Anthony Barness

Born in Lewisham, England, Barness started out as a trainee for Charlton Athletic. In his first spell at Charlton he scored Charlton's opening riposte after going 3–0 down at Newcastle, this strike was the goal of the match. Charlton went on to win the match 3–4 and this has been voted in the top 20 Charlton matches of all time. His potential was spotted by a youth-scouting Chelsea side in 1992 and signed for £350,000— though some have said Chelsea only signed Barness after failing to sign his teammate, Scott Minto. During the four years which he spent at the club however, his chances of league starts were taken away from him at every possible opportunity. Thus, after just nineteen appearances in four years, he was loaned out to Middlesbrough (in August 1993) and Southend United (in February 1996). Barness left Chelsea in August 1996, and returned to Charlton Athletic for a fee of £165,000. He was an important and regular part of the Charlton team, managed by Alan Curbishley. In his first season back at The Valley, he was a virtual ever present and a top performer in a Charlton side struggling after the sale of Lee Bowyer. Barness suddenly left the first team in 1997 being replaced by Mark Bowen at left back and occasionally Paul Konchesky, and only made a handful of appearances from then on many at right back. Although Mark Bowen was an excellent performer for Charlton in the 97/98 season, many Charlton fans were perplexed by Anthony's replacement as he'd been a very…

(as of 13 September 2006)

Barness retired at the end of the 2010–11 season to concentrate on his ceramic tiling business. Barness has two daughters, Kate and Isabel.

Charlton Athletic

Football League First Division: 1999–2000 Bolton Wanderers

Football League First Division play-offs: 2001 Football League Cup runner-up: 2003–04 Lewes

Conference South: 2007–08