Barry Christopher Cogan (born 4 November 1984) is an Irish retired 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He started his career with Boyle Celtic then joined

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

at under 15 before moving to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, for whom he played as a substitute in the 2004 FA Cup Final, and making 24 appearances for 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 ...

. In August 2006, Cogan signed for

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

playing one season playing 39 appearances and scoring three goals in League Two, before being signed by

Ronnie Jepson Ronald Francis Jepson (born 12 May 1963) is an English football manager, coach and former player. A striker, he scored 86 goals in 354 league games in an eleven-year professional career. He moved from Nantwich Town to Port Vale in 1989, tur ...

for Gillingham in June 2007. He was loaned to

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

in March 2008, scoring five goals in 13

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

appearances. Cogan signed for Grays permanently in July 2008 following his release from Gillingham. He then moved to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

in June 2009, after Steve Evans had tried to sign him the previous season. Cogan left Crawley in November 2010 by mutual consent, joining Dover Athletic a few days later.

Career

Club career

Millwall

Born in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, Cogan joined

from

at 15 years of age, waiting four years, until 20 April 2004, before making his debut in a

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

game 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 ...

, replacing Peter Sweeney in the 80th minute. Cogan signed his professional contract in November 2004. Cogan remained at Millwall for two further seasons, making 30 appearances in all competitions, including playing in the 2004 FA Cup Final after coming on as a substitute, and two

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

games against

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...

Barnet

In August 2006, Cogan was signed by League Two club

from Millwall for an undisclosed

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

. He remained there for just one season before he was released by manager

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

. He made over 40 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals, all in matches won by Barnet.

Gillingham

Cogan joined Gillingham in June 2007, being tipped by new manager

to fill the void left by

Matt Jarvis Matthew Thomas Jarvis (born 22 May 1986) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Jarvis began his professional career with Gillingham F.C., Gillingham, making his English F ...

, who had joined

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. He made his debut for Gillingham in the 3–0 defeat at

in the League Cup on 14 August, and scored his first goal for the club in the 3–1 home victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

on 2 October 2007. Following a string of bad results, Jepson resigned, and

Mark Stimson Mark Nicholas Stimson (born 27 December 1967) is an English former footballer and manager. He is currently assistant manager of Cray Wanderers. He signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1985, but was unable to gain ...

was named as his permanent replacement in November 2007. Stimson saw Cogan as surplus to requirements, and offered him a chance to go out on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

in February 2008. He rejected this initial chance, but subsequently joined

for a month on 14 March 2008, scoring five goals in thirteen

matches. Gillingham released Cogan at the end of the 2007–08 season, after he made just 21 appearances in all competitions.

Grays Athletic

In June 2008, Grays Athletic announced that Cogan had signed for the club, following a medical examination to test his fitness, on a trial basis. His first goal of the 2008–09 campaign came in the home win against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

on 7 September 2008, receiving a pass from Jamie Taylor on the right-wing to make the score 3–1. Cogan scored in the 47th minute of Grays' 1–1 draw against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

on 18 October. In October 2008, Grays Athletic announced that players had been asked to take a 50% pay cut due to financial difficulties. During the FA Cup fourth round qualifying tie against

AFC Totton Amalgamated Football Club Totton is a football club based in Totton, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and is an FA Standard Chartered club. They are currently members of the and play at the Test ...

, Cogan scored a penalty in the 85th minute after

Phil Warner Philip Warner (born 2 February 1979) is an English retired semi-professional footballer, who played as a utility player in the Premier League for Southampton and in the Football League for Cambridge United and Brentford. After his release from ...

handled a cross from Ishmael Welsh. His next goal came almost two months later when he netted both goals in Grays' 2–1 victory over Barrow at the

New Recreation Ground The New Recreation Ground was a football stadium on Bridge Road, Grays, Essex, England, and was the home ground of Grays Athletic. Prior to it being closed, the capacity stood at 4,100, of which 1,000 was seated. Grays Athletic moved to the g ...

on 20 December. His first goal of the game came after Barrow's

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, Alan Martin, spilled a cross from Ishmael Welsh which Cogan pounced on from barely a yard out. In the 56th minute, Cogan had a shot from the edge of the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. If any part of the ball is ove ...

after out muscling

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

Steve McNulty and Paul Jones. In Grays' next match against

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

in the

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although leag ...

on 23 December, Cogan scored a late penalty in the 90th minute to equalise the game 2–2 and send the game into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Grays Athletic eventually lost 3–2 after extra time. The club released news that the players were again being paid in full and over the "Christmas period and for January". On 14 February 2009, Grays travelled to face

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

. He scored to equalise the game at 1–1 after the Wrexham goalkeeper struggled with George Beavan's initial shot whilst Cogan scored the rebound. He then set up Grays' second, crossing the ball to Andy Pugh, who scored a consolation goal as Grays lost 3–2. He then scored in Grays' 2–1 home victory over

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

on 7 March. Cogan finished the season as Grays' top goal scorer in all competitions.

Crawley Town

manager Steve Evans signed Cogan on 8 June following his release from Grays Athletic. Evans admitted he tried signing Cogan three times the previous season, but had his attempts rejected. Cogan had other offers, but Crawley assistant manager

Paul Raynor Paul James Raynor (born 29 April 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has worked as assistant manager under Steve Evans at Rotherham United, Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United, Gilli ...

stated that the club's

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

location appealed to him. He made his debut for Crawley on 8 August, in the 4–0 away defeat to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, replacing

Daniel Powell Daniel Vendrys Powell (born 12 March 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or a striker. Powell started his career with Milton Keynes Dons, and made his first-team debut aged 17 in 2008. He had loan spells with C ...

as a substitute in the 52nd minute. Having made only three appearances in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Cogan was released by mutual consent on 16 November 2010. Evans stated that Cogan wanted to "play some first team football".

Dover Athletic

Cogan signed for Dover Athletic a few days after leaving Crawley, making his debut coming on as a substitute for Sam Long in the 2–1 home defeat against

in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

on 20 November.

Dartford

In July 2015, he signed for

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

side

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

on a free transfer, following a successful trial with the club. He was released on 24 May 2016 following the end of the 2015–16 season having made 26 league appearances for the club scoring one goal against Bishop's Stortford in a 2–1 away victory on 24 October 2015.

Leatherhead, Hastings and returning to Grays

After spells with

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

and Hastings United, Cogan returned to Grays on 7 June 2017.

International career

Cogan was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

International Tournament, where he made his under-21 debut against

on 27 February 2004.

Honours

Club

Millwall *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2003–04

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cogan, Barry 1984 births Living people Association footballers from Sligo (town) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Belvedere F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players 21st-century Irish sportsmen