Express & Star

Ex-West Brom man Leon Barnett on 'Championship Man City' and his abrupt career end

Former West Brom defender Leon Barnett is in a exclusive club when it comes to ex-Albion players.

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Only four sides in West Brom's history have won league Championship honours - and one of those included the Luton Town academy graduate back in 2007/2008.

Arriving for £2.5m from The Hatters that summer - Barnett went on to become a key figure in Tony Mowbray's silky Albion side that went on to win the Championship.

For Barnett, winning the title and representing Albion in the Premier League goes down as one of his career highlights.

But less than seven years later - his playing days came to an abrupt end due to an undiagnosed heart problem.

The 38-year-old, who now runs the Leon Barnett Football Academy, has been reflecting on his time at Albion and his post Hawthorns career during an appearance as a guest on the Express & Star's Baggies Broadcast podcast.

The defender, who went on to play for the likes of Norwich City, Wigan, Bury and Northampton, looked back on the part he played in the Albion Championship winning side - even comparing them to one of the Premier League's best ever sides.

"It was phenomenal, you had the likes of Paul Robinson, you had Kevin Phillips, who for me was so underrated," explained Barnett.

"God knows what he would be worth nowadays.

"Ishmael Miller was a young prodigy from Man City, we had Teixeira, I don't know how they found that sort of player.