RICHIE Barker was inducted into the Burton Albion Hall of Fame at the 2024 Players’ Awards Ceremony.
Barker was one of the greatest players on the club’s books in the 1960s. He notched up 270 appearances between 1960 and 1967 in two spells at the club. But it’s his goal scoring feats that really earned him his status as a Brewers legend. During that period, he hit the back of the net 157 times at a rate of more than one goal in every two games and remains Burton Albion’s all-time leading goal scorer.
He was born in 1939 and joined the Brewers as a 20-year-old in the summer of 1960 when the club was struggling in the Southern League First Division, scoring just once in his debut season. The following season he led the Brewers front line scoring 19 times in 35 appearances.
He departed at the end of that season with Albion still struggling but a year later with new manager Peter Taylor at the helm he was persuaded to return and took part in a golden period in Brewers history. In the 1963/64 season he bagged 13 goals; in 1964/65 he hit the net 24 times and then during a truly memorable promotion winning season in 1965/66 he scored an amazing 57 goals in 58 appearances. In the higher Southern League Premier Division, he was top scorer with 38 goals the following year.
Barker left part way through the 1967/1968 season adding another 6 goals from 12 appearances being snatched away by Brian Clough as one of his first signings as Derby County manager.
He scored many vital goals for the Brewers but none more than the two strikes he made in the 1964 Southern League Cup final securing the first major trophy in the club’s history in front of a record Eton Park crowd.
He formed a legendary partnership with Stan Round and in 1965/66 the pair scored 115 goals between them as Albion racked up 121 league goals. When Eton Park was demolished, and new houses built, it was no surprise that a road on the new estate would be named in honour of him and Round.
After leaving the Brewers, as well as playing for the Rams, he enjoyed spells at Notts County and Peterborough before becoming a manager at Stoke City and Notts County as well as managing clubs in Greece and Egypt.
Sadly, he passed away in 2020 but his daughter Louise Thompson came to the 2024 awards to accept the trophy.
