GOODNEWS

 
Gareth Barry will become the all-time leading appearance maker in Premier League history should he feature on Monday Night Football. Here, we look at a selection of stats from

Where does he rank in other areas? What has happened in the Premier League since Barry's debut back in May 1998? We take a look…a glittering career.

Such a long career means Barry ranks high in numerous areas. With 52,871 minutes already under his belt, Barry is well ahead of his nearest challenger in the list of the Premier League's all-time minutes played. David James lies second, with Frank Lampard and Giggs third and fourth in the list respectively.

Games started also sees Barry top James by a considerable margin. The former Manchester City midfielder has 29 more starts than James, who is second once more.

One table Barry may not be so keen to be topping is the yellow card leaderboard, with the 36-year-old having earned 119 cautions, 19 more than Wayne Rooney in second, and 20 more than Lee Bowyer and Kevin Davies.




In the early years of Barry's career after breaking into the first team at Aston Villa, the goals flowed. It took 33 games for him to net that first strike and a further 156 to reach 10 goals, but under the tutelage of David O'Leary and Martin O'Neill, Barry flourished in front of goal, reaching 40 strikes before he had hit 350 appearances.

Such form earned him a move to Manchester City, where his role became much more defensive with better-attacking players around him. Only 11 league goals have been accumulated since

A stat none of us feels overly comfortable with is one that makes us feel our age, and a number of players born since Barry's debut in May 1998, who has played in the Premier League, gives the majority of us such a feeling.

Everton's Tom Davies was born just under two months after Barry donned a Villa shirt for the first time against Sheffield Wednesday. Among Toffees fans, Davies has since become a household name, just like Barry during his recent time at Goodison Park.

There are 16 players in total to have been born since Barry's debut and made a Premier League appearance, with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Woodburn the most recognisable starlets in the group

Barry has faced Manchester United 35 times, Tottenham 35 times, Liverpool 34, Chelsea 33 and Arsenal on 32 occasions. However, it is United that Barry will be most pleased to see the back of when he does hang up his boots.

Of those 35 games, Barry has tasted defeat in 23 of them - seven more losses than Liverpool have inflicted on Barry in his career.

In fact, Barry has only emerged victorious from an encounter with United on six occasions in his 19 years as a player.