Warren Dean Barton (born 19 March 1969) is an English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach, pundit, and former professional player. As of 2022, he works as a director and youth coach for the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks, a youth club in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States.
As a player, Barton was a
defender who notably played in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
for
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and
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 ...
. He also played 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
Maidstone United,
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 188 ...
and
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
, as well as for non-league side
Dagenham & Redbridge. He was capped 3 times by
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 ...
.
Following retirement, he has worked in consultancy roles with
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
and
San Diego Flash
San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National ...
. He also spent a period coaching the
Los Angeles Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...
under-18 side. Barton continues to reside in the United States and is a television pundit for
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
.
Club career
Born in
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish.
The ...
, London, Barton began his league career with
Maidstone United, after joining from
Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
who negotiated for three players and a manager,
John Still
John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...
to move the other way.
Despite some defensive weaknesses, he gained attention from clubs playing in higher tiers of English football due to his ability to move forward at speed up the flank with the ball and place the ball in the box accurately.
During this period, Barton had a 'day job' working in the mailroom at the London offices of accounting firm,
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...
.
Wimbledon
Barton was transferred to First Division side
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
on 7 June 1990, his £300,000 transfer fee being the largest sum paid for a Fourth Division player at the time. However, Maidstone were sliding into a serious financial crisis at this time and his sale did little to improve matters, although it would be another two years before financial problems finally forced them out of business and cost them their place in the Football League.
Barton walked straight into the Wimbledon first team, missing just one league game in the
1990–91 season as they finished seventh. His first game was in the 3–0 defeat at home to
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on the opening day of the season.
He remained a regular fixture at right-back for the rest of his time there, despite playing under three different managers;
Ray Harford
Raymond Thomas Harford (1 June 1945 – 9 August 2003) was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation.
During his playin ...
(July 1990 – October 1991),
Peter Withe
Peter Withe (born 30 August 1951) is an English former football manager and striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest he won the Anglo-Scottish Cup and Second Division promotion in 1976–77, First Division and the Foot ...
(October 1991 – January 1992) and finally
Joe Kinnear
Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EFL ...
.
During his time at Wimbledon he was instrumental in keeping them in the
Premiership, and quickly became one of the most highly rated defenders in England. However, Barton had the most successful spell of his career with the Dons after they moved him into midfield, where his accurate passing set up many goals for the
Crazy Gang's forwards.
Wimbledon were widely regarded as the smallest club in the top flight, traditionally having the lowest crowds and the smallest budget to spend on players, but they managed to avoid relegation year after year, more often than not by a comfortable margin, at a time when bigger clubs like
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 ...
went down. Barton helped them finish sixth in 1994 – the best finish in their history.
Newcastle United
On 5 June 1995, Barton became the most expensive defender in English football when he moved to
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 ...
for £4 million, joining "The Entertainers" being assembled by
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...
. Everything looked rosy for Barton, and a few England caps followed, his classy, comfortable style on the ball earned him a reputation as a true footballing full-back. His attacking role under Keegan however meant he did not always suit the national team and he did not make too many more appearances for
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 ...
.
He made his debut on 19 August 1995, when the Magpies beat
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
3–0 at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Park ...
. He played 31 times that season, and by Christmas it was looking certain that he would be collecting a league title medal as the Magpies had a 10-point lead over
Manchester United
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 City of Salford, Salford to ...
at the top of the Premier League. However, when the Magpies lost 1–0 at home to the
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
side on 4 March 1996, the lead had been cut to a single point and soon afterwards they were overhauled, having to settle for second place in the final table.
Over the next two seasons, Barton's first team opportunities were more limited as manager Kevin Keegan and his successor
Kenny Dalglish
Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...
(who took over in January 1997) chose
Steve Watson
Steven Craig Watson (born 1 April 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player. He was formerly the manager of club Chester.
As a player, he was a right-back or midfielder. He played in the Premier League and Football ...
as a right back more frequently.
However, Watson's move to
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 ...
in October 1998 saw Barton return to the right-back position on a more regular basis under new manager
Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...
, and he was still the club's first choice player in this position in
2000–01, by which time the Magpies were being managed by the former England boss
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
.
Barton finally lost his first team place in the
2001–02 season to
Aaron Hughes
Aaron William Hughes (born 8 November 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Hughes played mainly at centre back, but was also used at right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He i ...
and this time he was unable to win it back. He made just five league appearances before joining
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 188 ...
for a fee of £200,000 on 1 February 2002, ending nearly seven years on
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as published i ...
.
Derby County
Barton was manager
John Gregory's first signing for a Derby County side battling against relegation from the Premier League, and played in all of their final 14 league games. At first, things went smoothly enough at
Pride Park
Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are both ...
, with two quick wins following by a point against title chasing Manchester United suggesting that the Rams were on their way to safety. But seven defeats from the final eight games cost them their top flight status after six seasons, and with financial problems putting the club under serious pressure, there was little prospect of a swift return.
Derby finished 18th in the
2002–03 Division One campaign, well short of the playoffs even though they were never in any real danger of a second successive relegation. Barton remained the club's first choice right-back, but following Gregory's dismissal in favour of
George Burley
George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...
, Barton did not feature in the first team in the
2003–04 season, finally departing in October when he joined Division Two promotion chasers
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on a free transfer.
Queens Park Rangers
Barton played just five first team games during his four months at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
, before returning to Wimbledon on a free transfer on 27 February 2004. The Hoops went on to secure promotion to Division One.
Return to Wimbledon
A lot had changed at Wimbledon Football Club since Barton had last played for them nine years earlier. They had survived in the Premier League for five seasons after his departure, finally going down in
1999–2000. The decision to
relocate the club to
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
was approved in May 2002, after the Dons narrowly missed out on the Division One playoffs for the second season running. In spite of some of the lowest attendances in the league after the majority of the club's fans defected to newly formed
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
(at non-League level), the Dons had managed a respectable 10th-place finish in
2002–03, but then they went into administration and were forced to sell most of their key players. As a result, their fortunes on the pitch suffered and the move to Milton Keynes in September 2003 (initially in the
National Hockey Stadium
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
until a new permanent stadium was built) did little to solve matters. By the time Barton arrived at the end of February, the club was still in administration and relegation (if not complete closure) was almost certain. Barton appeared in just five games for the Dons as they went down in bottom place with a massive 33 defeats (one of the worst Football League records ever) and on 17 September 2004 he finally departed from the club, who for the
2004–05 had been re-formed as
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
to reflect their new location. At the age of 35, Barton's senior career was over.
Dagenham & Redbridge
On leaving Milton Keynes Dons, Barton dropped into
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 ...
to play for
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
club Dagenham & Redbridge in 2004.
He was selected just twice for the "Daggers",
before finally hanging up his boots.
International career
Barton made his debut for
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 ...
in the February 1995 friendly away match against the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
which was abandoned after only 27 minutes because of rioting English fans. Known as the
Lansdowne Road football riot
The Lansdowne Road football riot occurred during a friendly football match between the Republic of Ireland and England in Lansdowne Road Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on 15 February 1995.
Match
The last time England had played Ireland at Lansdowne ...
, the trouble was caused by English
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
organisation
Combat 18
Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom, with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then it has spread to other countries, including Germany ...
. Later that year, he earned his second and third against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
respectively. In the latter, which proved to be his last international match, he was only a very late substitute coming on for
John Scales.
Coaching and managerial career
Barton ended his playing days where he began, with
Dagenham & Redbridge in the 2004–05 season and then coached the side during the week. He also worked for
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
part-time on a consultancy basis.
In 2008, Barton was named as the U-18 coach for
Los Angeles Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...
of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
. He remained in the position until 2010. On 13 January 2010, Barton joined on as a partner and technical adviser for the newly reestablished
San Diego Flash
San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National ...
soccer club in the
National Premier Soccer League
The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...
. He was later named president and head coach of the club on 19 March 2010.
Barton was named general manager and technical director for
Los Angeles Blues
Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship.
The team plays its home games a ...
of the
USL Pro
The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
league on 11 December 2012.
Regarding coaching certifications, Barton holds the
UEFA Pro License
UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...
as well as the UEFA 'A' and 'B' Coaching Licenses.
As of 2022, Barton works as a director and youth coach at the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks, a youth football club in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
.
Media career
Since his retirement in 2005, Barton has worked for
Fox Sports 1
Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
as a television pundit while previously working as a Premier League commentator for
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
. In 2006, Barton was part of
ITV4
ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...
's World Cup team of pundits. He presented his own comedy segment entitled 'Warren Barton Travel Agent' in which he provided a comical breakdown of each country taking part in the World Cup.
Barton represented Newcastle United for
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
's "Premier League All Stars". The match took place on 26 September 2007 and finished 3–3. In the resulting
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
, Barton missed his penalty to knock Newcastle out of the tournament.
Barton is featured in the "Legends of the Tyne" series of beers from Northumberland brewery, which depicts past Newcastle United players.
Career statistics
Honours
Newcastle United
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
runner-up:
1997–98,
1998–99
*
UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
runner-up:
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Warren
1969 births
Living people
English footballers
England international footballers
England B international footballers
Premier League players
Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players
Wimbledon F.C. players
Newcastle United F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players
National League (English football) players
English Football League players
Association football defenders
FA Cup Final players
Association football coaches
Fox Sports 1 people
Sky Sports presenters and reporters
English expatriate football managers
Expatriate soccer managers in the United States
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States