Warren Barton

Wimbledon Barton was transferred to First Division side Wimbledon on 7 June 1990, his £300,000 transfer fee being the largest sum paid for a Fourth Division player at the time. However, Maidstone were sliding into a serious financial crisis at this time and his sale did little to improve matters, although it would be another two years before financial problems finally forced them out of business and cost them their place in the Football League.

Barton walked straight into the Wimbledon first team, missing just one league game in the 1990–91 season as they finished seventh. His first game was in the 3–0 defeat at home to Arsenal on the opening day of the season.

He remained a regular fixture at right-back and later midfield for the rest of his time there, despite playing under three different managers; Ray Harford (July 1990 – October 1991), Peter Withe (October 1991 – January 1992) and finally Joe Kinnear.

During his time at Wimbledon he was instrumental in keeping them in the Premiership, and quickly became one of the most highly rated defenders in England. However, Barton had the most successful spell of his career with the Dons after they moved him into midfield, where his accurate passing set up many goals for the Crazy Gang's forwards.

Wimbledon were widely regarded as the smallest club in the top flight, traditionally having the lowest crowds and the smallest budget to spend on players, but they managed to avoid relegation year after year, more often than not by a comfortable margin, at a time when bigger clubs like Nottingham Forest went down. Barton helped them finish sixth in 1994 – the best finish in their history.

However, Watson's move to Aston Villa in October 1998 saw Barton return to the right-back position on a more regular basis under new manager Ruud Gullit, and he was still the club's first choice player in this position in 2000–01, by which time the Magpies were being managed by the former England boss Bobby Robson.

Barton finally lost his first team place in the 2001–02 season to Aaron Hughes and this time he was unable to win it back. He made just five league appearances before joining Derby County for a fee of £200,000 on 1 February 2002, ending nearly seven years on Tyneside. He was selected just twice for the "Daggers",

International career Barton made his debut for England in the February 1995 friendly away match against the Republic of Ireland which was abandoned after only 27 minutes because of rioting English fans. Known as the Lansdowne Road football riot, the trouble was caused by English neo-Nazi organisation Combat 18. Later that year, he earned his second and third against Sweden and Brazil respectively. In the latter, which proved to be his last international match, he was only a very late substitute coming on for John Scales.

Coaching and managerial career Barton ended his playing days where he began, with Dagenham & Redbridge in the 2004–05 season and then coached the side during the week. He also worked for Brighton & Hove Albion part-time on a consultancy basis.

In 2008, Barton was named as the under-18 coach for Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. He remained in the position until 2010. On 13 January 2010, Barton joined on as a partner and technical adviser for the newly reestablished San Diego Flash soccer club in the National Premier Soccer League. He was later named president and head coach of the club on 19 March 2010.

Barton was named general manager and technical director for Los Angeles Blues of the USL Pro league on 11 December 2012. Regarding coaching certifications, Barton holds the UEFA Pro License as well as the UEFA 'A' and 'B' Coaching Licenses. Barton later began working as a director and youth coach at the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks, a youth football club in San Diego.

Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Maidstone United 1989–90 Fourth Division 42 0 0 0

42 0

1990–91 First Division 37 3 0 0

37 3 1991–92 First Division 42 1 0 0

42 1 1992–93 Premier League 23 2 0 0

23 2 1993–94 Premier League 39 2 6 1

45 3 1994–95 Premier League 39 2 6 0

45 2

180 10 12 1

192 11

1995–96 Premier League 31 0 7 1

38 1 1996–97 Premier League 17 1 3 0 6 0 26 1 1997–98 Premier League 23 3 7 0 5 0 35 3 1998–99 Premier League 24 0 6 0

30 0 1999–2000 Premier League 34 0 7 0 5 0 12 0

163 4 34 1 22 0 219 5

2001–02 Premier League 14 0 0 0

14 0 2002–03 First Division 39 0 3 0

42 0

53 0 3 0

56 0 Queens Park Rangers 2003–04 Second Division 3 0 2 0

5 0 Wimbledon 2003–04 First Division 5 0 0 0

5 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 2004–05 Conference National 2 0 0 0

2 0

448 14 51 2 22 0 521 16

Honours Newcastle United FA Cup runner-up: 1997–98, 1998–99 UEFA Intertoto Cup runner-up: 2001