Darrius Barnes (born December 24, 1986) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He played the majority of his professional career for the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the top flight of professional soccer in the United States. He primarily played defender. He is currently the president of

Crown Legacy FC Crown Legacy FC is an American soccer team that is located in Matthews, North Carolina. It is the reserve team of Charlotte FC and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On March 31, 2022, Charlotte FC announced it would field an MLS Next Pro ...

, the

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

team of

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

Career

Youth and College

Barnes played high school soccer at

Southeast Raleigh High School Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School is a magnet high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1997 as a magnet school with a focus on math, science, and technology. The current magnet theme is University Connections, which ...

, in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. He started for Varsity all four years. His senior year he helped his team to reach the conference finals and defeat a tough Broughton High School team to claim the school's first ever conference championship. His merits include TAAC All-Conference 2005. Barnes played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. During his college years Barnes also played with Raleigh CASL Elite and

Cary RailHawks U23's North Carolina FC U23 is an American soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of North Carolina FC, a third division club in the United Soccer League. The team plays in ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

Professional

Barnes was drafted in the third round (40th overall) of the

2009 MLS SuperDraft The 2009 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 15, 2009, in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the tenth annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The first selection was owned by the expansion Seattle Sounders FC. Unlike previous years, ...

on 15 January 2009, officially signing for the club on 17 March 2009. He made his professional debut on 21 March 2009, in New England's first game of the 2009 MLS season against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. He became the second rookie in the history of MLS to play every minute of every game, following in the footsteps of former Revs center back

Michael Parkhurst Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former association football, soccer player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year Award, MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Def ...

, who was the first to accomplish the feat in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. He was also the only outfield player to play every minute of every game in the 2009 season, and helped the Revolution establish a club-record 386-minute shutout streak. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Barnes was a finalist for the MLS Fair Play Award. On 22 September 2012 against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

, Barnes scored his first-ever (and only) professional goal, finding the net in the 95th minute of the match to help the Revolution salvage a 1-1 draw. He made his 100th MLS appearance on 15 March 2014, and recorded his 100th MLS start on 7 September 2014 against the Chicago Fire. Following his release from New England at the end of the 2016 season, Barnes joined

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

side

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

on 24 March 2017. On 15 December 2017, Barnes announced his retirement from playing professional soccer.

Post-playing career

After retiring from active play, Barnes joined the

offices and as of June, 2020 was working for the league in marketing. In March 2022,

named Barnes the president of their

team

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Darrius 1986 births Living people African-American soccer players American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players New York Cosmos (2010) players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players North Carolina FC U23 players Soccer players from North Carolina Soccer players from Raleigh, North Carolina USL League Two players Charlotte FC non-playing staff