Gareth Barry

Gareth Barry is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City and the England national football team. Barry joined Aston Villa from Brighton and Hove Albion as a trainee in 1997 along with Michael Standing. his first match for Villa on 2 May 1998 against Sheffield Wednesday. Though he initially played as a central defender, Barry became a highly versatile player and captain first as a centre-back, then a left-back. Barry was part of the Villa team who lost the 2000 FA Cup Final 1-0 to Chelsea. On 5 April 2008, Barry helped to break a run of bad form, scoring two goals in a 4–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. As of April 2008, Barry, approaching 400 total appearances for Aston Villa, was the longest serving player in the team. He started in a UEFA Cup tie against FH Hafnarfjordur, in which he scored in a 4–1 win. The goal against Hafnarfjordur was Barry\'s first European goal since he scored a penalty in the Intertoto Cup against Celta Vigo in 2000. On 18 September 2008, Barry made his 400th appearance in a Villa shirt in the UEFA Cup away to Litex Lovech; he scored a penalty as Villa won the match 3–1. On 2 June 2009, Barry signed a five-year contract with Manchester City for a fee of £12 million. Barry scored his first Premier League goal for City against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 20 September 2009 levelling the scores at 1–1. Barry is an England international, having won his first full cap in 2000 and captained the side in 2010 in a friendly against Egypt.