Paul Joseph Barrowcliff (born 15 June 1969) is an English retired semi-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 played as

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 had a long career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

and played one season 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

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 ...

. He is currently the

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Playing career

Beginnings in non-League football (1988–1997)

Barrowcliff got into football through attending the

Boys' Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...

and

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

as a youth. He began his senior career at

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Second Division South club

Ruislip Manor Ruislip Manor is an area of Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London. It is located approximately west north west of Charing Cross. The construction of a halt on the Metropolitan Railway in the area in 1912 led to the develop ...

in 1988 and moved up a level to sign for Premier Division club Hayes in February 1989. While at Hayes, Barrowcliff featured on loan for Isthmian League First Division club

Chalfont St Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

in January 1990. He moved across the Isthmian League Premier Division to sign for Harrow Borough in March 1990. He departed early in the 1990–91 season to move Isthmian Premier Division club St Albans City and left to join divisional rivals

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in February 1990. Barrowcliff moved to Isthmian League Premier Division club

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

in 1991 and played at

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

level for the first time when he signed for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in 1992. Barrowcliff made just six appearances and left after the 1992–93 season to join Isthmian League Premier Division club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

. Barrowcliff signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club

Aylesbury United Aylesbury United Football Club is a football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. They are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Chesham United's Meadow ground, having been evicted from their ...

during the 1994–95 season and made 19 appearances before leaving at the end of the campaign. Barrowcliff joined newly-promoted Conference club

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

during the 1995 off-season. He was a vital part of the team which won the 1995–96 Conference title, making 50 appearances and scoring eight goals, but the club was not promoted to the Football League due to its

Broadhall Way Broadhall Way, known as the Lamex Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is an association football stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It has been the home ground of Stevenage (formerly Stevenage Borough and Stevenage Town) since the early 1960s, an ...

ground not meeting

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 ...

requirements. Barrowcliff was named the club's 1995–96 Supporters' Player Of The Year award and also captained the team. He stayed with Stevenage for the 1996–97 season and left the club in August 1997.

Brentford

On 1 August 1997, Barrowcliff moved up to the Football League when he transferred to

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 ...

club

for a £60,000 fee. He started Brentford's first six games in all competitions and returned to former club Stevenage Borough on a one-month loan in October 1997. He made five appearances during his spell and following his return to Brentford, he made substitute cameos and occasional starts, before injury ended his season in December. Barrowcliff was transfer-listed in February 1998 and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent after Brentford's final-day relegation to the Third Division. He made 16 appearances during the 1997–98 season.

Return to non-League football (1998–2009)

Following his release from Brentford, Barrowcliff joined Isthmian League Premier Division club

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

during the 1998 off-season. He failed to make an appearance and moved across the division to sign for Chesham United later in the year. Barrowcliff transferred to Isthmian League Premier Division club

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

in January 1999. During what remained of the 1998–99 season, Barrowcliff made 18 appearances and scored three goals. He made 31 appearances during the 1999–00 season and scored one goal. After a period out of the team during the early months of the 2000–01 season, Barrowcliff was a virtual ever-present from November 2000 onwards and finished the season with 32 appearances. His performances were a rare highlight of a season which saw Slough suffer relegation. Playing at Isthmian League First Division level for the first time since 1990, Barrowcliff was again a virtual ever-present for Slough Town during the 2001–02 season and made 46 appearances, scoring two goals. Barrowcliff played 39 matches during the 2002–03 season before departing to join Isthmian League First Division South club

in February 2003. Barrowcliff returned to Slough Town (now playing in the Isthmian League First Division South) in September 2003 and had a successful 2003–04 season with the club. He made 27 appearances and helped Slough to a fourth-place finish, which saw the Rebels secure promotion back to the Isthmian League Premier Division. During his two spells at Slough Town, Barrowcliff made 193 appearances and scored six goals. Barrowcliff returned to Metropolitan Police during the 2004 off-season. He made just 10 appearances during the 2004–05 season, but he captained the club during the 2005–06 season. Barrowcliff made 13 appearances during the 2006–07 season, but failed to make an appearance during the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons and retired in 2009. After his retirement, he became the club's

. He represented the club's Veterans team in the 2012–13 Isthmian Veterans' Cup and played in the final, which was lost 2–1 to Northwood Vets.

Personal life

Barrowcliff worked as a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

and as of October 2012, was working for the

Career statistics

Honours

; Stevenage Borough *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

: 1995–96 *

Herts Charity Cup The Herts Charity Cup, officially titled the Hertfordshire Football Association Charity Cup, was begun in the 1900-01 season as a fund raising competition for the chosen charities of the Hertfordshire County Football Association. It is second o ...

: 1995–96 Slough Town *

First Division South: 2003–04 Individual *

Supporters' Player of the Year: 1996–97

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrowcliff, Paul 1969 births Living people Footballers from Hillingdon English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players National League (English football) players Brentford F.C. players London Rangers F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Chalfont St Peter A.F.C. players Harrow Borough F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Woking F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Hendon F.C. players Chesham United F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Metropolitan Police F.C. players Isthmian League players