Barry Fry

This article is about the English football manager. For the Canadian curler, see Barry Fry (curler).

Barry Fry

Fry at Upton Park in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Barry Francis Fry
Date of birth	(1945-04-07) 7 April 1945 (age 79)
Place of birth	Bedford, England
Position(s)	Inside forward
Team information
Current team	Peterborough United (director of football)
Youth career
1960–1962	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1964	Manchester United	0	(0)
1964–1965	Bolton Wanderers	3	(1)
1965–1966	Luton Town	6	(0)
1966–1967	Leyton Orient	13	(0)
1967–1968	Gravesend & Northfleet
1968	Leyton Orient
1967–1969	Romford	50	(8)
1969–1972	Bedford Town
1972–197?	Dunstable Town
1973–1974	St Albans City	23	(1)
Managerial career
1974–1976	Dunstable Town
1976–1977	Hillingdon Borough
1977–1978	Bedford Town
1978–1985	Barnet
1985–1986	Maidstone United
1986–1993	Barnet
1993	Southend United
1993–1996	Birmingham City
1996–2005	Peterborough United
2006	Peterborough United (joint caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. An inside forward, Fry scored a goal for England Schoolboys in front of nearly 100,000 supporters at Wembley and was seen as the best player in the team. ^[1] He went on to sign for Manchester United as an apprentice but never played for the first team and then had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he retired prematurely due to injury.

Fry has managed Dunstable Town, Bedford Town, Maidstone United, Southend United, Barnet, Birmingham City and, most recently, Peterborough United. Fry is currently director of football at Peterborough.

Career

In 1974, Dunstable Town received the financial backing of Keith Cheesman. ^[1] He hired a young Barry Fry as manager, and gave him money to build up a strong team; indeed in his autobiography, Fry claims that he was often given blank, signed cheques. Of note, both Jeff Astle and George Best were brought in to play for the team with Best playing two pre-season games to promote interest in the club. ^[2] Dunstable were promoted under Fry, but he was later dismissed by Cheeseman's successor, Billy Kitt, after a poor performance in the Southern League. ^{[ citation needed ]}

After spells at Hillingdon Borough and hometown club Bedford Town, in 1979 Fry became Barnet manager for the first of two management spells covering almost thirteen seasons. In his first spell, Barnet maintained a mid-table position in the Alliance League for six seasons before Fry left in December 1985 to manage Maidstone United. He returned to Barnet in August 1986 for a further seven seasons. Three times runners-up in the GM Vauxhall Conference, Fry achieved his first managerial success as Champions in 1990–91. Two years later he guided them towards the new Division Two (leaving two months before the end of the season to manage Southend United) despite being sacked eight times and reinstated each time by controversial chairman Stan Flashman, ^[1] as well as being in charge of a club which was in a precarious financial state and under threat of expulsion from the Football League. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Fry moved to Southend United in 1993 with the club bottom of Division One. Fry kept Southend up, but later in the year moved to Birmingham City. ^[1] Though Birmingham were relegated in his first season, he won the Division Two championship and the Football League Trophy in 1994–95. During the 1995–96 season, Fry guided the Blues to the semi-finals of the League Cup but was sacked after the club finished 15th in Division One. ^[3]

Just after leaving Birmingham, Fry became chairman-manager of Peterborough United. They were relegated to Division Three in his first season at the helm but they regained their Division Two status three years later. Fry's nine-year reign as manager came to an end in May 2005 after they were relegated again, after which time he took up a role as director of football. ^[4] Fry remained as chairman until September 2006 when Darragh MacAnthony succeeded him. ^[1]

Fry in popular culture

Fry starred in a documentary called There's Only One Barry Fry. The programme included some of Fry's dressing room antics, including a row with Mick Bodley and his promise to get the Posh out of Division Two. ^[5] The documentary shows how Fry signed De Souza to Peterborough from Wycombe, and shouted "Sold to the fat bastard in the blue blazer!" when Fry and De Souza reached an agreement. ^[6]

Betting controversy

In December 2018, Fry was charged by the Football Association for alleged misconduct in relation to betting after claims that he placed bets on matches or competitions during the 2017–18 season, in breach of FA rules. ^[7] He accepted the charges, and on 31 January 2019 he was suspended from all footballing activity for four months, with three months of those suspended for a two-year period. ^[8]

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Barnet	8 December 1978 [lower-alpha 1]	3 January 1985 [11]
Barnet	1 August 1986	31 March 1993	375	209	72	94	055.73	[12]
Southend United	1 April 1993	10 December 1993	30	15	6	9	050.00	[13]
Birmingham City	10 December 1993	7 May 1996	143	57	43	43	039.86	[13]
Peterborough United	1 August 1996	31 May 2005	483	163	133	187	033.75	[13]
Total			1,031	444	254	333	043.06

1. Billy Meadows resigned on 7 December 1978, but no successor is mentioned in that day's report. ^[9] Fry was in charge by the game against Weymouth on 9 December. ^[10]

Honours

Barnet

• Football Conference: 1990–91; runner-up: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90
• Conference League Cup: 1988–89

Birmingham City

• Football League Second Division: 1994–95
• Football League Trophy: 1994–95 ^[14]

Peterborough United

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 2000

Individual

• Football Conference Manager of the Month: September 1986, ^[15] January 1987 ^[15]

Notes

1. "Barry Fry: 'I've had the sack everywhere I've been, but you expect that'". The Independent. 29 May 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
2. "Barry backs the Blues". TheFA.com. 11 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
3. "Francis fancied as Fry is sacked". Independent.co.uk . 7 May 1996.
4. "Director of football role for Fry". BBC Sport. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
5. Baker, Andrew (1 June 1997). "Curse of the Fry-off-the-wall documentary". The Independent. Independent Print. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
6. "Algorithms and cheat codes: How to value the modern footballer". The Independent. 2 October 2019.
7. "Barry Fry: Peterborough United's director of football charged over betting". BBC Sport. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
8. "Barry Fry: Peterborough director of football fined and suspended for betting". BBC Sport. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
9. Holmes, Bob (7 December 1978). "Barnet stunned as Meadows says: I quit". Evening Standard. London. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Holmes, Bob (21 December 1978). "Shake-up at Barnet". Evening Standard. London. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com. The Premier Division club has conceded 30 goals in the last 10 matches—nine in the games against Weymouth and Redditch since Fry took over...
11. "New phase as Fry goes". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 January 1985. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Fry, Barry". Downhill Second Half: An archive of Barnet Football Club. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
13. "Managers: Barry Fry". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
14. Haylett, Trevor (24 April 1995). "Fry's delight as Carlisle succumb to sudden death". The Independent. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
15. Dunk, Peter (20 August 1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press. p. 881. ISBN   978-0-3561435-4-5 . Retrieved 29 April 2020.

References

• Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. 66–67. ISBN   978-1-85983-010-9.
• "Barry Fry". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database. Neil Brown.
• "Manager profile". League Managers' Association.