Simon Barker

Simon Barker (born 4 November 1964) is an English former footballer. A blond haired, tough tackling midfielder, he scored 70 goals in 529 league appearances throughout a 17-year career in the Football League. He also represented England under-21's four times.

He began his career at Blackburn Rovers in 1983, winning the Full Members Cup with the club in 1987, before moving on to Queens Park Rangers the following year for £400,000. He played 351 league and cup games for QPR, before moving on to Port Vale in 1988. He retired in 2000.

Playing career

Barker began his career at Blackburn Rovers under Bobby Saxton's stewardship in 1983. Rovers finished sixth in the Second Division in 1983–84, three places and 13 points outside of the promotion zone. They moved up to fifth in 1984–85, just two places and one point behind promoted Manchester City. Blackburn then dropped down to 19th in 1985–86, just one place and three points above relegated Carlisle United. New manager Don Mackay then rallied them to a 12th-place finish in 1986–87. Barker played for Rovers in the 1987 Full Members Cup Final at Wembley, where Colin Hendry's goal was enough to beat Charlton Athletic 1–0. Blackburn reached the play-offs in 1987–88, but were defeated at the semi-final stage by top-flight Chelsea.