At Oldham Athletic he was a member of the side that lost the 1990 Football League Cup Final to Nottingham Forest at Wembley and narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 1989–90 FA Cup, losing in the semi-final replay to Manchester United at Maine Road, then helped the Lancashire side to the Second Division title and promotion to the First Division (which became the FA Premier League a year later) in 1990–91.
The £1.7 million fee Aston Villa paid for Barrett in February 1992 remains, as of 2019, Oldham's record transfer receipt.
Injury again restricted his input at Sheffield Wednesday – the last game of his professional career was a 4–0 loss at Middlesbrough on 3 October 1998, though he remained under contract at Hillsborough until retiring at the end of the 1999–2000 season which coincided with the club's relegation from the top division.
[4] Barrett earned his first cap for England on 3 June 1991, playing the whole 90 minutes in a 1-0 friendly win against New Zealand at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
He has three daughters, Georgia, India and Emmie with his wife Keely; they currently live in Houston, Texas where Barrett coaches the US Soccer Developmental Academy students at RISE.