Premier League Gareth Barry has come out of a retirement with a shock move at the age of 43.
Barry, who holds the record the most appearances in the Premier League with 653, hung up his boots in August 2020 after a stint with West Brom.
It ended his impressive 22-year career in English football but Barry remained involved in football and began to play in an over 35's league.
But it's now been confirmed that the former Aston Villa and Manchester City midfielder has signed a deal with a Non-League team local to him.
Hurstpierpoint FC, who play in the eleventh tier of English football in Sussex, announced his signing on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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The move has come about due to Barry's friendship with manager Michael Standing, who signed for Villa from Brighton on the same day as him and later became his agent.
They wrote: "We are beyond delighted to announce that former-England international and all-time Premier League record appearance holder, Gareth Barry, has signed for Hurstpierpoint Football Club.
"Gareth has a long-standing association with the village through his good friend, and our Coach, Michael Standing; so it seemed an obvious move to get him involved with the football club.
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"His quality in training has been unreal, so we’re all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield turf later on this season.Welcome to Hurstpierpoint, Gareth."
Barry spent 11 years at Villa, captaining the club and making 441 appearances before completing a £12 million transfer to Manchester City.
He played 175 times four seasons, winning both the FA Cup and the Premier League under Roberto Mancini.
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Capped 53 times for England following his debut in 2000, Barry also turned out for Everton before finishing up with West Brom in the Championship.
Topics: Premier League, Manchester City, Aston Villa, England
Josh Lawless