Anthony Barness (born February 25, 1973 in Lewisham, England) is an English football player who currently plays for Bolton Wanderers F.C. as a defender.
Having started out as a trainee for Charlton Athletic F.C., his potential was spotted by a youth-scouting Chelsea F.C. side in 1992. However, during the four years which he spent at the club, his chances of league starts were being taken away from him at every possible opportunity and thus, after just nineteen appearances in four years, he was loaned out to Middlesbrough F.C. (in August 1993) and Southend United F.C. (in February 1996).
Barness left Chelsea in August 1996, and returned to Charlton Athletic, for a fee of 165,000 pounds. He was an important and regular part of the Charlton team, at the time managed by Alan Curbishley for the first two years, suddenly leaving the first team by 1998 and only making a handful of appearances from then on.
On the move again in 2000, he went to Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer deal, but was soon relegated to only starting in Cup competitions - which manager Sam Allardyce often left for the second team to participate in.
In January 2004, he travelled on loan to West Ham United F.C., but was recalled after only 24 hours after suffering injury problems. He has since been a vital player for Bolton as they set a record for the most number of consecutive wins by their club.