Darren Barr (born 17 March 1985) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player, whose most recent position was assistant manager at

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

club Annan Athletic. Barr played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Heart of Midlothian,

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in . They play their home games at Station Park, in t ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

, Ross County,

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

and

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in as a member of the Scottish Profession ...

, mainly as a defender. He represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as a B and full international, being

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

once in 2008. After leaving Falkirk in 2010, his career was hampered by several serious injuries.Darren Barr In Depth Interview
Falkirk FC, 13 September 2020

Early years

Barr enrolled at St. Michael's Primary School in his home community of

Moodiesburn Moodiesburn is a village in Scotland, located northeast of Glasgow, in the North Lanarkshire council area. It is situated on the north side of the A80 road and between the M73 and M80 motorways which converge nearby. Moodiesburn does not dire ...

in 1990, and from 1997 attended

St. Maurice's High School St Maurice's High School is a Roman Catholic High School in the new town of Cumbernauld, Scotland. The catchment area serves the west side of Cumbernauld, Condorrat, Eastfield, Cumbernauld, Eastfield, Croy, North Lanarkshire, Croy, Kilsyth and M ...

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

. He was a keen footballer during his school years, playing for Westfield Boys Club and later the Moodiesburn equivalent.

Club career

Falkirk

Barr went on to sign for

on 12 July 2002, and after suffering a first

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

injury during his apprenticeship, he made his first team debut on 13 March 2004, as a substitute against Queen of the South. He made two more appearances the next season before being loaned out to

at the start of the 2005–06 season, making his debut on 27 August against

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

as an 81st-minute substitute. His loan lasted until 31 December 2005. In all he made fifteen appearances for Forfar. Barr broke through to the Falkirk first team at the start of the 2006–07 season scoring his first goal for the club on 5 August 2006, in a victory over

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

. In December 2006, he was named as SPL Young Player of the Month for December. Barr received his first ever red card on 20 January 2007, for squaring up to Hearts' Andrius Velicka, but the decision was overturned on appeal and Barr was instead credited with a yellow card. The following season Barr was sent off twice: first against

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

, being given a second yellow card for throwing the ball away and then against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

for receiving a second yellow card. Barr was made Falkirk's captain at the age of 22 in January 2008, and went on to win the SPL Player of the Month award for March 2008. Under new boss

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

, Barr began playing at right back during the 2009–10 season rather than his more normal centre back role. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, May confirmed in January that Hibs had made two attempts to sign Barr along with

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Barr choose to sign for Hearts on a pre-contract in January rather than leave Falkirk immediately opting to help them escape relegation. Falkirk failed to avoid relegation and Barr left on a low note expressing hope that Falkirk would gain promotion quickly.

Heart of Midlothian

On 25 January 2010, it was announced that Barr had signed a 3-year pre-contract with Heart of Midlothian, and would complete his move to Edinburgh upon the expiration of his contract with Falkirk at the end of the season. He was officially presented as a Hearts player at a press conference at Tynecastle on 8 June 2010. He made his debut on the opening day of the season against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

. Barr initially became a regular in the Hearts team at the start of the season but a loss of form and impressive displays by Craig Thomson saw Barr dropped from the team. Injury further limited his appearances, and he only made 14 appearances that season. Barr's first appearance of the new season came in the League Cup against

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the , the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, fro ...

on 21 September 2011. A recurrence of his hernia injury that required surgery caused further setbacks, and his next appearance came as a substitute against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in the league on Christmas Eve. Barr was consistently selected in midfield by manager Paulo Sergio in the last few months of the 2011–12 season ahead of established midfield players. In the 2012 Scottish Cup Final, Barr started the match in central midfield and scored the opening goal in a 5–1 win against Hibernian. His only league goal for Hearts also came against Hibernian, in his final appearance for the club at the end of 2012–13; he left when his contract expired at the end of that season.

Kilmarnock

On 17 July 2013, Barr signed a one-year deal with

. He scored his first goal for the club in a league match against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

, and his second followed in a Scottish Cup defeat to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. The cup loss to Dundee United proved to be his final game for the club as he was ruled out for several months with a hip injury shortly afterwards. He was not offered a new contract and left the club after the end of the 2013–14 season.

Ross County

After leaving Kilmarnock, Barr went on trial with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

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 July 2014 and also played as a trialist in pre-season for

. On 1 September 2014, Barr signed for Ross County. He made his debut on 13 September 2014, in a 2–1 home defeat against Motherwell. His season was ended in November 2014, when he suffered a knee injury against Aberdeen and underwent cruciate ligament surgery. At the end of the season, he was released by the

Dingwall Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north ...

club.

Dumbarton

In June 2015, Barr dropped down a division to sign for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

side

. He scored his first goals for the club in a 3–2 friendly defeat to

on 11 July 2015. He was appointed captain on 19 July 2015. He extended his deal in January 2016, rejecting a full-time offer from a rival club, after making 22 appearances during the first half of the season, scoring twice. Barr scored the winning goal in a match against Hibernian in February 2016. He signed a new one-year contract with Dumbarton in June 2016.

Greenock Morton

Barr rejected a new deal from Dumbarton in the summer of 2017 and joined fellow Championship side

as the club's development team head coach, whilst still being registered as a player. He scored what turned out to be his only goal for the club in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

tie against Queen's Park.

Stirling Albion

Barr moved to

club

in January 2018. He was caretaker manager of Stirling in October 2018, after

Dave Mackay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961 an ...

left the club.

Annan Athletic

Barr was appointed assistant manager of League Two club Annan Athletic in November 2018, replacing

Kevin Rutkiewicz Kevin Rutkiewicz (born 10 May 1980) is a Scottish football coach and former player. He managed Scottish League Two club Stirling Albion and Lowland League side East Kilbride. Ruthkiewicz played as a defender for Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Dunf ...

who had left the club to take over as manager of Barr's former club

. In March 2021, the club announced that James Tose had been appointed in the role, although it was not made clear when Barr left the club.

International career

Barr earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

in a 0–0 friendly draw against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

on 20 August 2008, becoming the first Falkirk player to play for Scotland since John White in 1959. He retained his place and was named in

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

's squad for Scotland's World Cup qualifying matches against

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Barr had already featured in the Scotland 'B' team, playing in a 2–2 draw with Finland in February 2007.

Career statistics

Honours

;Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2011–12 ;Falkirk *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2008–09 ;Individual * SPL Young Player of the Month: December 2006 * SPL Player of the Month: March 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Darren Living people 1985 births Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Men's association football defenders Scottish Professional Football League players Greenock Morton F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Stirling Albion F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. players Scottish football coaches Footballers from North Lanarkshire 21st-century Scottish sportsmen