Aston Villa fans have been reminiscing on Twitter over Gareth Barry’s departure from the club.
This comes after Villa fan Twitter account @VillaTil1Die shared a post on their page asking their followers about which former Villa player’s exit hurt the most.
This post then gathered a lot of replies from Villa fans, who revealed that Barry’s exit from the club hurt them more than any other former player.
Here’s a sample of Villa fans responding to the post:
Which player leaving the club hurt you the most? #AVFC pic.twitter.com/GrRMDyZr5r
— VillaTilliDie (@VillaTil1Die) April 14, 2020
Absolutely gutted when Barry left, worth way more than the 12m we got for him considering his years with us and performances for England. Enjoyed Mcgrath for 2,3 years when I started following Villa but Barry is the best player I’ve seen, a massive, quality part of the MON era.
— Paul Hughes (@pdh86) April 14, 2020
Gareth Barry, hugely under rated, ran most games under O’Neil.
— tlano (@timlane90) April 14, 2020
Gareth Barry. Not just because he left, but I had a feeling at the time that it would lead to a lot of our star players leaving and so it proved. I didn’t realise just how dire the next decade would be, mind you!
— Matt Genner (@mgmatt1983) April 14, 2020
Gareth Barry ???
— Hemant Khatana (@Hemant1980) April 14, 2020
Did Villa make a mistake in selling Gareth Barry when they did?
Yes
No
The Englishman made 428 appearances for the Birmingham club during his time there, more than any other club Barry played for in his career (per Transfermarkt). The 39-year-old left Villa in 2009 for a move to Manchester City where he spent four years, winning one Premier League title and one FA Cup (per Transfermarkt). Now that the question has been put to these Villa fans about which former Villan’s exit from the club hurt them the most, these supporters were quick to choose Barry and share their thoughts on his Villa Park exit.
Barry most definitely. £12 million was a bargain for Man City and it started the mass exodus of all that talent that we had under Martin O’Neill.
— Prew (@JackPrewett) April 14, 2020
I was gutted when Barry went but we still had a good team. Devistated when Milner left as that was the end of an era. It was all downhill from there.
— Jay Dee (@JayMTDee) April 14, 2020
Gareth Barry
— version 2 (@short_ant) April 14, 2020
What do we think?
The fact that these Villa fans still feel hurt about Barry’s departure from the club back in 2010 just goes to show what a big player he was for the club.