Barry Bannan

Barry Bannan

Bannan playing for Scotland in March 2011
Personal information
Full name	Barry Bannan
Date of birth	1 December 1989 (1989-12-01)
Place of birth	Airdrie, Scotland
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	25
Youth career
	Lenzie Youth Club
	Albion Rovers
2002–2004	Celtic
2004–2008	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008–	Aston Villa	30	(1)
2009	→ Derby County (loan)	10	(1)
2009–2010	→ Blackpool (loan)	20	(1)
2011	→ Leeds United (loan)	7	(0)
National team‡
2009–2010	Scotland U21	10	(1)
2010–	Scotland	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 February 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2011

Barry Bannan (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for English Premier League club Aston Villa. He plays as a midfielder and is a Scotland full international, and also represented under-21 and B levels. During his time at Villa Park, Bannan has also spent loan spells in the Football League Championship at Derby County, Blackpool and Leeds United.

Career

Aston Villa

Born in Airdrie, Bannan began his career at local youth team Lenzie Youth Club managed by Sir Ian Stevenson and soon played for the under-14's at Celtic. As a 14-year-old, Bannan was offered the chance to join Celtic's youth academy, but instead chose to accept a trial offer from Aston Villa. Whilst on trial at the Academy of the English club, he took part in the 2008 Ergenzingen Tournament in Germany. The Villa youth outfit won the tournament courtesy of a 1–0 final victory over FSV Mainz, with Bannan being named player of the tournament. Shortly after, the young Scot was offered a two-year contract with the club.

In the 2007–08 season, he scored 13 goals in 32 matches for Villa's' academy team as they won the Premier Academy league title, as well as playing for the reserve team as they won the Premier Reserve League South. Following the season's end he signed a two-year professional contract with the club. In November he was named "Young Player of the Month" by local radio station BBC WM, the first Villa player to win the award twice. His first team début came on 17 December, as a substitute in a 1–3 UEFA Cup group stage defeat to German side Hamburger SV at the Volksparkstadion, and made his full début in the same competition's Round of 32, a 0–2 defeat away to Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow on 26 February 2009.

Derby County (loan)

Bannan joined Championship side Derby County on loan for one month in March 2009. He scored on his Rams début, his first competitive league goal, in a 2–4 defeat to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane and his loan was extended to the end of the season, making a total of ten appearances and scoring once. Bannan was able to return to the Aston Villa reserve side that were champions of the Premier Reserve League South, and played in their 3–1 win over Premier Reserve League North winners Sunderland reserves in the play-off final.

Blackpool (loan)

In November 2009 Bannan joined Championship side Blackpool on loan, making his début as an 87th-minute substitute in the 1–1 West Lancashire derby with Preston North End at Bloomfield Road. His full début came in a 3–0 win away to Middlesbrough on 8 December. In January 2010 the loan was extended to the end of the season, and two days later Bannan scored his first goal for the club, with a 30-yard lob, in a 1–1 draw away to Coventry City. In February 2010, Bannan was one of three players, along with Ishmel Demontagnac and Neal Eardley, disciplined by Ian Holloway, when they were seen out at a nightclub two days previously in Blackpool following the home defeat to Leicester City. Bannan came on for the final two minutes at Wembley as Blackpool won the Championship play-off final against Cardiff City and secured promotion to the Premier League.

First-team breakthrough at Aston Villa

Bannan returned to Villa for the 2010–11 season, and made his Premier League debut on the opening day of the season, coming on as an 89th minute substitute against West Ham United. He scored his first goal for Villa in a Europa league qualifying match against Rapid Vienna. On 6 November, Bannan was handed his first start of the season against Fulham and started the following two games against Blackpool and Manchester United. He was given a run of games in the first team by manager Gérard Houllier due to the absence of many first-team players through injury. Bannan scored his first goal in the Premier League for Villa with a 57th minute penalty against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on 25 September 2011.

Leeds United (loan)

On 7 March 2011, Bannan joined Leeds United on loan until the end of the 2010-11 season. Bannan made his Leeds debut as a second half substitute against Preston North End. He made his home debut at Elland Road on 12 March as a second half substitute against Ipswich Town. Bannan was recalled from his loan spell at Leeds on Thursday 28 April 2011.

International career

Bannan played for the Scotland under-21 team in their first five games of the 2011 UEFA Under-21 qualification campaign. He made his début in a 1–0 victory over Albania on 28 March 2009. On 15 November 2009 he helped the under-21s beat Azerbaijan 4–0 at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku. Bannan scored his first goal for the under 21s in a win against Austria that earned qualification for the play-offs.

He also has one B cap, earned in a 3–0 win over Northern Ireland B on 6 May 2009. On 11 November 2010, Bannan received his first call up to the senior squad for the friendly against Faroe Islands.

Bannan made his debut for the Scotland national team against Faroe Islands on 16 November 2010. Bannan's performance prompted manager Craig Levein to call him a future star of Scottish football. 21 March Bannan was called up to the Scotland squad to face Brazil. Bannan made his first competitive start for Scotland in a 1–0 win in the Euro 2012 qualifier at home to Lithuania. Bannan was named man-of-the-match and got a standing ovation from the Hampden Park crowd after setting up the winning goal.

Playing style

Bannan is primarily a central midfielder but also can play as a winger. He is particularly useful with his left foot. Bannan has skill, vision and good passing ability. It is these attributes that led to Aston Villa manager Gérard Houllier likening him to Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Houllier had only been in charge of Villa for a few weeks before saying "He is an intelligent player, he can read the game well and adapt well. I don’t think Xavi and Iniesta, who are outstanding players, are of huge size. They are intelligent, they have the skill, they have the desire – young Barry has all of that." Ian Holloway, who Bannan played under during his time at Blackpool, described him as "a beautiful footballer, absolutely lovely to watch".

Bannan's height and playing style have also led to Scotland team-mate Darren Fletcher comparing him to the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Paul Scholes. The Manchester United midfielder stated that Bannan "is in the mould of the best midfielders in the world", and said "I'm talking about Xavi, Iniesta and Paul Scholes". John Mullen, a football coach that taught Bannan as a youngster at St. Margaret's High School, said in 2010 that he was unsurprised at the success of the midfielder. He claimed that Bannan "had all the attributes you could ask for in a player", was "always motivated" and "gave a lot to the team".

In December 2010, Houllier was again full of praise for him. He said "Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro. You can watch and wonder if they are playing in the youth team sometimes. They have fast technique and young Barry has all of that." Houllier then defended Bannan's size, and insisted it won't hold him back. Houllier said "The Premier League has got more physical but it is not about a matter of size. Obviously you need size in some positions but it's also a matter of commitment and physical commitment. Barry is competitive."

Bannan, however, claimed that former Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill had doubts over his ability due to his size.

Personal life

Bannan was born in Airdrie, to James and Kathleen, who now live in Coatbridge.

By the time he had reached the age of seven, Bannan had undergone four operations. The first was for a hernia; two more followed for a blocked tube into his kidney; and the fourth was for the removal of his appendix.

Bannan is a big Celtic supporter. His boyhood hero is midfielder Stiliyan Petrov, who he now teams up with at Aston Villa.

On 24 October 2011, Bannan and Shrewsbury Town striker James Collins were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident after a crash on the M1 motorway. It was later confirmed on 16 November that Bannan had been charged with a number of driving offences for the incident, including driving while intoxicated and not stopping at the scene of an accident, as well as not having a licence.

Former Aston Villa player Pat Heard, coincidentally, was Bannan's driving instructor.

Club career statistics

As of 5 February 2012

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2008–09	Aston Villa	Premier League	-		-		-		2	0	2	0
2008–09	Derby County (loan)	Championship	10	1	-		-		-		10	1
2009–10	Blackpool (loan)	Championship	20	1	-		-		-		20	1
2010–11	Aston Villa	Premier League	12	0	1	0	3	0	3	1	19	1
2010–11	Leeds United (loan)	Championship	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
2011–12	Aston Villa	Premier League	18	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	22	1
Career total			67	3	3	0	5	0	5	1	80	4

Honours

Aston Villa

• Premier Academy League: 2007–08
• Premier Reserve League: 2008–09, 2009–10
• Peace Cup: 2009

Blackpool

• Football League Championship Play-off: 2009-10

External links

• Barry Bannan career stats at Soccerbase
• Barry Bannan profile Aston Villa FC
• Barry Bannan at scottishfa.co.uk