Sam Barratt is one of the brightest talents to come out of Woodley Town (now United) and Bracknell Town in the last few years and is currently playing for Maidenhead United in the Vanarama National League South.
Barratt broke through in to the Bracknell Town first team squad at the age of 16 but couldn’t save the club from relegation to the Uhlsport Hellenic League Division 1 East.
From there, Barratt along with new managers Steve Nebbett and Danny Oliphant quickly laid the foundations for an incredible turnaround in fortunes for the club who returned to the Premier Division after one season and enjoyed two superb seasons of consolidation.
During the early part of 2014, Sam Barratt signed a contract with Bracknell Town, becoming the first to do so since Ian Harvey and Michael Buck in 2008.
Watch Sam Barratt’s free kick headed away by a fan
In the summer of 2014, Sam signed for National League South side Maidenhead where he has played ever since under first Johnson Hippolyte and then current manager Alan Devonshire.
Trials
Barratt has attracted the eye of several Football League clubs including Bristol Rovers where he spent the summer of 2016 on trial, as well as speculation Oxford United were keen – while he has also spent two trial spells with Premier League side Crystal Palace.
Playing in the National League
As well as two seasons in the National League South with Maidenhead, Barrett has had a loan spell with Staines Town and is now preparing for a season in the National League Premier with the Magpies after signing a new deal in the summer.
In an exclusive interview you can read here, Barratt said: “I feel this is the season where I should be pushing to be making regular starts – but of course that’s up to me and I need to be on good form and fully fit!”
The Magpies went on to win the National League South and Barratt signed a contract extension to play in the Premier Division – one league below the Football League.
England C call up
Towards the end of 2017, Barratt was called up for a training camp with the England C non league squad at Lilleshall.
Barratt was a late addition after earning a run in the Maidenhead side following the sale of star striker Dave Tarpey to Barnet.
Not only did Barratt impress former Bees boss Paul Fairclough enough to warrant a place in the 16 man squad for the International Challenge Trophy final in Slovakia, he did enough to start for the Three Lions in a match that was broadcast live on YouTube. The Three Lions eventually lost the game but Barratt impressed in his 45 minutes on the pitch.
In March 2018, Barratt was recalled to the England C squad for a friendly with Wales and will hope to earn his second cap in the match at Barry Town’s Jenner Park.
Professional footballer
In May 2018 Sam confirmed via facebook that he had sealed a dream move to a football league club, signing as a professional for EFL League One side Southend United.
Main image: Sam Barratt by David Loveday.
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