William Barrington Tucker (born 28 May 1952) is a Welsh former professional footballer who made over 440 appearances as a full back 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Northampton Town and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Career

Northampton Town

A full back, Tucker began his career at

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club Northampton Town in 1970. After making his debut the following year, he went on to be a regular fixture in the team throughout the 1970s, making 214 league appearances and scoring three goals before departing the County Ground in February 1978. A memorable moment was helping the club to promotion to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

during the 1975–76 season, though the Cobblers were relegated at the first attempt.

Brentford

Tucker followed his former Northampton Town manager Bill Dodgin, Jr. to Fourth Division club

in February 1978 in a £10,000 deal. He went into the starting lineup at left back later that month and helped the Bees to promotion to the Third Division with a fourth-place finish at the end of the season. He missed only five league games over the course of the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons and despite missing most of 1980–81 due to a contractual dispute, he came back strong in 1981–82, making 38 league appearances and scoring four of the five goals he scored for the club. After his seventh appearance of the 1982–83 season, Tucker departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

. He made 181 appearances and scored five goals in four-and-a-half years with Brentford.

Return to Northampton Town

Tucker returned to Northampton Town in October 1982, with the club still rooted in the Fourth Division. He made 63 league appearances and scored five goals before retiring from football in 1984. Tucker made 302 appearances and scored 8 goals across his two spells with the Cobblers.

Personal life

After his retirement from football, Tucker settled in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and as of November 2013 was working for FG Metcalfe.

Career statistics

Honours

Northampton Town *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

second-place promotion: 1975–76 Brentford * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1977–78

References

General * . Retrieved 22 October 2013. Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Barry 1952 births Living people Footballers from Swansea Welsh men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Northampton Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players