Anthony Barry, a former Republic of Ireland coach who served under Stephen Kenny and was speculated as his potential successor, has been recruited to become assistant to new England manager Thomas Tuchel.
The English FA lauded the “internationally renowned” 38-year-old coach for his “significant international pedigree”, although the press release emphasised his time with Belgium and Portugal over his year in the Irish camp.
But how did Barry rise from a jobbing lower-league footballer to working with Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and a series of international teams in less than a decade?
The Liverpudlian was 30 when he received his break as a first-team coach from former Sligo Rovers manager Paul Cook. They linked up at Wigan Athletic after Barry was released by Wrexham to end his playing days.
“I was at an age where everybody says ‘continue playing as long as you can’,” he recalled during the summer. “But my football career had been blighted by injuries, it was a career at the lower level, and it was a career I didn’t enjoy so much.”
He attributes his rapid rise since then to good timing. His first slice of luck was sharing a classroom with Frank Lampard as the duo studied for their Uefa pro licence at St George’s Park. He studied 16,380 throw-ins for his dissertation, entitled The Undervalued Set-piece, and presented his findings to the group. When Lampard was appointed as Chelsea manager he called up his former classmate.
His work as a set-piece specialist was so valued that when Lampard was sacked, new Blues boss Tuchel retained Barry. By the end of that season they had won the Champions League together. Tuchel later instructed Bayern to pay Chelsea €1 million in compensation to secure his services.
Barry has made a habit of double-jobbing between club and country roles, beginning when he was a surprise hire by Kenny to replace Damien Duff as Ireland assistant coach in February 2021. He would remain in the position for just under a year until Belgium boss Roberto Martinez came knocking with “too big an opportunity to turn down”.
Barry was involved in 12 Ireland games, including the ill-fated 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign. It was effectively over as early as it began with a 1-0 home defeat to Luxembourg. Results improved as the year progressed. The late loss to Portugal was the only defeat in a 10-game spell, which ended with revenge in Luxembourg and a contract extension for Kenny.
In terms of his set-piece specialism, Ireland scored directly from a free-kick or corner five times in 2021, conceding twice. But his influence was much wider than restarts, and players raved about his training-ground approach. “Sometimes you don’t have to do anything spectacular but you just have to be clear, concise, and make a lot of sense,” said Daryl Horgan. “He did that with everything.”
In one memorable moment, Kenny embraced Barry after a brilliantly orchestrated corner routine against Qatar resulted in a James McClean goal.
“Anthony had a great rapport with the staff and players, he was thought-provoking, an exceptional coach, and a joy to work with,” said Kenny upon his exit.
“We were starting to build something we were pretty proud of with Ireland at the time,” Barry would later reflect.
He later followed Martinez to Portugal and rejoined Tuchel at Bayern in another dual mandate. In Germany he struck up a friendship with Harry Kane and Eric Dier, discussing subjects as varied as Monday Night Football and Britain’s Got Talent.
When Tuchel fell out with Bayern, Barry was linked to the Ireland job. That came to nothing and his home country ultimately proved the greater draw. “For any Englishman in football, working with the national team is the pinnacle,” admitted Barry. “I didn’t hesitate when Thomas asked me to come and join him again.”
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