Michael Barron
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Michael James Barron (born 22 December 1974) is a former professional footballer. He retired from playing in May 2008. He was previously the assistant manager at
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...
, where he enjoyed a long and successful playing career.


Football career


Middlesbrough

Barron was born in
Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...
, but started his career at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. Despite spending four years at the club, Barron only made three appearances and found his chances of breaking into the first team limited. Barron looked elsewhere for game time and he was allowed to go on loan to
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...
. Barron made his debut for Hartlepool against Carlisle United and made 14 appearances during his loan spell. Middlesbrough then released Barron and he signed permanently for Hartlepool.


Hartlepool United

After his 3 months on loan at Pools, Barron was persuaded to sign permanently in 1997 under manager Mick Tait, Barron found a role in the middle of a back three, playing as a sweeper, and impressed with his cool and calm nature. He was voted Supporters' Player of the Year in both 1998 and 1999. Barron moved to right-back under Chris Turner. He made 374 appearances for Pools, ranked 7th in the all-time list for the club. He scored 3 goals in that time. Barron was in the Hartlepool side that had three consecutive
Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...
play-off semi-final defeats. He was part of the promotion-winning side in 2002-03 but Pools were pipped to the league title by
Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...
on the final day of the season. Hartlepool had to beat Rushden to win the title but could only draw. After promotion, Barron led Pools to the play-offs the following season and he was stretchered off in the second half of the second leg of the semi-final at Bristol City. Pools went on to lose in injury time. The following year, Pools went one better and Barron led out the Hartlepool team as captain in their
League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
play-off final in May 2005 against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
where a late equaliser eight minutes from time denied Pools their first ever promotion to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
, Hartlepool went on to lose in extra-time 4–2 in front of a crowd of 59,808 at the Millennium Stadium. To celebrate 10 seasons with the club, a series of events were held such as a testimonial dinner with
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 ...
as guest speaker. Barron could only attend the later stages of the dinner as he was involved in a reserve team match while trying to make his comeback from injury. A testimonial game, at Victoria Park against
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
which Hartlepool won 2–1, was also held. During his time on the sidelines, he became a regular special guest commentator on Pools World, the Hartlepool United audio commentary service. Barron signed a new contract in June 2007. He retired at the end of the 2007–08 season which saw Hartlepool finish 15th in
League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
.


Coaching career

During his final playing season with Hartlepool, Micky was a player-coach for the League 1 side as the youth team coach. He kept up this role before being the club's assistant manager to
Mick Wadsworth Michael Wadsworth (born 3 November 1950) is an English football coach and former player. Born in Barnsley his playing career spanned only one season in The Football League with Scunthorpe United, along with spells playing for Gainsborough Tr ...
whilst undertaking the role of reserve team coach; John Hewitson was then put in charge of Barron's previous role of youth team coach. He was appointed first-team coach under John Hughes, before he was sacked along with Hughes in May 2013 which allowed
Colin Cooper Colin Terence Cooper (born 28 February 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. He played ove ...
and
Craig Hignett Craig Hignett (born 12 January 1970), is an English former professional footballer. He started his career as a striker but later moved into midfield. Playing career Born in Whiston and previously a trainee at Liverpool, Hignett began his se ...
to replace to pair later on that month. He took on first-team duties as caretaker manager on 6 December 2011, following the sacking of previous manager
Mick Wadsworth Michael Wadsworth (born 3 November 1950) is an English football coach and former player. Born in Barnsley his playing career spanned only one season in The Football League with Scunthorpe United, along with spells playing for Gainsborough Tr ...
. He was in charge for three games, losing the first two and then beating
Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
1–0, but reverted to his reserve team duties when
Neale Cooper Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson, and later played for Aston ...
was appointed manager on 28 December 2011. Cooper resigned as Hartlepool manager on 24 October 2012 with the club sitting bottom of League 1 leaving Barron in charge as caretaker manager until a new manager was appointed. He drew his first game in his second stint as caretaker manager 2–2 against Brentford courtesy of a late own goal, assisted by Ritchie Humphreys. In September 2020, Barron became assistant manager to former teammate Michael Nelson at
Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...
. Following Nelson's dismissal in November 2021, Barron took temporary charge of Blyth. Alongside his coaching, he works as a teacher at Hermitage Academy in Chester-le-Street. Barron also co-hosts Switch of Play, a podcast of interviews with former Hartlepool players, alongside the club's former media manager Mark Simpson.


Career statistics


Managerial statistics


Honours

*
Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...
runners-up: 2002–03 *
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
runners-up: 2006–07


References


External links

*
Barron's Official Hartlepool United F.C. profile Micky Barron profile
a
In The Mad CrowdVital Hartlepool Profile: Mickey Barron
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Michael 1974 births Living people English footballers Barron, Michael ark Association football central defenders Hartlepool United F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Sportspeople from Chester-le-Street Footballers from County Durham English Football League players Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff Hartlepool United F.C. managers Blyth Spartans A.F.C. managers