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Gareth Barry faces potential ban from working in football amid Swindon saga

Gareth Barry faces a potential ban from working in football amid the Swindon Town saga which has gone on to land him in trouble.

The former Premier League player has been charged by the Football Association over an alleged secret deal to buy a half stake in the League Two club.

He could now face being prevented from working within football if the case goes against him.

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The 40 year old faced no action seven months back when Swindon Town, ex-chairman Lee Power and Barry’s agent Michael Standing were caught by the FA.

However behind the scenes, football’s ruling body have investigated claims made in court by Lee Power that Gareth Barry stumped up £800,000 to buy into the club in 2013.

Barry has denied investing in Swindon or agreeing to a deal with Power.

At the time of this, he was playing for Everton and such an investment would have breached FA club ownership rules.

The FA said in a statement: “It is alleged that Gareth Barry also breached Intermediary Regulations in relation to the ownership and/or funding of Swindon Town FC.

“Swindon Town FC, Lee Power, First Touch Pro Management, Michael Standing and Gareth Barry all have until Wednesday 1 December 2021 to respond.”

Michael Standing claimed that Gareth Barry, while he was playing at the Toffees eight years ago, leant him the money to land a half-share in the Wiltshire outfit.

But Power insisted during a High Court wrangle with Michael Standing that the money had come directly from Barry, whose hold the record for most Premier League appearances (653).

The hearing was also told that Swindon had a further £6m had been pumped in after the illicit deal, with Michael Standing claimed to be owed as much as £7.5million.

Former midfielder Standing – who joined Villa on the same day at Barry in 1998 – and his company First Touch Pro Management were charged in April with breaching Intermediaries Reg E4, relating to owning/seeking to own Swindon.

Power and Swindon were charged over FA Rule E1.2 and E9 (agreement to breach rules/regs) in having an agreement for Standing and First Touch to have an interest in the club (contrary to Intermediaries Reg – E4).

Those charges could see Standing and Power face bans and fines, while Swindon, who are now under a new and much more positive ownership, could still be deducted points.

The Football Association have charged Barry over what they believe could be a conspiracy to hide the financial arrangements of the deal to get a 50 per cent stake in Robins.

Barry, who played for the likes of Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and West Brom, announced his retirement as a player on the 27th of August 2020.

Football on BT Sport on Twitter: "Gareth Barry makes his PL coverage debut  for BT Sport today 🙌 The former England midfielder reflects on his record  6️⃣5️⃣3️⃣ top-flight appearances, his time at

After his retirement, Barry became a pundit, working for the BBC and Sky Sports, however with these allegations coming to light, he has took himself away from the screens especially as the seriousness of it all could see him unlikely to be employed by anyone.

The FA might just go and hand Barry – who played 53 times as an England international ten years ago – a ban which will confirm that he cannot work in football.

Former Norwich striker Lee Power made the surprise claims about Barry in the High Court in May 2021.

A meeting was even said to have been held at Gareth Barry’s house in March 2013. Power insisted that Barry knew full well he would be breaking FA rules by buying a stake in Swindon.

The same applied to Standing, as he was a football agent, with both bound to fail the “fit and proper test”.

So to try and get round this, he came up with an oral deal with the idea that Power “would sell his shares in the club in around five years’ time after he hoped to have turned around its fortunes and would share the profits arising from any increase in the value of Swindon with Barry, in exchange for Barry providing funds”.

Losses at the club would be funded 50-50 by Barry and Power, who would also go on to share equally any profits on player sales.

Swindon Town, Lee Power and Michael Standing charged by FA over  ownership/funding | Swindon Advertiser

Photo Credit: Swindon Advertiser

Power also claimed Barry insisted on going to great lengths to keep his involvement secret, now they face multiple punishments for their part.

“As part of his determination to keep it confidential, not only did Barry say that he wished to provide the funding through corporate vehicles, but because they were associated with him he did not want the funding to be provided directly to the club.

“Instead they requested the defendant [Power] provide the banking details for his personal account and the account of a company owned by him, Power Bloodstock Ltd, into which the funding payments could be made, and from which the defendant [Power] could transfer them to the club.”

Barry also asked for Power to use Standing as a middleman so there was no “direct contact between Gareth Barry and the defendant concerning the club”.

Power is no longer at Swindon, having sold his shares to Australian businessman Clem Morfuni in July.

Fans gave their reaction as Gareth Barry faces a potential ban from working in football amid the Swindon saga…

@ronnie_scates: Prison fc got a experienced DM in the squad now

@coreyharper41: That’s what happens when you mess with Lee power you deserve what you get 👍🏼

@JamieBarking: Honestly, what is this world. That headline is mental. In a few years time “Scott Sinclair’s charged with once buying a pie at Wycombe”

@AfcDjm: Investment? He must own 3/4 of the town and every person living there for that money.

@mainstandred: Once Everton has touched you…..

@Stillsy88mcfc: Gareth Barry found guilty of being the best holding midfielder in the prem within the last 20 years 👍🏼

@ColinioPowell: This is a very cliche “Gareth Barry” bit of crime to get into isn’t it.

@Evershite: Tax dodging and money laundering his Everton wages while playing for them. The gift

@Sam_DH_MCFC: Well atleast it’s not a sex offender this time. Progress for us.

@Martcastle: Hope this isn’t going to come back and bite us #stfc #leepowerisawanker

@clajim80: #stfc oh dear dear me. How the hell did he get involved with this shambles?

@Freddie_Farrell: Went out drinking with him twice. Mates older brother is good mates with him. Both times I met him he was constantly on the phone to someone about ‘definite horses’. No joke, geezer loves being dodgy 😂

@ben_machell: This is such a Gareth Barry thing to get done for… like… no… more boring than that…

@STFClukem: I hope the FA are sensible about this

@Scribblemilk: Let’s just hope any penalties are applied to those who carried out the charges and not the club who is now not under their influence. The club has suffered enough under them. It doesn’t need to suffer more.

@ChisieWeirdo: Indeed. None of this was done to the advantage of the Club or the playing side. Quite the opposite in reality

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