When Giles Barnes won Derby County’s young player of the
year award in their 2006/07 promotion-winning season, many were predicting a
career at the top of English football.
Almost a decade later the striker finds himself in his
fourth MLS season with Houston Dynamo and far from the thoughts of the British
press that once adored him.
Not that he will mind after scoring twice in a mesmerising
4-4 draw with Sporting Kansas City last weekend.
We look back at the development of a boy who was once
destined for glory...
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| Barnes is enjoying life in the United States |
Factfile:
Full Name: Giles Gordon K.Barnes
Date of Birth: 05/08/1988
Nationality: Jamaican
Place of Birth: London, England
Height: 1.85m
Clubs: Derby County, Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster
Rovers, Houston Dynamo
Club Appearances: 237*
Club Goals: 37*
International Appearances: 2*
International Goals: 1*
Honours: Championship Play-off final winner 2006/07
Dazzling at Derby:
Barnes signed his first professional contract with Derby
County on his 17th birthday and made his first team debut in a 1-0
League Cup defeat to Grimsby Town in the 2005/06 season.
The forward became a key figure in the second half of the
season and scored his first goal in a 2-2 draw against Watford that helped his
side avoid relegation from the English Championship.
The following season Barnes dazzled in the championship
scoring eight goals and making the assist that saw Stephen Pearson score the
only goal in their play-off final victory over West Brom.
His efforts saw him earn a call up to the England Under-19
side, who he scored seven times for in 12 appearances, and, bizarrely, earn a
reputation for saying ‘Whoosh’ as he ran past defenders.
Premier League
problems:
The forward was named Derby’s young player of the year, but
medical staff discovered Barnes had been playing with a broken foot, which kept
him out for the first month of the 2007/08 season.
By the time Barnes made his Premier League debut on 22
September, his side were already struggling badly and would go onto earn a
record low of 11 points.
Barnes made 21 league appearances but was unable to
replicate his Championship form, scoring just once in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle
United.
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| Barnes in Premier League action for Derby |
After undergoing knee surgery at the back end of Derby’s
dismal campaign Barnes returned to the first team in January 2009 but joined
Premier League Fulham on loan on transfer deadline day.
Horrid Hodgson:
However, his loan spell never got going as he failed to make
an appearance for Roy Hodgson’s side despite scoring seven in eight for Fulham’s
reserves.
Barnes returned to Derby but didn’t make another first team
appearance and was released in December 2009 having scored 13 times in 94
appearances for the club.
He joined West Brom on an 18-month deal, but despite
starting well, his contract was not renewed as he failed to make an appearance following
Hodgson’s appointment as manager in January 2011.
Once again Barnes was forced to drop out of the Premier
League – he spent the 2011/12 season at Champhionship side Doncaster Rovers,
making 36 appearances in his final season in England.
Houston Dynamite:
In August 2012 Barnes signed for Houston Dynamo and scored
his first goal for the club in a CONCACAF Champions League game against CD FAS
of El Salvador.
Houston reached the quarter-finals and Barnes also made
seven league appearances to help the side to the MLS Cup final, where they were
beaten 3-1 by David Beckham’s LA Galaxy.
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| Barnes scored 11 times last year to be named Dynamo's MVP |
The Jamaican forward scored his first MLS goal on March 23
2013 in a 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps and scored nine times in total
as his side reached the Conference Finals.
Barnes improved again in his second full season in the
States scoring 11 league goals in a struggling Dynamo side, in doing so
establishing himself as one of Houston’s key players.
What’s Next...
Now under the management of former Bolton and Burnley
manager Owen Coyle, Houston sit fifth in the Western Conference as they look to
improve on last year’s eighth-place finish.
Barnes is tied third in the league’s scoring charts with
four goals in seven appearances, and needs just 10 more to break Houston’s
record for most goals in a season.
After opting to represent Jamaice, the striker made his
international debut in March and scored the equaliser in a 2-1 win against
Venezuela.
The Reggae Boyz compete in this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup
where the former English wonderkid could finally get his first taste of
competitive international football, ten years after his Derby debut.
Images courtesy of Bob Levey and Ross Kinnaird, with thanks.
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