Neil Barrett

Neil William Barrett (born 24 December 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

He played in the Football League for Portsmouth and in the Scottish Premier League for Dundee and Livingston.

Barrett started his career in the youth system of Chelsea, before joining Portsmouth in 2001.

He made over 20 appearances in his first season with Portsmouth, but having not played over a season-and-a-half he moved to Dundee on loan.

He joined First Division club Portsmouth on 25 June 2001 on a free transfer and made his first-team debut in a 1–0 victory away to Stockport County on 25 August.

His first goal for Portsmouth came with the equaliser against Gillingham on 8 September 2001 with a header from a Robert Prosinečki cross, in a match that finished as a 2–1 victory.

Barrett was offered a new contract with Portsmouth in October 2001 after impressing in the first team.

He finished the 2001–02 season with 26 appearances and two goals, despite not playing any matches for Portsmouth from March 2002.

He finished the season with 32 appearances and two goals while Dundee were relegated to the Scottish First Division, and was released by the club in May 2001.

Barrett had a trial with Major League Soccer team the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, and claimed he was offered a two-year contract, although this claim was denied by an organisation spokesman.

Barrett was taken to hospital with a suspected broken knee suffered during a reserve-team match against Bristol City in September 2002, although an X-ray later confirmed there was no break.

However, tests were carried out and he was expected to be out of the team for six weeks to recover from the injury.

Having fallen out of favour at Portsmouth, he had a trial at Notts County in December 2002 and manager Bill Dearden commented that Barrett "could be a reasonable prospect".

He finished 2002–03 with no appearances for Portsmouth and was told by manager Harry Redknapp he was surplus to requirements.

He had a one-week trial with Wimbledon in August 2003, having been told he could leave Portsmouth.

He joined them permanently in 2004, but left a year later following their relegation from the Scottish Premier League.

Having made no appearances for Portsmouth up to that point during 2003–04, Barrett joined Scottish Premier League (SPL) club Dundee on loan until the end of the season on 23 January 2004.

His debut came two days later in the 2–1 victory over Dundee United in a Dundee derby match, in which he made a reasonable contribution and was cautioned for a "bone-crunching" challenge on Charlie Miller.

He scored his first two goals for Dundee in the Scottish League Cup against Motherwell, with a shot set up by Sebastian Kneißl and a header, although Dundee went on to lose 5–3.

He finished the loan period with 13 appearances and two goals, during which he had to deal with a "serious" ankle injury.

He joined Dundee permanently on 18 July 2004, signing a one-year contract, after having his contract at Portsmouth cancelled.

He scored his first goal of 2004–05 on 18 December 2004 with a 57th-minute goal against Aberdeen that was set up by Fabián Caballero, which earned his team a 1–0 victory.

He started a trial with League Two club Oxford United in August 2005 and in his first match was substituted after six minutes after sustaining a head injury.

He resumed playing in the SPL after signing for Livingston on 9 September 2005, on a contract until January 2006, with the option of it being extended for a further three years, following a successful trial.

He made his debut two days later in a 4–1 defeat to Hearts, during which he conceded a penalty kick.

He made 11 appearances for Livingston, with his last coming in December 2005.

Conference National club Exeter City handed him a one-week trial in September 2006, and after training with them for six weeks he was offered a contract until January 2007.

Barrett missed some matches because of injury and finished 2006–07 with seven appearances for Woking, and manager Frank Gray wanted him to return to the club for pre-season training.

Following a period with Livingston, he signed for Conference National club Woking in 2007.

He eventually signed for another Conference National club, Woking, in January 2007 after being recommended to the club by former Dundee teammate Tom Hutchinson and he made his debut in a 2–0 victory over Altrincham on 20 January, in which he had a goal disallowed that was adjudged to be offside.

He signed for Woking's Conference Premier rivals Ebbsfleet United on a free transfer on 19 June 2007 as a replacement for Mark DeBolla.

He made his debut in a 2–1 victory over Northwich Victoria on 11 August 2007.

He sustained an ankle injury in the second match of 2007–08, which meant he was expected to be unable to play for six weeks, before he made a "surprise" return after four weeks in a 1–1 draw with Burton Albion.

After half a season with them he joined Ebbsfleet United, and played for them in their victory in the 2008 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium.

Barrett left Ebbsfleet after two seasons to sign for York City in 2009 and played for them in the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

He was released by York in 2011 and after a short spell with Havant & Waterlooville in the Conference South he returned to Ebbsfleet United.

After their relegation to the Conference South in 2013 he signed for their divisional rivals Basingstoke Town, but was released by them after one season.

He finished his career with spells in the Isthmian League Premier Division with Leatherhead and Metropolitan Police.

Barrett started his career as a trainee in the Chelsea youth system.

While at the club he was an England schools international.