Harold Barton

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Harold Barton (born 30th September 1911) was a English footballer who played for Liverpool.

[edit] Life and playing career

Born in Leigh, Lancashire, England, Barton was an amateur at Whitegate Juniors before he was signed by George Patterson for Liverpool in November 1928, he didn't make his debut until the 9th October 1929 in a 1st Division match at Anfield, the visitors were Blackburn and the points were shared in a 1-1 draw, his first goal came in the 29th minute of a home league match against Newcastle on the 7th February 1931, Dave Wright scored a hat-trick (his first goals for Liverpool) in the match which ended up with the Reds beating The Magpies by a 4-2 scoreline.

Harold was a forward who struggled at first to gain a regular spot in the side, he had to wait 11 months before in got his debut and only featured in 11 more matches for the rest of his first season. The start of the following campaign was no different either as Barton was overlooked for the opening dozen fixtures of the season. He finally got the nod in the November of 1930 and made 26 appearances upon during the run in.

Harold's best season in the red of Liverpool was to be the 1932/33 season, he managed to rack up 36 outings scoring 13 goals which included a hat-trick which will always keep Barton in Anfield folklore, it came in a 7-4 win over Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield on the 11th February 1933.

Barton's Liverpool days drew to an end in the June of 1934, left for Sheff United, he also played for Bradford Chesterfield, Lincoln and Rotherham before he finished playing, he also turned out for Sheffield Wednesday as a wartime guest.