Barry Silkman


Barry Silkman is a football agent and former player who played in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and at Leyton Orient from 1981 to 1985. He spent 16 years as a journeyman midfielder. In the 1990s he became an agent.

Playing career

Silkman also played for Hereford United, Crystal Palace, Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town, Brentford, Queens Park Rangers, Southend United and Crewe Alexandra. Silkman was also a player-coach at Leyton Orient for 3 seasons with Frank Clark as manager.
It was at Plymouth that he first came to the attention of Malcolm Allison, who deemed him to be a suitable player to bolster Manchester City's midfield as they struggled in the First Division.

Managerial career

In November 2018, Silkman was briefly appointed manager of Staines Town, before leaving the club due to the Football Association deeming the job to represent a conflict of interests with his work as an agent.

Agent career

After retiring from football, Silkman became an agent. Metro named him as the 10th most influential agent in football 2013.

Personal life

Silkman said in 2013: "I was brought up Jewish and I'm Jewish through and through." Silkman has been involved in greyhound racing, with his dogs Half Awake, Skomal and Carlsberg Champ respectively winning the 1987 Gold Collar, 1988 Guineas and the 1990 Cesarewitch. He is also involved in horse racing and is a presenter on Racing Post Greyhound TV.

Career statistics