Barry made his Premiership debut for Aston Villa during the 1997/98 season - after being somewhat controversially plucked from the clutches of Brighton & Hove Albion - and made it look so easy that he remained there for a number of seasons.
Spends the majority of his time in Villa's defence but he is earmarked by many for a glorious career in midfield. Barry is a player with great composure on the ball who is a Villa skipper in the making.
A former England Under-18 captain, Barry made his England Under-21 debut in 1998 against the Czech Republic and has now broken into the full team.
Travelled to Euro 2000 with Kevin Keegan's England squad - after an injury ruled out Jason Wilcox - but did not feature.
Made his full debut in England's impressive 1-1 draw with World and European Champions France in September 2000 and is expected to develop into a quality international player.
However, fell out of favour with Villa boss John Gregory in the summer of 2001 and handed in a transfer request. Was then dumped into the reserves.
But Gregory's exit gave Barry a new lease of life, and new boss Graham Taylor gave him the chance to shine in that midfield role so many had predicted.
By the end of the 2001/02 season, the Hastings-born player had made 149 appearances for the club, scoring four goals.
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