Adam James Barton (born 7 January 1991) is a 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 le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

. Born in England, he has played internationally for both

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, in a senior friendly, and Republic of Ireland at under-21 level.

Club career

Preston North End

Born in Clitheroe, Barton started in the youth ranks at Blackburn Rovers before being released at the age of sixteen due to a serious back injury. Although originally seen as a gamble due to his injury,

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

gave Barton a youth scholarship and his performances at youth and reserve team level earned him a two-and-a-half-year contract in December 2008. In the 2009–10 season, Barton moved to

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Crawley Town on a one-month loan. After making two appearances for the club he returned to Preston, where he made an appearance in the club's reserve side. Due to manager Darren Ferguson starting to use youngsters in the first team, Barton made his full debut in a home 3–2 win over

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 10 April 2010, being replaced at half-time due to a head injury. At the start of the 2010–11 season, Barton signed a two-year contract to keep him at Preston until 2013. He scored his first goal in the 4–3 defeat to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in September 2010. After scoring his first goal, Barton established himself in the first team, where he made thirty-five appearances in all competitions, scoring once. However, Barton was unable to help the club avoid relegation to League One. Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Barton was linked with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and Blackburn Rovers. Despite this, newly appointed manager Phil Brown said he believed Barton could be a key figure to the club this season, quoting: ''"That is the position for him, sitting in front of the back four and making us play, like an orchestra leader. He has got that ability but he has to demand the ball and get on it more times."'' However, Barton's season didn't go as planned, as he mostly spent time on the bench at the start of the season. He scored his first goal of the season, in the League Cup Third Round, in a 2–1 loss against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. On 25 February 2012, Barton suffered a suspected triple leg break and a dislocated ankle in a 0–0 draw against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

after making a challenge with Walsall's

Richard Taundry Richard Daniel Taundry (born 15 February 1989) is a professional footballer who last played for National League North side Leamington, where he played as both a defender and a midfielder. He is perhaps best known for making 192 appearances for ...

. As a result of his injury, new Preston manager Graham Westley said he believed Barton would come back stronger once he had recovered, while Taundry said he believed the tackle was innocuous, though he wished Barton a speedy recovery. Following surgery Barton was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Coventry City

On 6 August 2012, Barton signed a three-year contract with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. He made his league debut for the club, in the opening game of the season as Coventry drew 1–1 with

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

. Three weeks after signing for the club, he scored his first goal, in a 2–2 draw against

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. He finished the season with 3 goals in 22 League games. On 27 March 2014, Barton joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season. After making 27 League appearances for Coventry in the 2014–15 season, he was released by the club at the end of the season.

Portsmouth

On 24 June 2015 Barton signed a two-year deal with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Partick Thistle

Barton signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

on 31 August 2016, moving for an undisclosed transfer fee. He scored his first Partick Thistle goal in a 2–1 home defeat to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, scoring a header from a corner into the top left corner of the goal. He was also awarded Man of the Match for his performance. On 9 November 2016, Barton was named as Premiership Player of the Month for October 2016. In the same month Barton also won Partick Thistle's McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month award as voted for by the Partick Thistle supporters. Barton scored his second Thistle goal in a 1–0 away win over St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup. In May 2017 Barton was named the club's player of the Year in his first season with Thistle.

Dundee United

Following Partick Thistle's relegation from the Premiership, Barton signed a two-year contract with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

club Dundee United in July 2018.

Connah's Quay Nomads (loan)

In January 2019 he switched to the Welsh Premier League signing on loan for Connah's Quay Nomads.

Wrexham

On 4 July 2019, Barton signed for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on a two-year deal. Barton left Wrexham in February 2020 having made 10 appearances in all competitions.

Farsley Celtic

On 18 December 2020, Barton moved to

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

Farsley Celtic Farsley Celtic Football Club is a football club based in Farsley, West Yorkshire, England. The club was founded in 1908, but folded in 2010 and were reformed as Farsley AFC before returning to the name Farsley Celtic in 2015.

Curzon Ashton

In November 2021 he joined

International career

Barton was named in a

squad in September 2010, having previously been named in an under-21 squad, qualifying for the country through his parents. He withdrew from the squad the day after its announcement, in order to remain eligible for the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

team, which would have no longer been the case had he represented Northern Ireland in a competitive fixture. On 12 November 2010 Barton was called up for Northern Ireland's friendly against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

after a number of withdrawals, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–1 draw on 17 November. On 15 March 2011, more question marks over Barton's international status were raised when he was called up to

Noel King Noel King (born 13 September 1956) is a former professional footballer and the current head coach of Women's National League club Shelbourne. For 10 years from 2000 until 2010 he was manager of the Republic of Ireland women's national team. ...

's Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for a friendly match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, making his debut appearance and playing the full 90 minutes for them in that game on 26 March 2011.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

* Scottish Premiership Player of the Month (1): October 2016

References

External links

* * *
Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccer Scene {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Adam 1991 births Living people People from Clitheroe Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers English footballers English people of Irish descent English people of Northern Ireland descent Association football midfielders Preston North End F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players