Barrett was born in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, and moved to Southampton, where he trained as a shoemaker. He had played local parks football before joining Southampton St. Mary's in March 1894, taking over from Ralph Ruffell who had been the "Saints" first-choice goalkeeper since the club was founded in 1885. Ruffell sustained a dislocated kneecap in the Hampshire Senior Cup final in March 1894, and the club called on Barrett's services for the remaining matches of the season, including the Hampshire County Cricket Club Charity Cup Final against Royal Artillery and the Portsmouth & District Cup Final against Freemantle. In October 1894, St. Mary's made their debut in the inaugural Southern League season, with Barrett in goal in the 3–1 victory over Chatham. Barrett had a poor league debut, missing a cross early in the match, which was cleared by David "Taffy" Hamer. Soon afterwards, Barret was again at fault, allowing Gamble to score the opening goal with "a soft shot". Barrett soon rallied, however, and made amends with a "brilliant save" from McAucklan before Harry Offer's equalizing goal. Barrett retained his place in goal for the next three games including the 14–0 FA Cup victory over Newbury in the first qualifying round on 13 October 1894 – this is still Southampton's biggest victory in a competitive match. Following a 4–1 defeat at Luton Town, he was dropped in favour of Walter Cox for two FA Cup matches before H. Williamson took over for the remainder of the season. Barrett made one further appearance in January and, following the departure of Williamson in the summer of 1895, played the first three matches of the 1895–96 season before again losing his place, this time to Tom Cain. With Cox being retained as the second-choice 'keeper, Barrett left the club in October 1895.
Later career
On quitting football, Barrett decided to concentrate on a career as a professional cricketer, but failed to make it to County level. He died in 1934, shortly before his 60th birthday – his death at a relativelyyoung age was attributed to blood poisoning, apparently stemming from being struck on the leg by a cricket ball.
