ADAM BARRETT

Full Name: Adam Nicolas Barrett

Born: 29 November 1979

Came from: Leyton Orient   Went to: Mansfield Town

First game: 30 March 1999   Last game: 23 September 2000

Appearances: 64 (58/6)   Goals: 3

Barrett began his career at Leyton Orient and also had a football scholarship in the United States before being signed by Pilgrims' boss Kevin Hodges in February 1999. He made his debut as a second half substitute in a 5-0 win against Scunthorpe United the following month. His first start came on the opening day of the 1999-2000 campaign at Southend United, a club that would later dominate his career. That first start was a memorable one for the 19-year-old because his centre-back partner, Mick Heathcote, was sent-off late in the first half and Argyle conceded two late goals as Southend triumphed 2-1.

Despite playing regularly during his time at Home Park, Barrett did not fit into new manager Paul Sturrock’s longer-term plans and was sold to Mansfield Town in December 2000. After eighteen months there, he moved on to Bristol Rovers, before a transfer to Southend United, the team he supported as a child.

Barrett spent six successful seasons with Southend between 2004 and 2010, helping them win promotion from League Two to the Championship. He was also voted the Blues' Player of the Year in 2004-05. He then moved to Crystal Palace in August 2010, a spell that included a period back on loan at his first club, Leyton Orient, for whom he finally made a belated debut. He then had spells with AFC Bournemouth and Gillingham and a loan spell with AFC Wimbledon before returning to Southend in January 2015, ending up making over 350 appearances in his time with the Essex club.

In February 2017, Barrett announced his retirement as a player, 18 years after Argyle gave him his debut in the Football League. His career saw him clock up an impressive 735 senior appearances and just shy of 50 goals for nine different clubs.

Just a month later he joined former Southend team-mate Neil Harris, then the manager at Millwall, as the Lions' First Team Development Coach.

Following the resignation of Neil Harris in October 2019, he took over as Millwall's caretaker-manager for three games and stayed at the club beyond the new manager, Gary Rowett's appointment. Indeed he repeated a second spell as caretaker-manager in October 2023 when Rowett himself was later dismissed.