John Barnes

Liverpool legend and two-time FA Cup winner.

John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes works as an author, as well as a commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially he was a quick and skilful left winger, then he moved to central midfield later in his career. Barnes won two League titles and two FA Cups with Liverpool. He also earned 79 international caps for England.

Quick Facts

Full name: John Charles Bryan Barnes
Born: 7 November 1963
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Height: 1.81 m / 5 ft 11 in
Position: Left winger
Total caps: 586
Total goals: 155

Lore & Background

Barnes was born and raised in Jamaica as the son of a military officer from Trinidad and Tobago and a Jamaican mother. He moved to London, England, with his family when he was 12 years old. He joined Watford aged 17 in 1981, before playing 296 competitive games for them, scoring 85 goals. He debuted for England in 1983, and in 1987 joined Liverpool for £900,000.

In his ten seasons there, Liverpool won the then-top-flight First Division twice and the FA Cup twice. He scored 106 goals in 403 matches. By the time of his last cap, in 1995, he had more caps than any other black England player. After two years at Newcastle United, he ended his playing career at Charlton Athletic in 1999.

Barnes had eight months as Celtic head coach when his former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was director of football. He has since managed the Jamaica national team, in 2008–09, and English club Tranmere Rovers, for four months in 2009.

Reader's Guide

Barnes was the PFA Players' Player of the Year once (in 1987–88) and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year twice (in 1987–88 and 1989–90). In 2005, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. In 2006, in a poll of Liverpool fans' favourite players, Barnes came fifth; a year later, FourFourTwo magazine named him Liverpool's best all-time player. In 2016, The Times readers voted him England's greatest-ever left-footed player. Barnes has published two books: John Barnes: The Autobiography (1999), which was followed by The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism (2021), both of which were met with a largely positive reception. In 2022, he returned to Liverpool as an official Club Ambassador.

Did You Know?

Barnes was named after Welsh footballer John Charles.
His father was a colonel in the Jamaica Defence Force and later formed Jamaica's first bobsleigh team.