Horace Barnes (3 January 1891 – 12 September 1961) was an English

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 played for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

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 ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Early life

Horace Barnes was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 1891. He began his football career playing as an

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Wadsley Bridge. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he worked in

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and served in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

Derby County

In 1908

Jimmy Methven James Methven (7 December 1868 – 25 March 1953), was a Scottish footballer. Methven became synonymous with Derby County; he played for the club in three FA Cup Finals and managed the club for 16 years. In total Methven was on the books at the ...

signed Horace for

. Barnes made 166 appearances for Derby and scored 76 goals. He scored both goals for an English XI in a 2–0 victory over their Scottish counterparts in a

Players' Union The Association Football Players' and Trainers' Union (AFPTU), commonly known as the Players' Union, in the United Kingdom was the original association that became the Professional Footballers' Association. Their stated aims were freedom of move ...

international on 20 April 1914.

Manchester City

In 1914

purchased Barnes for £2,500.00. In his first season with the Manchester team he made 25 league appearances and scored 12 goals, helping the team to fifth in the first division, three points behind champions Everton. Barnes' first goal for City came in a 4–1 victory against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on the opening day of the season. Barnes' career was interrupted by the first world war which he spent working in a munition factory. He was able to resume his footballing career in the 1919–20 football season in which he was City's top scorer with 23 goals. City finished seventh in the league that season. In the 1920–21 football season he was City's second top scorer having scored 17 goals in 41 league appearances.

Tommy Browell Thomas Browell (19 October 1892 – 5 October 1955) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Hull City, Everton, Manchester City and Blackpool. He is the eighth-highest Manchester City goalscorer of all time with 139 goals for t ...

was the team's highest scorer with 31 goals. Manchester City came second in the league that season, 5 points behind champions

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 ...

. This was City's highest position in the league since the 1903–04 football season when City had a team which included Billie Gillespie, Frank Booth and

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

. In the following season, the 1921–22 football season, Billy Meredith returned to Manchester City to play in a forward line which included Barnes, Tommy Browell and Tommy Johnson. Barnes scored 20 league goals that season, one goal less than City's top scorer Tommy Browell. The team finished 10th in the league and he also made two appearances for the

Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

during the season. Ley'scricket

In the 1922–23 football season the City team was further enhanced by the acquisition of Frank Roberts from

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Barnes was City's top scorer in that season and the team finished eighth in the league. Three of Barnes' goals came in a 5–1 victory against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. In the 1923–24 football season Manchester City moved to a new ground,

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

, and Horace Barnes scored the first goal at the new stadium in a 2–1 victory against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on the opening day of the season. Tommy Johnson scored the other goal for City. The team ultimately finished eleventh in the league on 42 points and Barnes was the team's top scorer with 20 goals. Barnes played in 7 of City's 8 games in the FA Cup that season. The team were ultimately defeated in the semi final by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

2–0. The 1924–25 football season was to be Barnes' last with Manchester City. He played 14 teams that season and scored 8 goals. Frank Roberts was the team's top scorer that season with 31 goals and the team finished tenth in the first division. Barnes' last goal for City was in a 1–1 draw with

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. He had appeared for City 218 times and scored 120 goals.

Preston North End

Barnes joined

in November 1924 and scored on his debut for the club against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. In his first season at the club he was joint top scorer. However the team finished in 21st place in the league and were relegated to the Second Division. He began the 1925–26 season with Preston but then transferred to

Oldham Athletic

Barnes ended his career at

where he scored 20 goals in 46 games. He finished his career with a spell in non-league football with Ashton National.

Later life

Barnes lived in Manchester for the rest of his life and worked as a packer. He died at his home in Clayton in 1961.

Legacy

Barnes is regarded as one of Manchester City's greatest ever players. In 1977 the Manchester City Council named eleven streets in a new estate in

Moss Side Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...

after famous City players including Barnes,

Frank Swift Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...

Fred Tilson Samuel Frederick Tilson (19 April 1904 – 21 November 1972) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward for England along with Barnsley, Manchester City, Northampton Town and York City. With the Sky Blues he won the ...

Sam Cowan Samuel Cowan (10 May 1901 – 4 October 1964) was an English football player and manager. A relative latecomer to the sport, Cowan did not play football until he was 17 and was 22 by the time he turned professional. He made his league debut for ...

, Sam Cookson,

Max Woosnam Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

Jimmy McMullan James McMullan (26 March 1895 – 28 November 1964) was a Scottish football player and manager. He won 16 Scotland caps as a player at half-back and was part of the famous ''"Wembley Wizards"'' side of 1928. Playing career Early life and T ...

Eric Brook Eric Fred Brook (27 November 1907 – 29 March 1965) was an English footballer who played in the outside left position. Brook was also an England international. He was a muscular player with 'one of the fiercest shots in pre-war football' p25 a ...

and Tommy Johnson. He is listed as the thirteenth greatest ever City player in Ian Penney's book ''The Essential History of Manchester City'' and twentieth on the Times website.The 50 greatest Manchester City players
The Times, accessed May 2010

Honours

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1911–12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Horace 1961 deaths English footballers Manchester City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players England wartime international footballers English Football League representative players Association football inside forwards Ashton National F.C. players 1891 births British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers Military personnel from Sheffield