Billy Barr

William Joseph Barr (born 21 January 1969) is an English former footballer and manager. He took up the post of caretaker manager at Wrexham after the departure of Andy Morrell as manager, but failed to secure the position permanently. He is currently head coach of the Blackburn Rovers under 23s.

For other people with the same name, see William Barr (disambiguation).

Billy Barr
Personal information
Full name William Joseph Barr[1]
Date of birth (1969-01-21) 21 January 1969
Place of birth Halifax, England
Position(s) Full back
Club information
Current team
 Blackburn Rovers
(Under 23s head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1994 Halifax Town 196 (13)
1994–1997 Crewe Alexandra 85 (6)
1997–2000 Carlisle United 91 (3)
2000–2002 Workington
2002–2003 Gretna 4 (0)
Total 376 (22)
Teams managed
2002 Carlisle United (caretaker)
2014 Wrexham (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Barr started his career with Halifax Town in July 1987, after coming through the club's youth team. He joined Crewe Alexandra in June 1994. He then moved to Carlisle United in August 1997.

Coaching career

He was caretaker manager of Carlisle United from April to August 2002.[2] He later took up a new coaching role with the first team squad at Preston North End, holding the position of first team coach from the summer of 2006.

He left the club in January 2010 following the appointment of Darren Ferguson as manager. He then joined Alan Irvine at Sheffield Wednesday assuming the role of first team coach.

In August 2019 Barr was appointed head coach for Blackburn Rovers under 23s.[3]

Wrexham

In September 2011, Barr joined Wrexham following the appointment of player/manager Andy Morrell. A management team of Morrell, Barr and Michael Oakes took Wrexham to second in the league in the 2011–12 season, finishing on a record 98 points for a second place team. They went on to lose in the play-offs to Luton Town. The following year they took Wrexham to Wembley for the first time in their history, winning the FA Trophy, beating Grimsby Town on penalties.[4] A month and a half later they returned to Wembley, but lost 2–0 to Newport County in the play-off Final.[5]

The following season was a disappointment as Wrexham lost numerous games at the beginning of the season, including 2–0 at home to local rivals Chester.[6] This led the fans to have a lack of belief in manager Andy Morrell, and after a 1–0 home loss to Barnet he resigned, leaving Barr as caretaker manager.[7] Barr confirmed he had applied for the job although lost his first game 5–0 to Luton. Barr left Wrexham with immediate effect on 19 March 2014 after failing to get the managerial job on a permanent basis

References
  1. "Billy Barr". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  2. "Billy Barr's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
  3. "Billy Barr named under 23s boss". Blackburn Rovers Official Site. 19 August 2019.
  4. "FA Trophy result: Grimsby v Wrexham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  5. "Newport 2-0 Wrexham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  6. "Wrexham 0-2 Chester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  7. "Morrell quits as Wrexham manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  • Billy Barr at Soccerbase
  • Billy Barr at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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