A village football team has signed Premier League record appearance holder Gareth Barry.

Hurstpierpoint FC have coaxed 43-year-old Barry out of retirement, announcing that he would be switching to the Mid Sussex Football League.

The club said that signing the midfielder, who went on to play for England having started his youth career at Albion, was an “obvious move”.

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the club said: “Gareth has a long-standing association with the village through his good friend, and our Coach, Michael Standing; so it seemed an obvious move to get him involved with the football club.

“His quality in training has been unreal, so we’re all very excited to see him pull on the shirt and grace the Fairfield turf later on this season.”

Barry, from Hastings, begun his youth career at Albion and represented the club at youth level before moving to Aston Villa as a trainee with Michael Standing.

He had previously announced his retirement in 2020, having finished his career at West Brom.

Hurstpierpoint first formed in 1886 and have three adult teams playing in the Mid Sussex Football League, a youth team and a Sunday league side.

Barry also represented Villa, Manchester City and Everton, making 653 appearances in 22 years.

His record could be beaten by Albion’s James Milner, who sits on 634, this season.

Barry also won 53 caps for England after making his debut against Ukraine in 2000, finishing his international career in 2012 against Norway.