Gareth Barry

Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Everton. He has made 582 appearances in the Premier League, including 365 for Aston Villa, putting him third on the all-time appearances list, and top amongst current players.

Barry moved to Aston Villa from Brighton & Hove Albion as a youngster, and spent 12 years at the club. He captained Aston Villa and is ninth in their all-time list of appearances, with 423 across all competitions. In June 2009, he joined Manchester City, where he won the FA Cup in 2011 and the Premier League title the following season. After a season on loan, he joined Everton on a three-year contract in July 2014.

Barry is a former England international, having won his first full cap in 2000 and captained the side in 2010 in a friendly against Egypt. He earned 53 caps in total, scoring 3 goals, and was included in England's squads at UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Aston Villa

Barry joined Aston Villa from Brighton and Hove Albion as a trainee in 1997 along with Michael Standing. The move was controversial as the Brighton board demanded £2.5 million for the two players; the Football Association's transfer tribunal panel came up with a deal which would have seen Brighton make £2.4 million in the event of Barry and Standing making international appearances for England, as well as sell-on clauses. He played his first match for Villa on 2 May 1998 against Sheffield Wednesday. Initially, he played as a central defender, on the left-hand side of a back three alongside Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu. Barry became a highly versatile player and captain first as a centre-back, then a left-back. He then moved to left-midfield, before establishing himself in the centre of midfield. Barry was part of the Villa team who lost the 2000 FA Cup Final 1–0 to Chelsea.

Joe Hart

Charles Joseph John "Joe" Hart (born 19 April 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team. With over 100 Premier League clean sheets, Hart holds the record for the most Premier League Golden Glove awards (four) and has amassed over 50 international caps since his debut in 2008.

He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury Town in the Conference and League Two. In 2006, he moved to top-flight Manchester City, having attracted the attention of several Premier League teams. He spent time on loan at Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool in his first season, before spending the 2009–10 season at Birmingham City. Hart was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year and was voted as the Premier League goalkeeper of the 2009–10 season in recognition of his performances at Birmingham. He returned to Manchester City for the 2010–11 season and won the Barclays Golden Glove for keeping the most clean sheets throughout the Premier League season. Hart replicated this feat in the 2011–12 season and was a key player during City's title-winning campaign. He won the Golden Glove for the third year in a row in the following season, and earned a second Premier League title in 2014. In 2015, Hart once again won the Golden Glove award for the fourth time in five years. In 2015, Hart was praised by Gianluigi Buffon who described him as the best goalkeeper in the world.

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry (French pronunciation: ​[tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a retired French professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, New York Red Bulls and spent eight years at Arsenal where he is the club's all-time record goalscorer. At international level he represented France and is his country's record goalscorer.

Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris), where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goalscorer. He was spotted by Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class player. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goalscorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. He won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners. In 2003 and 2004 Henry was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year. He was also named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.