Cristian Barratt 38, has a very impressive footballing CV and many years of experience. Having spent time at Charlton Ath & Southend Utd during his youth, Cristian has since played for a number of large semipro clubs such as Tilbury, Fisher & Welling ( in the Vauxhall Conference ). His most successful season to date came arguably in 1995 when he played an integral part in Faversham’s Utd double winning team. Cristian also earned International honours, when he represented an England Semi Pro XI managed by Paul Fairclough versus a Jersey XI to celebrate the Queen’s Centenary.

Latterly Cristian has spent his playing career at Southall FC, whom he joined in 2000. Despite his long serving Cristian was ecstatic to have been announced as Club Captain for the forthcoming 2012/2013. “I know that the competition for places is going to be tough, so with Colin Brown showing his faith in me & asking me to wear the armband, I am inspired to try my very best to help the club achieve its aims”

Cristian Barratt fully understands his responsibility as Club Captain and stated that “as a young player coming into the game at Beckenham Town, I had two mentors in Mickey Hobbs and Dave Eden, who talked to me and gave me the support, advice and foundation that have made me the player I am today. I owe those two gentlemen a lot & I hope to replicate what they did for me, for some of the younger players within this new Southall Team

When asked about last season’s exploits Cristian replied “It was great that we gained promotion, but it was tinged with too many losses, brought about by a lack of discipline. Had we resolved these issues, who knows we may have gone up as Champions!. Already from the 1^st night of this pre season, you can feel a difference; there are no discipline issues and around the camp is an air of professionalism that you would normally associate with a professional setup”.

Cristian added “I spoke to Colin at the presentation evening for our very successful Southall FC mini soccer setup, I was very impressed with his vision for the club, you can tell by speaking to him that Colin has loads of experience and will set the right foundation for the team to move forward. These are exciting and progressive times for Southall FC, and taking the harder Spartan League route into Ryman football is a real statement from the club, it will mean more travelling but the reward of promotion from this league will more satisfying. I also am very much in favour of there being one first team squad, divided up into playing in the Spartan Midland South Div 1 and the Middlesex County. Many Semi Pro clubs are now setting themselves up with this structure, as it ensures all players are competing at a high level each match day”.

“To be honest after many years of nightmares at the club, I am really looking forward to the season ahead.”