Gareth Barry has changed his decision to retire and is moving to amateur club Hurstpierpoint at the age of 43.
The Premier League legend, who won the cup with Manchester City in 2012, hung up his football boots four years ago after a three-year stint at West Brom.
3
But Barry, who made a record 653 Premier League appearances, has now come out of retirement and joined the eleventh division club.
Hurstpierpoint shared the news on X, where the former England international proudly posed wearing the club shirt.
A statement said: “We are delighted to announce that former England international and Premier League record-breaking player Gareth Barry has signed for Hurstpierpoint Football Club.
“Gareth has had a long-standing connection with the village through his good friend and our coach Michael Standing, so it was a natural step to involve him in the football club.
“His quality in training has been incredible, so we are all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield pitch later this season.
“Welcome to Hurstpierpoint, Gareth.”
Hurstpierpoint currently plays in the Championship Division of the Mid Sussex League.
For Barry, who played 53 times for the Three Lions between 2000 and 2012, it is the first time he has played below the Championship.
3
3
For the first 20 years of his playing career, Barry played in the Premier League.
He made his first-team debut in 1998 for Aston Villa, where he scored 52 goals in 441 games before moving to the Citizens in 2009.
And in his second season at the Etihad, he helped the club end its 35-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup.
In the following season, he appeared in 34 first division matches and helped Roberto Mancini’s team to a narrow victory over rivals Manchester United and thus to the championship title.
Everton was the next destination for Barry, who turned his loan spell into a permanent stay in 2014 – he made 155 appearances in his five years there.
He then moved to West Brom in 2017, but was unable to help the club avoid relegation in his first season, but remained with the club in the Championship for the following years.
But after deciding to end his long career in 2020, Barry has returned to the beautiful game where he hopes to help Hurstpierpoint improve on last season’s sixth-place finish.