Barclay started his reporting career with
The Guardian in the early 1970s. When the newspaper
The Independent was launched in 1986, he was appointed its first football correspondent. He joined
The Observer in 1991, and became football correspondent of
The Sunday Telegraph in 1996. He held the post for 12 years. Thus, Barclay became one of the few journalists to be the main writer for his discipline for all four quality newspaper groups in England: Times, Guardian-Observer, Telegraph, and Independent. Barclay left
The Times in December 2011 due to cost-cutting measures. In January 2012, he started writing for the
London Evening Standard. Barclay was a regular guest on the
Sky Sports programme
Sunday Supplement, and
LBC 97.3's Saturday sports show "Scores".
Books Barclay wrote a biography of the
Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson, entitled
Football – Bloody Hell!. The book was published in October 2010. and a biography of
José Mourinho. ==Personal life and death==