| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simon Barker[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-11-04)4 November 1964 (age 60) | ||
| Place of birth | Farnworth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1983 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1988 | Blackburn Rovers | 182 | (35) |
| 1988–1998 | Queens Park Rangers | 315 | (33) |
| 1998–1999 | Port Vale | 32 | (2) |
| Total | 529 | (70) | |
| International career | |||
| 1985–1986 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Simon Barker (born 4 November 1964) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.
He began his career atBlackburn Rovers in 1983, winning theFull Members' Cup with the club in1987, before moving on toQueens Park Rangers the following year for £400,000. He played 351 league and cup games for QPR and played in thePremier League before moving on toPort Vale in 1998. He scored 84 goals in 619 league and cup appearances throughout a 16-year career in theEnglish Football League. He also representedEngland under-21s four times. He retired in November 1999 and went on to work for theProfessional Footballers' Association as assistant chief executive.
Barker began his career atBlackburn Rovers underBobby Saxton's stewardship in 1983, having beenNoel Brotherston's boot boy as an apprentice.[3] He had chosen to join Rovers ahead ofManchester United as he felt he had a better chance of breaking into the first-team atEwood Park.[4] Rovers finished sixth in theSecond Division in1983–84, three places and 13 points outside of thepromotion zone. They moved up to fifth in1984–85, just two places and one point behind promotedManchester City. Blackburn then dropped down to 19th in1985–86, just one place and three points aboverelegatedCarlisle United; Barker was voted the club's Player of the Year at the end of the campaign. NewmanagerDon Mackay then rallied them to a 12th-place finish in1986–87. Barker played for Rovers in the1987 Full Members Cup final atWembley, whereColin Hendry's goal was enough to beatCharlton Athletic 1–0.[5] Blackburn reached theplay-offs in1987–88, but were defeated at the semi-final stage by top-flightChelsea.
He joinedFirst Division clubQueens Park Rangers in 1988 for a fee of £400,000, a club record for both Blackburn and QPR.[3] He made his debut in a 0–0 draw againstManchester United in September of that year. Rangers finished ninth in1988–89 underTrevor Francis, eleventh in1989–90 and twelfth in1990–91 underDon Howe, and eleventh again in1991–92 underGerry Francis. Barker helped Rangers post a fifth-place finish in the first-ever season ofPremier League football in1992–93, a feat which made them the top club in London. They dropped to ninth in1993–94, before finishing eighth in1994–95 under new managerRay Wilkins. However, the sale of top-scorerLes Ferdinand toNewcastle United hit QPR hard, and they were relegated in1995–96, though Barker did find the net againstWest London rivals Chelsea. New bossStewart Houston failed to bring immediate promotion back to the top flight, as they finished five points outside the play-offs. The club struggled in1997–98, finishing just one point and one place above relegated Manchester City. After atestimonial match againstJamaica, Barker leftLoftus Road forPort Vale. Barker made 351 appearances for QPR in all competitions, scoring 41 goals.
Barker scored on his return to Loftus Road on 5 December 1998. However, the "Valiants" lost the game 3–2.[4] He played a total of 25 games in1998–99, as the club went through a turbulent period by replacing managerJohn Rudge withBrian Horton. Barker featured just six times atVale Park in the1999–2000 campaign and retired at the end of hiscontract in November after picking up an injury.[6]
Barker applied unsuccessfully for management jobs and instead began working full-time for theProfessional Footballers' Association (PFA) in 1999 after spending five years on the management committee.[4] He went on to become a senior executive for the PFA.[7]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | 1983–84 | Second Division | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| 1984–85 | Second Division | 38 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 1985–86 | Second Division | 41 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 10 | |
| 1986–87 | Second Division | 42 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 53 | 17 | |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 9 | |
| Total | 182 | 35 | 11 | 0 | 17 | 16 | 310 | 51 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1988–89 | First Division | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 28 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 5 | |
| 1990–91 | First Division | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 2 | |
| 1991–92 | First Division | 34 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 41 | 8 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 37 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 8 | |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 37 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 4 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 33 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 38 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 4 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 3 | |
| Total | 115 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 38 | 5 | 176 | 11 | ||
| Port Vale | 1998–99 | First Division | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| 1999–2000 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 529 | 70 | 34 | 3 | 56 | 11 | 619 | 84 | ||
Individual
Blackburn Rovers
