At the end of the 2007–08 season, Barron retired from football having made 374 appearances for Hartlepool, the ninth highest total in the club's history.
He was part of the promotion-winning side in 2002-03 but Pools were pipped to the league title by Rushden & Diamonds on the final day of the season.
[2] After promotion, Barron led Pools to the play-offs the following season and he was stretchered off in the second half of the second leg of the semi-final at Bristol City.
[3] To celebrate 10 seasons with the club, a series of events were held such as a testimonial dinner with Bobby Robson as guest speaker.
[4] During his time on the sidelines, he became a regular special guest commentator on Pools World, the Hartlepool United audio commentary service.
[6] He was in charge for three games, losing the first two and then beating Oldham Athletic 1–0, but reverted to his reserve team duties when Neale Cooper was appointed manager on 28 December 2011.
He drew his first game in his second stint as caretaker manager 2–2 against Brentford courtesy of a late own goal, assisted by Ritchie Humphreys.
[12] Since May 2020, Barron co-hosts Switch of Play which is a podcast of interviews with former Hartlepool players, alongside the club's former media manager Mark Simpson.
From the start of the 2023–24 season, Barron began working as a co-commentator for BBC Radio Tees reporting on Hartlepool games.