Anthony Barness (born February 25, 1973 in Lewisham, England) is an English football player who usually plays as a defender. He currently plays for Plymouth Argyle after being released by Bolton Wanderers in May 2005.
Barness started out as a trainee for Charlton Athletic. It is to be noted that in his first spell at Charlton he scored Charlton’s opening riposte after going 3-0 down at Newcastle. Charlton went on to win the match 3-4 and this has been voted in the top 20 Charlton matches of all time.
His potential was spotted by a youth-scouting Chelsea side in 1992 - though some have said Chelsea only signed Barness after failing to sign his team mate, Scott Minto. During the four years which he spent at the club however, his chances of league starts were taken away from him at every possible opportunity. Thus, after just nineteen appearances in four years, he was loaned out to Middlesbrough (in August 1993) and Southend United (in February 1996).
Barness left Chelsea in August 1996, and returned to Charlton Athletic for a fee of 165,000 pounds. He was an important and regular part of the Charlton team, managed for the first two years by Alan Curbishley. Barness suddenly left the first team in 1998 and only made a handful of appearances from then on.
On the move again in 2000, he went to Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer deal, but was soon relegated to starting only in Cup competitions - which manager Sam Allardyce often left to the second team.
In January 2004, he travelled on loan to West Ham United, but was recalled within only 24 hours, after suffering injury problems. He then played a vital role for Bolton as they set a record for the most consecutive wins by their club.
After being released by Bolton in 2005 he joined Championship side Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.