Barry Ferguson

Barry Ferguson

Ferguson with Birmingham City, 2009 pre-season
Personal information
Full name	Barry Ferguson
Date of birth	(1978-02-02) 2 February 1978 (age 39)
Place of birth	Hamilton, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1994–1996	Rangers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2003	Rangers	151	(24)
2003–2005	Blackburn Rovers	36	(3)
2005–2009	Rangers	137	(20)
2009–2011	Birmingham City	72	(0)
2011–2014	Blackpool	80	(1)
2012	→ Fleetwood Town (loan)	6	(0)
2014–2017	Clyde	1	(0)
Total		484	(48)
National team
1997–1998	Scotland U21	12	(1)
1998–2009	Scotland	45	(3)
Teams managed
2014	Blackpool (caretaker)
2014–2017	Clyde
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Barry Ferguson MBE (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football player and coach. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 17 June 2006.

Ferguson spent most of his career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 million transfer to English club Blackburn Rovers. He totalled 431 games and 60 goals for Rangers, whom he captained from 2000. Ferguson won the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup five times apiece for Rangers, including a treble in 2003 which earned him the honour of SFWA Footballer of the Year. He also helped them to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.

Ferguson made 45 appearances for the Scotland national team, starting from 1998. In 2009, following behavioural incidents while on Scotland duty, he was stripped of the captaincy of Rangers and told he would no longer be considered for international selection.

Later in his career, he returned to England with Birmingham City, Blackpool and Fleetwood Town. Towards the end of his playing spell with Blackpool, he was appointed caretaker manager of the club. Ferguson was appointed player-manager of Clyde in June 2014; he resigned from this position in February 2017.

Born in Hamilton, Ferguson's older brother, Derek, was a member of the Rangers squad in the 1980s.

Ferguson was promoted to the first team squad for the 1996–97 season. He made his debut on the last day of that season against Hearts on 10 May 1997. He would make a number of sporadic appearances the following season under manager Walter Smith's policy of easing him into the first team. Ferguson became a regular fixture in the first team during the 1998–99 season under new manager Dick Advocaat. The Dutchman soon secured Ferguson on a long-term contract as he became an important member of the squad. He scored his first career goal in a League Cup match against Alloa Athletic on 18 August 1998. Injury prevented him from being involved in the 1998–99 season run-in as the club achieved the Treble. Ferguson watched the 1999 Scottish Cup Final from the stands as Rangers won the match 1–0, thanks to Rod Wallace's 48th-minute goal.