Giles Gordon Kirlue Barnes (born 5 August 1988) 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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He is assistant head coach of

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. He began his career with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, where he won the club's Young Player of the Year award in 2007 and was

Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the English football league system, second tier of English football. ...

in March 2007. Barnes 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 under-19 level. He however opted to represent

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

at senior level, making his Reggae Boyz debut in March 2015 and representing them at the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

and

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

later that year, helping them to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the latter event.

Club career

Derby County

Barnes was born in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, London. His professional career began on his 17th birthday when he signed a professional contract with

after being a trainee. He made his first-team debut under Phil Brown aged 17 as an 84th-minute substitute for

Paul Peschisolido Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido (born 25 May 1971) is a Canadian former soccer player and coach. Peschisolido was coach of English League Two club Burton Albion from May 2009 until March 2012. A forward, Peschisolido began his career in the Ca ...

in a 1–0 defeat at home to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in the 2005–06 League Cup, with his league debut coming in a 1–1 draw away to

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

two weeks later as a 73rd minute replacement for

Marcus Tudgay Marcus Tudgay (born 3 February 1983) is a former English professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He played in the English Football League for Derby County F.C., Derby County, Sheffie ...

. Barnes intermittently made first-team appearances as Derby struggled but began to command a regular place when Phil Brown was replaced by Derby's academy manager

Terry Westley Terence Westley (born 18 September 1959) is an association football coach and manager (association football), manager. Until 2011 he was the Academy Director at Birmingham City F.C. Reserves and Academy, Birmingham City and in July 2014 he was ...

in January 2006. Westley was familiar with Barnes from his time as a youngster at Derby and made him an integral part of the team as Derby managed to avoid relegation to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

. Barnes played a role in 16 matches under Westley, with his first start coming in Westley's first match in charge (a narrow 1–0 home defeat to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

) and his first professional goal coming in a 2–2 draw away to

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 ...

. His performances during the end of the 2005–06 season drew interest from the Premier League during the close season, but with the appointment of

Billy Davies William McIntosh Davies (born 31 May 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager. He won the 2007 Play-offs with Derby County, finished as runners-up in 2005 with Preston North End, and reached the semi-finals in 2006 (Prest ...

as manager and new investment, Barnes signed a four-year extension to his current contract. Barnes became a regular in the Derby team that won promotion to the Premier League, playing in 46 matches (with 34 of those starts) putting him behind only the club's player of the year

Steve Howard Steven John Howard (born 10 May 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Howard was usually cited as a typical target man and renowned for his aerial strength. Club career Early career Howard began his career at non- ...

in terms of appearances. He also scored eight goals, including four in two weeks with a 92nd-minute equaliser in a 2–2 draw away to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, a brace in a 2–1 home win over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, and the winner in a 2–1 home win against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. During this time he gained a reputation for supposedly saying "Whoosh" as he ran past defenders. In a 2017 interview, he indicated this was a one-time response to aggression from an opponent, and has been taken out of context. His performances in March 2007 earned him the

award for that month. Although he picked up an injury towards the end of the season, Barnes was still able to make an impact in Derby's successful Championship play-off campaign in his two substitute appearances. It was his corner from which

Leon Best Leon Julian Brendan Best (born 19 September 1986) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He has played for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Best represented Ireland at under-21 level and won his first full ...

scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in the second leg of the semi-final clash with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and he also came off the bench to set up

Stephen Pearson Stephen Paul Pearson (born 2 October 1982) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career at Motherwell F.C., Motherwell and joined Celtic F.C., Celtic in 2004, where he won do ...

's winner in the 1–0 2007 Championship play-off final victory over West Brom. After this, it was found out that Barnes was playing with a broken foot and he missed all of the summer injured as Derby prepared for life back in the top flight. He was named Derby's Young Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season. These injuries carried over into the start of Derby's disastrous 2007–08 season. He made his first

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearance on 22 September 2007 as a substitute against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the 75th minute and scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. The injuries that plagued Barnes through the course of his season, as well as no pre season and being put in the team two months earlier than was recommended, affected his form and he failed to play as vital a role in Derby's season as he had during 2006–07 and his season ended early when it was discovered he had a knee injury which required major surgery, meaning that he would miss the remainder of the 2007–08 season and the start of 2008–09. Barnes returned to the Derby team in January 2009 and scored twice at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the League Cup semi-final second leg as Derby fell to a 4–2 defeat on the night, 4–3 on aggregate. After just three league appearances, on 31 January 2009, Barnes signed for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

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 ...

for the rest of the 2008–09 season with a view to a possible permanent transfer in the summer, with Derby receiving a substantial loan fee, and agreeing a fee of £2 million, raising to £4 million on appearances if he signed permanently. He did not make a single appearance for the Cottagers due to fitness, but scored seven in eight reserve matches. On 24 May,

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

confirmed that Fulham would not be signing Barnes on a permanent basis and that he would return to Derby at the end of the season. Barnes returned to Derby but sustained another injury in a pre-season friendly against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

after a two footed lunge by Carl Dickinson, and was eventually released from his Derby contract on 11 December 2009. After some weeks training with Premier League club

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 ...

, where his brother was playing at academy level, in mid-January 2010 Barnes moved on to train with West Bromwich Albion of the Championship.

West Bromwich Albion

On 3 February 2010, Barnes signed for West Bromwich Albion on an 18-month contract, with an option for a further one-year extension. He made his debut in the 1–0 win against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 9 March 2010, coming off the bench for the last 10 minutes of the match. On 25 May 2011 it was announced that Barnes was being released by West Brom. He had not played any matches for the club since the arrival of manager

in January 2011. After being released by WBA, Barnes was linked with a move to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

with

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Jamaica national team. McClaren began his coaching career with Oxford United, before joining Derby County in 1995. In 1999 ...

wanting to sign the player.

Doncaster Rovers

On 4 August 2011, Barnes signed a six-month contract with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

following a successful trial at the club. Barnes made his debut for the club as a substitute in the first match of the 2011–12 season against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. Barnes made a mixture of starts and substitute appearances at Rovers. On 6 January, Barnes signed a four-month extension keeping at Doncaster until 5 May 2012. On 25 February 2012 Barnes scored his first goal for Doncaster Rovers in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

. In May 2012, Barnes was released by the club after the expiry of his contract.

Houston Dynamo

Barnes signed with

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 ...

club

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

on 29 August 2012. He scored his first goal with the club in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

against

CD FAS Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos, commonly known as FAS (pronounced "fas"), is a professional Salvadoran football club based in Santa Ana. It competes in Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador, the country's top profession ...

of El Salvador on 20 September 2012. Barnes scored his first MLS league goal on 23 March 2013 in Houston's 2–1 victory over

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

. On 21 September 2013, Barnes scored his first MLS brace against Chivas USA in a 5–1 victory for the Houston Dynamo. On 4 March 2016, Barnes was appointed captain of the Houston Dynamo for the 2016 season.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Barnes was traded to

on 30 July 2016 in exchange for general allocation money and the MLS rights to Keyner Brown. The deal also dictated that Houston will receive a percentage of any future transfer fees if Barnes is loaned or transferred outside the league.

Orlando City SC

Barnes was traded to fellow MLS club

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

on 25 February 2017 in exchange for

Brek Shea Dane Brekken "Brek" Shea (born February 28, 1990) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left midfielder or left-back. Shea began his career with Major League Soccer team FC Dallas after playing in the IMG Academy. He ...

. He made his first appearance for Orlando against

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

on 5 March 2017, coming on as a substitute in the 11th minute after

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

suffered a hamstring injury. Barnes became a

designated player A designated player may refer to: *Designated Player Rule, a Major League Soccer rule for players over the salary cap *Designated player (NBA), a National Basketball Association exemption for contract extensions * Designated player (softball), a so ...

after Orlando waived Bryan Róchez on 17 March 2017. At the end of the 2017 season, Orlando opted to decline their contract option on Barnes.

Leon

Barnes signed with Mexican club León on 9 January 2018.

Colorado Rapids

On 13 July 2018, Barnes signed a six-month deal with MLS side

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

. He was released by Colorado at the end of their 2018 season.

Hyderabad FC

In 2019, he signed for ISL side

Hyderabad FC Hyderabad Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Founded on 27 August 2019, the club began their first professional ...

International career

Barnes represented England at under-19 level in several friendly matches during 2006 and 2007. Barnes was also eligible to represent Jamaica internationally through his paternal grandparents and in March 2014, he announced his intention to represent

at senior international level. In February 2015, Barnes announced his FIFA paperwork had been submitted to play for Jamaica. He could be included in the squad as soon as late March. Barnes was called up to Jamaica's squad for friendly matches against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, scoring on his senior international debut against the former on 28 May 2015, the equaliser in a 2–1 win in

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

. Later that day, he was included in Jamaica's 23-man squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

held in Chile, and featured in all of their matches in a group-stage exit. At the

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bei ...

, Barnes scored his second international goal to defeat

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

1–0 at the quarter-final stage. He then went on to score the decisive goal in the 2–1 semi-final defeat of hosts the

United States 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 ...

at the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a Stadium#Types, domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown Atlanta, downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of th ...

, as Jamaica qualified for their first ever Gold Cup

, which they eventually lost to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Coaching career

On 15 February 2023, it was announced Barnes had been appointed assistant head coach to

Seb Hines Sebastian Tony Hines (born 29 May 1988) is an English professional association football coach and former player who is the current head coach of the Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Hines spent most of his playing care ...

club

. He had been brought in during the previous season while Hines had assumed the role on an interim basis.

Personal life

He is the older brother of the footballer Marcus Barnes. Barnes holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Barnes goal.''

Honours

Derby County *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

: 2006–07 Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2006–07 * Football League Championship Player of the Month: March 2007 *

Team MVP: 2014 *Houston Dynamo Players' Player of the Year: 2014 *Budweiser Golden Boot and Ironman of the Year awards: 2013, 2014

References

External links