Adam Barton

Preston North End

Born in Clitheroe, Barton started in the youth ranks at Blackburn Rovers before being released at the age of sixteen due to a serious back injury. Although originally seen as a gamble due to his injury, Preston North End gave Barton a youth scholarship and his performances at youth and reserve team level earned him a two-and-a-half-year contract in December 2008.

In the 2009–10 season, Barton moved to Conference National side Crawley Town on a one-month loan. After making two appearances for the club he returned to Preston, where he made an appearance in the club's reserve side. Due to manager Darren Ferguson starting to use youngsters in the first team, Barton made his full debut in a home 3–2 win over Scunthorpe United on 10 April 2010, being replaced at half-time due to a head injury.

At the start of the 2010–11 season, Barton signed a two-year contract to keep him at Preston until 2013. He scored his first goal in the 4–3 defeat to Burnley in September 2010. After scoring his first goal, Barton established himself in the first team, where he made thirty-five appearances in all competitions, scoring once. However, Barton was unable to help the club avoid relegation to League One.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Barton was linked with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Despite this, newly appointed manager Phil Brown said he believed Barton could be a key figure to the club this season, quoting: "That is the position for him, sitting in…

Barton was named in a Northern Ireland squad in September 2010, having previously been named in an under-21 squad, qualifying for the country through his parents. He withdrew from the squad the day after its announcement, in order to remain eligible for the England team, which would have no longer been the case had he represented Northern Ireland in a competitive fixture. On 12 November 2010 Barton was called up for Northern Ireland's friendly against Morocco after a number of withdrawals, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–1 draw on 17 November.

On 15 March 2011, more question marks over Barton's international status were raised when he was called up to Noel King's Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for a friendly match against Portugal, making his debut appearance and playing the full 90 minutes for them in that game on 26 March 2011.

As of matches played 27 September 2022

Individual

Scottish Premiership Player of the Month (1): October 2016