.jpg) Darren atAnnan Athletic as Player/Assistant Manager | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1985-03-17)17 March 1985 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder,defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Westfield Boys Club | |||
| Moodiesburn Boys Club | |||
| 2002–2005 | Falkirk | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2010 | Falkirk | 146 | (5) |
| 2005 | →Forfar Athletic (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2010–2013 | Heart of Midlothian | 60 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Kilmarnock | 12 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | Ross County | 6 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Dumbarton | 63 | (3) |
| 2017–2018 | Greenock Morton | 2 | (0) |
| 2018 | Stirling Albion | 18 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Annan Athletic | 16 | (0) |
| Total | 338 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 2007 | Scotland B | 1 | (0) |
| 2008 | Scotland | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2018 | Greenock Morton U20 | ||
| 2018–2021 | Annan Athletic (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Darren Barr (born 17 March 1985) is a Scottishfootball coach and former player, whose most recent position was assistant manager atScottish League Two clubAnnan Athletic.
Barr played forFalkirk,Heart of Midlothian,Forfar Athletic,Kilmarnock,Ross County,Dumbarton,Greenock Morton andStirling Albion, mainly as adefender. He representedScotland as aB and full international, beingcapped once in 2008. After leaving Falkirk in 2010, his career was hampered by several serious injuries.[1]
Barr enrolled at St. Michael's Primary School in his home community ofMoodiesburn in 1990, and from 1997 attendedSt. Maurice's High School inCumbernauld. He was a keen footballer during his school years, playing for Westfield Boys Club and later the Moodiesburn equivalent.[2]
Barr went on to sign forFalkirk on 12 July 2002,[3] and after suffering a firstanterior cruciate ligament injury during his apprenticeship,[1] he made his first team debut on 13 March 2004, as a substitute againstQueen of the South.[4] He made two more appearances the next season[5] before being loaned out toForfar Athletic at the start of the 2005–06 season,[6] making his debut on 27 August againstPeterhead as an 81st-minute substitute.[7] His loan lasted until 31 December 2005.[8] In all he made fifteen appearances for Forfar.[9]
Barr broke through to the Falkirk first team at the start of the 2006–07 season scoring his first goal for the club on 5 August 2006, in a victory overDunfermline.[10] In December 2006, he was named asSPL Young Player of the Month for December.[11] Barr received his first ever red card on 20 January 2007, for squaring up to Hearts'Andrius Velicka,[12] but the decision was overturned on appeal and Barr was instead credited with a yellow card.[13] The following season Barr was sent off twice: first againstHibernian, being given a second yellow card for throwing the ball away[14] and then againstCeltic for receiving a second yellow card.[15]
Barr was made Falkirk's captain at the age of 22 in January 2008,[16][1] and went on to win theSPL Player of the Month award for March 2008.[17]
Under new bossEddie May, Barr began playing at right back during the2009–10 season rather than his more normal centre back role.[18] With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, May confirmed in January that Hibs had made two attempts to sign Barr along withAberdeen.[19] Barr choose to sign for Hearts on a pre-contract in January rather than leave Falkirk immediately opting to help them escape relegation.[20] Falkirk failed to avoid relegation and Barr left on a low note expressing hope that Falkirk would gain promotion quickly.[21]
On 25 January 2010, it was announced that Barr had signed a 3-year pre-contract withHeart of Midlothian, and would complete his move to Edinburgh upon the expiration of his contract with Falkirk at the end of the season.[22] He was officially presented as a Hearts player at a press conference atTynecastle on 8 June 2010.[23] He made his debut on the opening day of the season againstSt Johnstone.[24] Barr initially became a regular in the Hearts team at the start of the season but a loss of form[25] and impressive displays byCraig Thomson saw Barr dropped from the team.[26] Injury further limited his appearances, and he only made 14 appearances that season.[27]
Barr's first appearance of the new season came in theLeague Cup againstAyr United on 21 September 2011.[28] A recurrence of his hernia injury that required surgery caused further setbacks,[29] and his next appearance came as a substitute againstMotherwell in the league on Christmas Eve.[30] Barr was consistently selected in midfield by managerPaulo Sergio in the last few months of the 2011–12 season ahead of established midfield players.[1] In the2012 Scottish Cup Final, Barr started the match in central midfield and scored the opening goal in a 5–1 win against Hibernian.[31] His only league goal for Hearts also came against Hibernian, in his final appearance for the club at the end of 2012–13;[32] he left when his contract expired at the end of that season.[33]
On 17 July 2013, Barr signed a one-year deal withKilmarnock.[34] He scored his first goal for the club in a league match againstInverness Caledonian Thistle,[35] and his second followed in a Scottish Cup defeat toDundee United.[36] The cup loss to Dundee United proved to be his final game for the club as he was ruled out for several months with a hip injury shortly afterwards.[37][38] He was not offered a new contract and left the club after the end of the 2013–14 season.[39]
After leaving Kilmarnock, Barr went on trial withScottish Premiership sidePartick Thistle in July 2014[39] and also played as a trialist in pre-season forMotherwell.[40] On 1 September 2014, Barr signed forRoss County.[41] He made his debut on 13 September 2014, in a 2–1 home defeat against Motherwell.[42] His season was ended in November 2014, when he suffered a knee injury against Aberdeen and underwent cruciate ligament surgery.[43][1] At the end of the season, he was released by theDingwall club.[44]
In June 2015, Barr dropped down a division to sign forScottish Championship sideDumbarton.[45] He scored his first goals for the club in a 3–2 friendly defeat toPartick Thistle on 11 July 2015.[46] He was appointed captain on 19 July 2015.[47] He extended his deal in January 2016, rejecting a full-time offer from a rival club, after making 22 appearances during the first half of the season, scoring twice.[48] Barr scored the winning goal in a match against Hibernian in February 2016.[49] He signed a new one-year contract with Dumbarton in June 2016.[50]
Barr rejected a new deal from Dumbarton in the summer of 2017 and joined fellow Championship sideGreenock Morton as the club's development team head coach, whilst still being registered as a player.[51] He scored what turned out to be his only goal for the club in aScottish League Cup tie againstQueen's Park.[52]
Barr moved toScottish League Two clubStirling Albion in January 2018.[53][54] He was caretaker manager of Stirling in October 2018,[55] afterDave Mackay left the club.
Barr was appointed assistant manager of League Two clubAnnan Athletic in November 2018, replacingKevin Rutkiewicz who had left the club to take over as manager of Barr's former clubStirling Albion.[56][1] In March 2021, the club announced thatJames Tose had been appointed in the role, although it was not made clear when Barr left the club.[57]
Barr earned his firstcap forScotland in a 0–0 friendly draw againstNorthern Ireland atHampden Park on 20 August 2008,[58] becoming the first Falkirk player to play for Scotland sinceJohn White in 1959.[59]
He retained his place and was named inGeorge Burley's squad for Scotland's World Cup qualifying matches againstMacedonia andIceland.[60]
Barr had already featured in theScotland 'B' team, playing in a 2–2 draw with Finland in February 2007.[61]
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Falkirk | 2003–04[63] | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004–05[64] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06[65] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2006–07[66] | 36 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08[67] | 33 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 | ||
| 2008–09[68] | 35 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 2 | ||
| 2009–10[69] | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 41 | 1 | ||
| Total | 146 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 168 | 6 | ||
| Forfar Athletic (loan) | 2005–06[65] | Second Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Hearts | 2010–11[70] | Premier League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2011–12[71] | 15 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13[72] | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| Total | 60 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 72 | 2 | ||
| Kilmarnock | 2013–14[73] | Premiership | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Ross County | 2014–15[74] | Premiership | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Dumbarton | 2015–16[75] | Championship | 31 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| 2016–17[76] | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| Total | 63 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 71 | 3 | ||
| Greenock Morton | 2017–18[77] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Sitrling Albion | 2017–18 | League Two | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Annan Athletic | 2018–19 | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 338 | 10 | 22 | 3 | 26 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 392 | 14 | ||