Bobby Barnes
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David Oswald "Bobby" Barnes (born 17 December 1962) is an English former professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as a forward. He made over 300 appearances in
the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
and represented
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
at youth level.


Career

Barnes, who was born in
Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
, London, was a quick, skillful winger who began his career as an apprentice with
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
, the team that he supported as a boy, winning an FA Youth Cup winners medal in 1981 and England youth international caps. He turned professional in September 1980, and scored on his League debut against
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
in September 1980. He had an extended run in the first-team in the 1983–84 season and featured in the 1984–85 season, making 43 league appearances in six seasons, scoring five goals. He went to
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
on loan in November 1985, playing in six league games without scoring, before joining
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
in March 1986 for a fee of £15,000. He was an immediate success, scoring 26 goals in 49 league games and helping Aldershot to promotion through the first ever Third Division play-offs in 1987. In October 1987, he moved to Second Division side
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
for a fee of £50,000 in a deal that also saw Steve Berry go in the other direction. He scored in six successive league games between October and December 1988, and went on to make over 40 league appearances, scoring 13 times, in two seasons at Swindon. He joined
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...
for a fee of £110,000 in March 1989, though he failed to settle and after only 14 games in which he failed to score, was sold to Northampton Town for £70,000. Barnes managed to star despite Northampton being relegated, and with Tony Adcock formed a successful striking partnership, Barnes scoring 37 times in 98 league games for the Cobblers. In February 1992, a financial crisis came to a head at Northampton, and with the club in administration, both Barnes and Adcock were sold to
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
, Barnes costing only £35,000 in a joint £65,000 deal. He played 49 times in the league for Peterborough, scoring nine goals and winning promotion to the First Division beating Stockport in a Wembley play-off in 1992. He joined
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
in February 1994, making his debut in the Scottish League in a 5–1 defeat by
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
at Ibrox, but played only 6 further league games for the Jags before leaving to play for Uhisport Rangers in Hong Kong, returning to the UK in September 1995 joining
Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...
on a free transfer. He played only once for Torquay, as a substitute, before leaving on a free transfer for
Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
in October 1995 and subsequently returning to Hong Kong to play for Frankwell FC.


After retirement

After retiring in 1996, he joined the
Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...
(PFA), where he dealt with player's new contracts and giving financial advice. Since 2006, he has been deputy chief executive of the PFA. Barnes is also president of FIFPro Division Europe and a global board member of FIFPro, which is the global players' union representing players from over 58 countries. Since June 2020, Barnes has been a member of
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body. In April 2022, it was announced Barnes would retire from his role with the Professional Footballers' Association at the end of the 2021/2022 season.


Personal life

His nephew Giles Barnes was a professional footballer.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Bobby 1962 births Living people Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames People from Kingston upon Thames Men's association football wingers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers West Ham United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Northampton Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Hendon F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong English expatriate men's footballers