Eric Barber (18 January 1942 – 20 August 2014) was an Irish 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 ...

. He spent most of his career playing for Shelbourne in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

with whom he had three spells from 1958 to 1966, 1971–75 and 1978–80, managing them during the 1979–80 season.

Player

Professional

During his time with Shels, Barber scored a club record 126 league goals. He was part of Shels FAI Youth Cup-winning side in 1959 and went on to win the

championship in 1962, and the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

in 1960 and 1963, beating Cork Hibernians 2–0 on both occasions. Barber scored in every round including the final in the 1960 cup win and in the 1962 cup final defeat to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. His goal in the 1960 final was a lob from almost forty yards. In March 1966, Barber signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, but never became a regular. At the end of the 1966–67 season he was offered a chance to sign for Chicago Spurs in the National Professional Soccer League. After just two days in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Barber scored twice on his debut at

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers (active 1967–1968, also named the California Clippers) were an American association football, soccer team based in Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (1967), N ...

, and went on to finish third top scorer in the NPSL. At the end of the season the franchise moved and became Kansas City Spurs and Barber moved with them and finished second top scorer in the league that season. Barber then moved on loan to

for the 1969-70 season as the Kansas City Spurs ran into financial difficulty and scored two goals in 2–1 win against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

in the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

. He made two appearances in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and went on to be the club's top goalscorer that season. Then Barber got the offer of moving to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to play for

Wiener Sport-Club The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

, but despite an impressive start with nearly a goal a game in his first eleven games, an injury and subsequent row about the treatment for it saw him eventually return to Dublin as Shels paid an IR£3,000 transfer fee for him in November 1971. He played for Shels in their FAI Cup Final defeats in 1973 and 1975, being red-carded in the replay of the 1973 decider in Flower Lodge. Barber was Shels top league scorer at the end of ten different seasons. At the end of the 2012 League of Ireland season Barber is twelfth in the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring list with 141 league goals

National team

Barber was capped once by the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

during his time with Shels in a 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 9 qualifier in Spain.

Manager

He was Rovers' assistant manager in the 1978–79 season. He managed Shels the following season.

Honours

: 1 ** Shelbourne – 1961/62 *

: 2 ** Shelbourne – 1960, 1963

References

External links

*
NPSL/NASL stats

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Eric 1942 births 2014 deaths Association footballers from Dublin (city) Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Shelbourne F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Chicago Spurs players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Kansas City Spurs players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Wiener Sport-Club players Shelbourne F.C. managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players League of Ireland managers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Republic of Ireland association football managers English Football League players 20th-century Irish sportsmen