And he was to stay with the Boston club for four seasons before, during which he was in 1925 to be awarded a single cap against Canada. However, as the "soccer" boom in the States stuttered Barney made the decision to return to Scotland, where he was picked up by Hearts. The year was 1928, he had had come back with his mother, although she would not remain, dying back in Massachusetts in 1958.  

And at Hearts, at his only other club, he would remain for eight seasons, making one hundred and forty-eight appearances and scoring for the club and overall at just under a goal a game. And that period would also include a single Scottish cap, making him a dual international, and a single goal.  

The Battle's playing career would be hampered by cartilage problems from 1934 onwards, although he would not retire until 1936, but still only thirty. In the meantime he had trained as a masseur/physiotherapist, remaining in Scotland later and turning his hand to sport journalism and then to owning a bar. He would marry Sheila Edgar in 1938 in Linlithgow, settling in Edinburgh. They were to have two sons.