Powell was born in
Kenilworth,
Warwickshire. Barry began his career as an apprentice at
Wolverhampton Wanderers, making his first team debut on 10 March 1973 in a 1–1 draw at
Crystal Palace. He featured regularly over the next two seasons, and appeared as a substitute in their
1974 League Cup Final win over
Manchester City at
Wembley. This year also saw him make four appearances for the England Under 23 side. After a stint during the summer of 1975 with Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League, The midfielder moved to
Coventry City in September 1975 for £75,000. Here, he established himself as an attacking midfielder who possessed a mean shot, complementing
Terry Yorath in the engine room of
Gordon Milne's team and feeding such players as
Ian Wallace,
Mick Ferguson and
Tommy Hutchison. He was voted Player of the Season in 1978–79 after an exceptional campaign. He transferred to
Derby County in October 1979 but failed to replicate the form he had shown at Coventry during his three seasons here. He then had stints in Hong Kong as well as with
Burnley and
Swansea City. He eventually returned to
Wolves in November 1986 and made a handful of appearances with the club now mired in the fourth tier, while also a member of their coaching staff. The
1987–88 season saw him play one further game in October 1987 en route to promotion before hanging up his boots. Powell later returned to Coventry City to manage their football in the community scheme before he went on to manage
Welsh Premier League club
Aberystwyth Town, and English non-league sides
Moor Green,
Stafford Rangers and
Hednesford Town (two spells), winning the
FA Trophy with the latter in 2004. He was last employed by
Solihull Moors as an assistant to manager
Marcus Bignot before leaving the club in September 2011 after the club's poor start to the season. Barry now works part time in a supermarket ==References==