Chris Barker

**Christopher Andrew Barker** (2 March 1980 – 1 January 2020) was an English professional footballer. He played as a defender.

Barker was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He began his professional career at Barnsley in 1999. He won the club's young player of the year award in his first full season. He appeared in over 100 games for the club. In July 2002, Barker joined Welsh side Cardiff City. While at Cardiff, Barker had loan spells at Stoke City and Colchester United. After 177 appearances for Cardiff City, he joined Queens Park Rangers in 2007, and Plymouth Argyle in 2008. He moved to Southend United in 2010, playing for the club until 2013. In 2015, Barker was named player-manager of Aldershot Town. He later played for Hereford and Weston-super-Mare.

On 1 January 2020, Barker died in Cardiff at the age of 39.

## Career statistics

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|FA Cup|colspan="2"|League Cup|colspan="2"|Other|colspan="2"|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="4" valign="centre"|Barnsley|1999–2000|First Division|29|0|1|0|4|0|1|0|35|0|
|2000–01|First Division|40|0|1|0|5|0|0|0|46|0|||
|2001–02|First Division|44|3|2|0|3|0|0|0|49|3|||
|rowspan="6" valign="centre"|Cardiff City|2002–03|Second Division|40|0|5|0|1|0|1|0|47|0|
|2003–04|First Division|39|0|0|0|2|0|0|0|41|0|||
|2004–05|Championship|39|0|2|0|3|0|0|0|44|0|||
|2005–06|Championship|41|0|1|0|3|0|0|0|45|0|||
|2006–07|Championship|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|||
|Stoke City (loan)|2004–05|Championship|4|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|4|0||
|Colchester United (loan)|2006–07|Championship|38|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|39|0||
|Queens Park Rangers|2007–08|Championship|25|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|26|0||
|rowspan="4" valign="centre"|Plymouth Argyle|2008–09|Championship|40|0|1|0|1|0|0|0|42|0|
|2009–10|Championship|14|0|2|0|0|0|0|0|16|0|||
|2010–11|League One|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|||
|Southend United (loan)|2010–11|League Two|4|0|0|0|2|0|1|0|7|0||
|rowspan="4" valign="centre"|Southend United|2010–11|League Two|39|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|40|0|
|2011–12|League Two|43|0|4|0|0|0|6|1|53|1|||
|2012–13|League Two|29|0|4|0|1|0|6|0|40|0|||
|rowspan="4"|Aldershot Town|2013–14|Conference Premier|42|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|42|0|
|2014–15|Conference Premier|32|0|4|0|0|0|0|0|36|0|||
|2015–16|Conference Premier|3|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|3|0|||
|Hereford|2016–17|Southern League Division One South & West|5|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|5|0||
|Weston-super-Mare|2016–17|National League South|15|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|15|0||

- A.  The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs and the Football League Trophy.

### Player

**Cardiff City**
- Second Division play-offs: 2002–03

**Southend United**
- Football League Trophy runner-up: 2012–13

### Individual

- Cardiff City Player of the Year: 2004–05
- Southend United Player of the Year: 2010–11

## References

**General**

**Specific**

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Chris Barker
- **image**: Chris Barker at Southend United.jpg
- **image size**: 200
- **caption**: Barker at Southend United F.C., Southend United in 2013
- **fullname**: Christopher Andrew Barker
- **birth place**: Sheffield, England
- **death place**: Cardiff, Wales
- **position**: Defender (association football), Defender
- **youthyears1**: 1997–1999
- **youthclubs1**: Alfreton Town F.C., Alfreton Town
- **years1**: 1999–2002
- **clubs1**: Barnsley F.C., Barnsley
- **caps1**: 113
- **goals1**: 3
- **years2**: 2002–2007
- **clubs2**: Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City
- **caps2**: 162
- **goals2**: 0
- **years3**: 2004
- **clubs3**: → Stoke City F.C., Stoke City (loan)
- **caps3**: 4
- **goals3**: 0
- **years4**: 2006–2007
- **clubs4**: → Colchester United F.C., Colchester United (loan)
- **caps4**: 38
- **goals4**: 0
- **years5**: 2007–2008
- **clubs5**: Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers
- **caps5**: 25
- **goals5**: 0
- **years6**: 2008–2010
- **clubs6**: Plymouth Argyle F.C., Plymouth Argyle
- **caps6**: 54
- **goals6**: 0
- **years7**: 2010
- **clubs7**: → Southend United F.C., Southend United (loan)
- **caps7**: 4
- **goals7**: 0
- **years8**: 2010–2013
- **clubs8**: Southend United F.C., Southend United
- **caps8**: 113
- **goals8**: 0
- **years9**: 2013–2016
- **clubs9**: Aldershot Town F.C., Aldershot Town
- **caps9**: 87
- **goals9**: 0
- **years10**: 2016
- **clubs10**: Hereford F.C., Hereford
- **caps10**: 5
- **goals10**: 0
- **years11**: 2016–2017
- **clubs11**: Weston-super-Mare A.F.C., Weston-super-Mare
- **caps11**: 15
- **goals11**: 0
- **manageryears1**: 2015
- **managerclubs1**: Aldershot Town F.C., Aldershot Town (caretaker)