Anthony Edward Barton (8 April 1937 – 20 August 1993) 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 ...

, playing as an outside right, and football manager. He was born in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and managed

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

to success in the 1982 European Cup, three months after taking charge. He followed this up by beating Barcelona in the 1982 European Super Cup.

Playing career

Tony Barton won

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Schoolboy (1 cap) and Youth (5 caps) honours before beginning his football career with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

who he joined as a junior. After a spell on loan to

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 ...

, he turned professional with Fulham in May 1954. He went on to score 8 times in 49 games for Fulham. He moved to

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 December 1959 and after never really establishing himself at Forest, making only 22 appearances (scoring once), moved to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in December 1961, where he subsequently became player-coach. After retiring as a player, after 130 games and 34 goals for Portsmouth, he remained on the club's coaching staff.

Coaching and managerial career

He subsequently joined the coaching staff at

, becoming assistant manager to

Ron Saunders Ronald Saunders (6 November 1932 – 7 December 2019) was an English football player and manager. He played for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic during a 16-year playing career, before moving in ...

in 1980. Villa won the League Championship in 1981 (their first league title in 71 years) and Barton was promoted to the manager's seat in February 1982 after Saunders resigned. He guided Villa to victory over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

in the

1982 European Cup Final The 1982 European Cup Final was played on 26 May 1982. Football League winners Aston Villa defeated Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich 1–0 at De Kuip in Rotterdam, Netherlands to win the European Cup for the first time, and continue the streak of ...

and followed this up with the 1982 European Super Cup the following season, but their league form (sixth in 1983 and tenth in 1984) did not match their success in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and he was sacked in May 1984. In July 1984, he took over as manager of

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

but left in April 1985 after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. In September that year he became assistant manager of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

under

Chris Nicholl Christopher John Nicholl (born 12 October 1946) is an English-born former Northern Ireland international footballer who later worked as a coach and manager. Playing career Nicholl was born in Macclesfield. He played for Burnley (1963–1966) ( ...

, remaining at The Dell until May 1988. He later became assistant manager of

and in February 1991 took over as caretaker manager after the sacking of Frank Burrows. After leaving Portsmouth he was a talent scout for several clubs. Shortly before Barton's death he was offered the first manager's job at

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The par ...

new boys Petersfield Town. On 20 August 1993, Barton died of a

at the age of 56.

Honours

As a manager

;

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 1981–82 * European Super Cup:

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

;Individual * European Coach of the Season: 1981–82

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Tony 1937 births 1993 deaths English footballers English football managers Fulham F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. managers Northampton Town F.C. managers UEFA Champions League winning managers Footballers from Sutton, London Portsmouth F.C. managers Association football wingers