With Stoke wanting to gain a quick return to League football they joined the Southern Football League in 1909-1910. However despite much expectation being placed on the team they found that Division One was much tougher than they had expected and were relegated back to Division Two in 1912-1913 and after Stoke failed to gain an instant return in 1913-1914 Barker took most of the criticism from the supporters.
Both Barker and chairman A. Hurst stepped down in the Summer of 1914 it was a sad way to see such key figures, responsible for saving the club, leave in such circumstances.