Gareth Barry (born February 23, 1981 in Hastings, England) is an English footballer and defender for Aston Villa F.C..

An ex-England under-18 captain, he joined Aston Villa as a trainee in 1997, and played his first match for the team on May 2, 1998 against Arsenal F.C.. Though spending most of his time as a defender, he has also been touted as a possible midfield star of the future. He continued to push through the ranks, and made his England under-21 against the Czech Republic in 1998.

After an injury to Jason Wilcox , he was able to travel to Euro 2000, but did not feature in any of the side's games. His full international debut was in the 1-1 draw against France in September 2000.

However, after falling out of favour with Aston Villa boss John Gregory, he requested a transfer and soon entered the reserve team. It was only after Gregory's exit from the club that Barry excelled, under the aegis of Graham Taylor. He continued to perform well into the 2002/03 season, in an otherwise uninspiring season for his team.

It wasn't until an injury to Liverpool F.C.'s Danny Murphy that he was given a chance to perform for England, however, as he had a starring role in matches against South Africa, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia in the close-season.

Barry has made more than 200 starts for Aston Villa.