Craig Barr (born 29 March 1987) is a Scottish

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 ...

who plays as a defender for

Tranent Tranent is a town in East Lothian (formerly Haddingtonshire), in the south-east of Scotland. The town lies 6 miles from the boundary of Edinburgh, and 9.1 miles from the city centre. It lies beside the A1 road, the A1 runs through the paris ...

. Barr has previously played for Gretna, Queen of the South,

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

, Airdrieonians,

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

and

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, as well as

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

club

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The ...

Career

Early years

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, Barr moved south as a 16-year-old to join

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and spent three years with the Lancashire club winning the FA Premier Academy League in 2004–05.

Gretna

Barr played in the early part of his career with Gretna signing for the club when they were bankrolled by

Brooks Mileson Brooks John Joseph Mileson (13 November 1947 – 3 November 2008) was an English businessman and the owner of now dissolved professional football club Gretna as well as being a philanthropist to 70 non-League clubs. Early life The eldest s ...

. He was part of the squad who won the

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

in the 2006–07 season which earned them promotion into the

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

. In 47 league appearances for Gretna, Barr scored five goals. Mileson pulled the plug on the club's cashflow when his health deteriorated. The club thus became financially stricken and went into administration. Administrators for Gretna laid off their last 40 staff including Barr on 19 May 2008.

Queen of the South

Barr signed a two-year contract with Dumfries-based First Division side Queen of the South on 26 June 2008. Just after signing, Barr said "I'm really looking forward to the move. Queens are coming off the back of a fantastic season and I'm excited at the prospect of playing for the Scottish Cup finalists. I know big Neilly MacFarlane, Jamie McQuilken and 'Tosher' from my time at Gretna and also have a lot of respect for ex-Queens player, big

Derek Townsley Derek Johnstone Townsley (born 21 January 1973, in Carlisle) is an English former professional footballer. His clubs included Gretna, Queen of the South, Motherwell, Hibernian and Oxford United. Townsley was normally a midfielder, although h ...

, who I also know well". Barr played both games in Queen of the South's Uefa Cup Second qualifying round against

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

losing out 4-2 on aggregate. After playing over thirty games in his first season with the club, Barr suffered a season-ending injury on his knee during the pre-season of 2009–10. He had two operations on this injury, with the major one being a complete cruciate reconstruction. As Queens refused to pay for the operation, Barr took it upon himself to fund it. Due to this matter, he then spent the last six months of his contract doing his own rehab away from the club. Barr was among the players announced as released by the club at the end of the 2009–10 season.

Livingston

Barr signed for

in August 2010. In his first season, he played a pivotal role in helping the club to win the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title. He subsequently signed a new two-year deal, keeping him at the club until the end of season 2012–13. In his second season, he won the end of season Players' Player of the Year award Barr left Livingston at the end of the 2012–13 season, following a relatively successful three-year spell with the club making 112 appearances in all competitions.

Östersunds FK

In July 2013, Barr signed for Swedish Superettan club

, then managed by current

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

manager,

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of club Chelsea. In a 13-year playing career, Potter, who played as a left-back, made 307 appearances in the ...

Airdrieonians

On 23 February 2014, Barr returned to Scottish football, signing for Airdrieonians on a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season.

Raith Rovers

In summer 2014, Barr joined

. He left the club in June 2017, following their relegation to

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

Dumbarton

Having left Raith, Barr joined

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. The Scottish Champio ...

side

on a two-year deal in June 2017. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat to

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

in July 2017. He won the club's Players' Player of the Year award in his first season at the Rock and captained the side on a number of occasions. Barr turned down a new deal and left the club in May 2019 after an injury hit second season.

Cowdenbeath

On 11 June 2019, Barr signed for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was e ...

club

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...

. In his first couple of months at the club, Barr was voted as Ladbrokes Player of the Month for September for the whole of League 2. Barr won historic back-to-back awards for the first time since 1952 as he was named Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year for two consecutive season's in a row.

Tranent

Barr signed for

in 2022.

Career Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Craig 1987 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Gretna F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Superettan players Livingston F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Östersunds FK players Airdrieonians F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Tranent F.C. players