Darren Barnard

Darren Sean Barnard (born 30 November 1971) is a former professional footballer and manager, and the current head coach of Farnham Town Under-23s.

Barnard played as both wing-back and midfielder, and played in the Premier League for both Chelsea and Barnsley.

He also played in the Football League for Reading, Bristol City and Grimsby Town before playing in the Conference National for Aldershot Town and finishing his career with non-league Camberley Town.

Born in Germany, he was capped 24 times for the Wales national team and eight times for the England U18.

Chelsea paid non-league Wokingham Town £100,000 to seal the signature of 18-year-old Barnard in July 1990.

He had to wait almost 2 years for his first-team debut as he was competing with the established first-team players Gareth Hall and Frank Sinclair for a place in the team.

During his time at Chelsea, Barnard played for Bobby Campbell, Ian Porterfield and Glenn Hoddle, but was only given a regular run in the team by caretaker manager David Webb.

Barnard was signed at a time when the Blues were attempting to boost their standing in the First Division with the expensive purchases of Dennis Wise and Andy Townsend, Barnard was forced to wait almost two years for his first-team debut.

Comfortable playing anywhere along the left-flank, his first appearance was as a replacement for Vinnie Jones in a 2–1 win over West Ham United towards the end of the 1991–92 season, and after two further substitute appearances he was rewarded with his first start, that ended with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa.

Manager Ian Porterfield resisted the opportunity to include Barnard in his side at the beginning of the following campaign, preferring to play Gareth Hall out of position in the absence of regular left-back Frank Sinclair, and with the exception of an outing at Coventry City in October it wasn't until the final three months of the campaign – after David Webb was drafted in to replace Porterfield for the remainder of the season – that Barnard began to feature regularly.

Given the freedom to roam on the left of Chelsea's midfield, he impressed with a number of cultured displays, the best of which came against Middlesbrough when he scored his first goal for the club, in what was a 4–0 win, and ended with a record that season of eight starts resulting in five wins, two draws and just a single defeat.

However, Barnard was restricted to only nine starts in 1993–94, primarily as a left-back.

A mid-table league campaign was compensated for by a run to the final of the FA Cup, and although he did not feature in the final itself, Barnard did play in the semi-final victory over Luton Town after replacing the injured Craig Burley late in the first half.

He struck his only goal of the season in a 2–0 defeat of West Ham in March, and his final appearance for the club came six weeks later when he was selected for in the side that was beaten by Coventry City as Hoddle chose to protect his likely cup final team.

Despite remaining with the club for a further 18 months, Barnard failed to reappear in the first-team, eventually joining Bristol City in October 1995 for a fee of £175,000, a move which proved to be a launching pad for his career as he went on to become a full international in the colors of Wales.

Barnard transferred to Bristol City for £175,000.

Two seasons in Division Two culminated in losing in the playoff semi-finals to Brentford.

Bought from Chelsea, where he had made just a handful of first-team appearances, Barnard initially played on the left-wing for City.

However, manager Joe Jordan started to play him at left wing-back shortly after his move to the club, and before long, Barnard was a fully-fledged left wing-back.

His ability to run with the ball down the wing, overlap with Brian Tinnion and, of course, his free-kicks had earned him some plaudits.

Barnard left the club soon after, to join Barnsley in the Premier League, so this partnership was never seen in a competitive City side.

Barnard scored 17 goals in 76 games for City.

Barnsley was looking to strengthen their squad after promotion to the Premier League for the 1997–98 season, signing Barnard for £750,000 as well as players like Eric Tinkler and Georgi Hristov.

Barnard became a Welsh international during this season, making his debut for Wales in a 0–0 draw against Jamaica on 25 March 1998 and went on to collect 18 caps whilst at Barnsley.

In the 1998–99 season, Barnard turned down a move to go to Southampton in November, on his first game after he declined the move, he scored what possibly could be one of the all-time great goals for his club and himself, a left-footed volley from the corner of the penalty area after a fine pass by Nicky Eaden.

The goal was in Barnsley's 7–1 win over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town on 27 November 1998, a game shown live on Sky Sports.

Barnard scored 28 goals in 201 appearances for the club with many assists.

Unfortunately for Barnsley, the Premier League dream lasted only one season, but Barnard played on for them in the First Division for another four seasons and played in the 1999–00 playoff final defeat to Ipswich Town, in which he missed the opening penalty in the match, the last missed penalty at the old Wembley Stadium, although Barnsley was awarded another which Craig Hignett scored.

Barnard joined Grimsby Town for the start of the 2002–03 season along with fellow Barnsley player Steve Chettle.

Barnard was used as a left-sided midfielder in his first season while under manager Paul Groves but was also used at left-back, the latter was primarily his main position after the departure of Tony Gallimore in the summer of 2003.

In both Barnard's seasons at Blundell Park he suffered relegations in which Grimsby went from Division One to Division Three.

Following the club's financial difficulties many of Barnard's colleagues had been inexperienced youngsters.

Despite not having any luck at his club, Barnard collected another 6 Welsh caps, the last as a substitute against Norway on 27 May 2004, coincidentally alongside former Grimsby teammates Danny Coyne and John Oster.

The former Aldershot and Farnborough District schoolboy joined Aldershot Town in August 2004 after leaving Grimsby Town.

The Welsh international left-sided defender was a major signing by the Aldershot manager Terry Brown, becoming the club's penalty taker.

In 2007, while a player with Camberley Town, he became the club's technical director before becoming first team manager in 2010.

In 2007 Barnard was made club captain as well as playing and captaining the Welsh semi Professional side.

Barnard scored 24 goals in 127 appearances for Aldershot Town.

He stepped down from his role following the end of the 2011–12 season.

He has since worked as the academy manager of Aldershot Town and currently for Farnham Town.