William Thomas Barnett was born in Belfast, Ireland before emigrating to Victoria. William played for Irymple and was unfortunately part of what The Mildura Cultivator called ‘the poorest game of the [1914] season’. William enlisted in April 1915 and served for over 4 years returning to Melbourne on 12 October 1919.
William returned to Irymple – where there is no information regarding the continutation of his soccer career – and married May Alice Elliott in 1926. His son Robert Ernest Barnett was born 7 years later and William passed in 1973.