Joshua Lee Barrett (born 21 June 1998) is an Irish

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 for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club King's Lynn Town as a

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 ...

. He has represented Republic of Ireland at U21 level.

Early life

Barrett's parents are from Dublin and Tipperary; he played GAA with Hampshire, growing up in Oxfordshire.

Club career

Reading

Barrett signed his first professional contract with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in October 2015, having joined from Irish youth side St Kevin's Boys. He went on to make his senior debut for Reading on 8 March 2016, in a 3–1 defeat away to Huddersfield Town, coming on as an 84-minute substitute for Chris Gunter. On 21 December 2017 Barrett signed a new contract with Reading, until the summer of 2021, and also agreed to join

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side

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 ...

on loan from 1 January 2018, until the end of the season. On 10 November 2018 Barrett signed for Aldershot Town on a month long loan. Barrett scored his first goals for Reading when he scored twice in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

on 27 August 2019.

Bristol Rovers

On 7 January 2020, Barrett joined Bristol Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee from

. Barrett failed to make an impact during the 2019–20 season that was prematurely ended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This came after manager

Ben Garner Ben Garner (born 19 May 1980) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of Charlton Athletic. Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Previously, Garne ...

had, although praising his skill levels, criticised Barrett's fitness levels with the midfielder below the standards of the first-team. Barrett made 9 appearances during the 20/21 league campaign, the Gas were relegated that same season. On 1 September 2021, it was announced that the club had terminated Barrett's contract to allow him to move on.

King's Lynn Town

On 13 October 2021, Barrett joined National League side King's Lynn Town. Barrett made his debut for the club that weekend, coming off of the bench in a 2–1 FA Cup Fourth qualifying round victory over Peterborough Sports, Barrett playing a part in the winning goal. Barrett opened his account for the club on 11 December with a double as second-bottom King's Lynn beat bottom side

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

by two goals to one.

International career

Barrett made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U17s against Hungary U17s in August 2014. Barrett was called up to the Republic of Ireland U21s for the first time in March 2016, making his debut as a 75th-minute substitute against Slovenia U21s on 28 March 2016. On 28 May 2019, Barrett was called up to the Republic of Ireland U21 team for the

2019 Toulon Tournament The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...

. He started the match against Bahrain U23s and won the penalty for the winning goal.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Josh Living people 1998 births People from Paulton Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders St. Kevin's Boys F.C. players Reading F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players King's Lynn Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from Somerset