Barlow came into professional football at a late age; he was only playing at Sunday League level when he was 21 years old. He joined Everton in 1990 and went on to feature in the Premier League. In 1995 the club won the FA Cup, although Barlow was not in the side that defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium, he did appear in earlier rounds including starting the quarter-final versus Newcastle United.[3] He was injured for the semi-final.
Barlow gained a reputation as a pacy striker who would willingly chase lost causes. However, his inability to find the net regularly – despite his pace often putting him through on goal – led to his gaining, amongst the Goodison support, the affectionate nickname of Stuart "Barndoor" Barlow (from the proverbial saying that an inaccurate person kicking or hitting a projectile "couldn't hit a barn door"). Another nickname was "Jigsaw" – the joke being that "he went to pieces in the box".
A few months later he was recruited to Oldham Athletic for £350,000 by ex-Everton striker and then-Athletic manager Graeme Sharp. At the time he arrived, the Latics were struggling in the First Division. Barlow spent nearly three seasons at the club and scored 32 goals in 93 games, but was sold to Wigan Athletic in 1998 for £45,000 by Neil Warnock. Whilst at Wigan he played in the final as they won the 1998–99 Football League Trophy.[4]
He joined Tranmere Rovers in July 2000[5] and is best remembered by the club's supporters for scoring a winning goal in an FA Cup fifth round replay win against Premier League club Southampton in the 2000–01 season. With then second tier Tranmere trailing 3–0 at half time, Paul Rideout scored a hat-trick to level the scores before Barlow scored the winner to put Tranmere through to the last eight.[6] After spells with Stockport County and Bury, he joined Conference National side Morecambe in 2006 and later went on to Southport and Fleetwood Town. Whilst with Fleetwood he was loaned out to Bamber Bridge where he eventually joined permanently.
In 2010, a Merseyside derby charity game was held between former players of Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park. Barlow scored the only goal in a 1–0 win for Everton.
