Barry Bannan (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays in England for Blackpool on loan from Aston Villa.

He is a midfielder and has represented Scotland at under-21 and B levels.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career at Aston Villa

Born in in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Bannan is a product of the Aston Villa Academy. He began his career in the 2007–08 season, scoring 13 goals in 32 matches for Villas' academy team and was pivotal as they clinched the Premier Academy league title. He also netted one goal in ten matches for the reserve team as they comfortably won the Premier Reserve League South.^[1]

On 1 July 2008 he was rewarded with a two-year professional contract by the club.^[2] 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.^[1]

His first team debut came on 17 December, as a 61st minute substitute in a 1–3 UEFA Cup group stage defeat to German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV at the HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg.^[3] His full debut came in the Round of 32 in the same competition, a 0-2 defeat to Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow on 26 February 2009.^[4]

[edit] Loan to Derby County

On 13 March 2009 Bannan joined Championship side Derby County on loan for one month to provide cover for midfielders Miles Addison and Paul Green who had been ruled out until the end of the 2008-09 season with foot injuries.^[5] The following day Bannan scored on his Rams debut, his first competitive league goal, in a 2-4 defeat to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.^[6]

After Bannan had impressed for the Rams in his five appearances on loan, manager Nigel Clough extended the loan deal at Pride Park until the end of the season. Bannan also revealed to the Burton Mail that he would not turn down a second loan spell at the club the following season, saying, "I could be here again next season. If Villa buy players in the summer I could get pushed down again and I wouldn't mind coming back here because it's a brilliant club."^[7] He made a total of ten appearances, scoring one goal.

[edit] Back at Aston Villa

As the Championship season ended earlier than the Premier League, Bannan was able to return to the Aston Villa reserve side that were champions of the Premier Reserve League South. On 21 May 2009 Bannan was part of the Villa reserve side that beat Premier Reserve League North winners Sunderland reserves 3–1 in the play-off final, and so be crowned the 2008–09 Premier Reserve League Champions.^[8]

On 20 June, Derby County manager Nigel Clough revealed that the Rams hoped to sign a Premier League midfielder on a season-long loan, with Bannan a possible target.^[9] On 4 July it was revealed that Bannan had ambitions of signing a new long-term deal at Villa.^{[citation needed]}

A month later Bannan was one of a handful of youngsters that appeared for Villa as they won the 2009 Peace Cup in Andalusia, Spain. Villa won Group C ahead of Mexican side Atlante and host club Málaga. Bannan was then a second half substitute in the semi-final as Aston Villa beat Portugese side Porto 2–1. In the final, held at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla in Sevilla on 2 August, Bannan scored one of four Villa penalties as they beat Italian club, Juventus 4-3, following a goalless match in normal time.^[10]

[edit] Blackpool loan move

On 26 November 2009 Bannan joined Championship side Blackpool on loan until 30 January 2010.^[11] He made his debut four days later as an 87th minute substitute in the 1-1 West Lancashire derby with Preston North End at Bloomfield Road.^[12]

[edit] Club career statistics

As of 5 December 2009.

[edit] International career

Bannan has been capped by Scotland under-21's. He has played in all of Scotland's first five games in their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 10 campaign,^[13] starting with his international debut, a 1-0 victory over Albania at the Stadioni Ruzhdi Bizhuta, Elbasan on 28 March 2009.^[14] On 15 November 2009 he helped the under-21's beat Azerbaijan 4-0 in their Group 10 game at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku.^[15]

Bannan also has one B cap, earned in a 3–0 International Challenge match win over Northern Ireland B on 6 May 2009.^[16]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Aston Villa

• Peace Cup winner: 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Barry Bannan career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at avfc.co.uk
• Scottish U21 Profile at scottishfa.co.uk