Gareth Barry
| File:Garrybarry6.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gareth Barry | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) |
Midfielder Left-Back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Aston Villa | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:27, 14 September 2007 (UTC) | |||
Gareth Barry was born February 23, 1981 in Hastings, England. He is an English footballer as well as the captain of Aston Villa. He is the only player to play in both final matches at the old Wembley Stadium, once for Aston Villa against Chelsea and for England against Germany, both resulting in a 1-0 loss.
Club career
An ex-England under-18 captain, he joined Aston Villa from Brighton and Hove Albion F.C. as a trainee in 1997, and played his first match for Villa on May 2, 1998 against Sheffield Wednesday. Initially he played as a central defender, on the left-hand side of a back three including Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu.
Barry has played more than 300 times for Aston Villa in all competitions. He now regularly plays on the left-hand side of central midfield, although he is still classed as a defender by most sources. He is a fan favourite at Villa and the fans often chant, "Barry for England."
Perhaps his most memorable moment was in April 2005 against Newcastle United when he swiftly separated the fight between Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer using his strength and calm manner to pacify the volatile Bowyer.
Barry is a very adaptable player capable of playing in both left back and left midfield positions, as well as at centre-back - and more recently - as a central midfielder. Although he is not an orthodox winger, he can deliver deadly pin point crosses with his left foot from wide positions and often chips in with goals from open play and set pieces as demonstrated in the 2006-07 Premiership season.
International career
Barry made his England under-21 début against the Czech Republic in 1998. He made 27 starts for the Under-21 side, a joint-record until it was eclipsed in 2007 by Scott Carson.
After an injury to Jason Wilcox, he was able to travel to Euro 2000, but did not feature in any of the side's games. Barry made his England début as a substitute against Ukraine on May 31, 2000. His full international début was in the 1-1 draw against France on September 2, 2000.
He made further England appearances in matches against South Africa, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia in 2003.
Barry was recalled to the England squad following a four-year international exile on 2 February 2007. His reward for some impressive performances for Aston Villa this season is a chance to add to his eight caps. Barry was resigned to never winning another cap under previous boss Sven-Göran Eriksson but Steve McClaren brought him back for the first time since March 2003.[1] Barry was brought on at the beginning of the second half of the friendly match against Spain on 7 February2007 as replacement for Steven Gerrard and played left midfield for the majority of the game, moving to left-back when Stewart Downing was brought on. England lost 1-0 thanks to a second half Andres Iniesta goal. On May 252007 Barry played for England B in a 3-1 victory over Albania, getting an assist for England B's first goal scored by Alan Smith. Barry renewed his England international career by coming on as a substitute, replacing Michael Carrick in a friendly against Germany, at Wembley. As confirmed by John Motson during the BBC Commentary for this game, Gareth Barry has now played under 5 different England Managers (including England U21 & England B-Team)
As a replacement for the injured Owen Hargreaves, Barry started in central midfield for England against Israel on 8 September 2007; with two assists and impressive overall play. He kept his place with Owen Hargreaves declared unfit for the match against Russia on 12 September 2007, and produced another stunning display, proving to be more than competent at international level. BBC Presenters Ian Wright and Alan Shearer commented that Gareth Barry was immense in the centre of midfield alongside Steven Gerrard and formed a wonderful partnership together, and further commented that he should have been given man of the match overall for the two performances against Israel and Russia as he was absolutely outstanding.[2]
Statistics
| Club | Season | Premiership | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | International | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Aston Villa | 2007-08 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 2006-07 | 35 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 9 | |
| 2005-06 | 36 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | |
| 2004-05 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 8 | |
| 2003-04 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |
| 2002-03 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 4 | |
| 2001-02 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2000-01 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 42 | 1 | |
| 1999-00 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 1 | |
| 1998-99 | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
| 1997-98 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 294 | 28 | 19 | 3 | 26 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 367 | 36 | |
Honours
Aston Villa:
- Runners Up (1999/2000)
- Semi Finalist (1999-2000) - (2003-2004)
- Winners (2001)
Player Of The Season
- Winner (2006-07)
Player's Player of the Season
- Winner (2006-07)
Other:
ESFA Under 16 Cup
- Winners (1997) At William Parker School
Trivia
- Barry married in the summer of 2007.
- Once held the record of the most caps for the England U21 team, with 27. This has seen been surpassed by Scott Carson and James Milner. Both incidentally one time Aston Villa players.
- Was the only player to participate in the last two matches at the old Wembley. Both 1-0 defeats to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final and Germany.
- Along with David Beckham he is the only other England international to take have played under every England manager since first selected by Kevin Keegan
References
- ^ "Barton wins first England call-up". BBC News Online. 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "BBC pundits on England". BBC. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
External links
- Gareth Barry at Soccerbase
- Gareth Barry's international Stats at The FA
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