Richard "Richie" Ian Barker (born 30 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer. He is currently assistant head coach of EFL League One club Derby County. He has previously managed Portsmouth, Bury and Crawley Town. Playing career Born in Sheffield, Barker began his career at Sheffield Wednesday, but only played in the Intertoto Cup for the first team. He was sold by the Owls in 1997 to Northern Irish side Linfield after loan spells at Doncaster and Ards, before returning home to play for Brighton & Hove Albion. He played two seasons at Brighton, scoring 12 goals, before moving to Macclesfield on a free transfer in 1999. At Macclesfield, Barker scored 23 goals in 58 league games. He was signed by Rotherham United in January 2001, and helped the Millers gain promotion to the Championship. He was mostly used as a substitute by Rotherham, and was allowed to move to Mansfield Town on a free transfer in November 2004. Barker soon became a fan favourite at Field Mill, scoring 10 goals in his first season at the club. In the summer of 2005, he was named team captain, and he led by example with his professionalism and work-rate. Barker was the Stags' top scorer in 2005–06 with a career-best 23 goals, including two goals against his old club Rotherham in the FA Cup first round. In the summer of 2006, Barker signed a contract extension with Mansfield which tied him with the club until the end of the 2008–09 season. However, in January 2007 he was reluctantly forced to transfer to Hartlepool United during the January transfer window, much to the anger of the Stags fans. He re-joined Rotherham United on 3 October 2008, on an emergency loan in January 2009. He scored on his second Millers debut in the 4–1 over Grimsby Town after coming off the bench. He made his move permanent on 1 January 2009. Due to a knee injury in January 2009, he decided to hang up his boots on 29 May 2009. Managerial career Bury After joining Sheffield United, being part of the Academy, Barker was named the manager of Bury's youth team from July 2010. Barker became caretaker manager of Bury in April 2011 after Alan Knill left for Scunthorpe United with eight games left in the season. Barker led Bury to six consecutive victories and promotion to League One. He was named