Irrespective of being one of England’s greatest wingers of all time, John Barnes has found himself in an unfamiliar position of late. From being the Premier League’s highest-earning asset in the 1992/93 campaign, the two-time champion of England has racked up debts of £1.5 million in his media firm.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the Englishman enjoyed the infancy of his career between 1981 and 1987 at Watford, having joined from Sudbury Court in the former. But let’s be real, the apex of his footballing career was spent on the red half of Merseyside.
Signed by former manager Kenny Dalglish, Barnes arrived alongside John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley – and he went on to clock up 406 appearances in a 10-year spell at Anfield, where he won a plethora of silverware, including two top flight titles.
Barnes, 61, hung up his boots before the turn of the decade, in 1999, after leaving Charlton Athletic – and recent life hasn’t been kind to the ex-winger as the latest documents from liquidators have revealed that he and his media company owe a substantial amount of money to HMRC and other creditors.
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The winger was England’s first player to earn £10,000-per-week
When he secured his high-profile move in 1987, Barnes was one of the most sought-after wingers in the game – and it was Liverpool, as mentioned, who were lucky enough to earn his services. He joined prior to the top flight’s rebranding, and it’s safe to say that cash wasn’t as attainable in those days.
That’s not to say that clubs, especially those plying their trade in England’s primary division, didn’t have money to spend. But, upon joining the Reds, Barnes became the league’s highest-paid player at £10,000-per-week – which, nowadays, is a pittance.
Barnes’ league-high weekly take-home sent shock waves throughout the Premier League given it had just been re-branded from Division One, mostly because of how superior his financial gain was compared to other players that he rubbed shoulders with.
At the time, the Premier League’s average annual wage was just £77,000, while the Reds star was on a healthy £520,000-per-year. After two seasons as the top tier’s highest-paid asset, Eric Cantona arrived at Manchester United – and things changed.
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On a week-by-week basis, the enigmatic Frenchman earned £18,000 and thus overtook the 79-cap England international. Barnes, a two-time FA Cup winner, stayed on Merseyside for a decade and then joined Newcastle United in 1997.
His status as the league’s highest-earner never returned – with Dennis Bergkamp, Alan Shearer and the like taking the crown in the seasons to follow – before Barnes retired, forming his media firm 13 years later. He became the company’s sole director.
Barnes’ Financial Difficulty Revealed
Englishman has been the subject of six different bankruptcy petitions
So, how has the 61-year-old – who is widely regarded as one of the greatest England wingers in football history – gone from financial comfort to financial ruin? As alluded to, per The Mirror, Barnes’ media firm has accumulated £1.5 million in debt.
In that, John Barnes Media Limited have £776,878 in unpaid bills – VAT, NI and PAYE – to the taxman, £461,849 to unsecured creditors, a director’s loan worth £226,000 and liquidator's costs worth £56,535. After agreeing to pay the directors' loan in instalments, the Three Lions legend has repaid £60,000. However, a recent report has suggested that only a ‘small distribution’ towards his lofty tax bill will be paid, while ‘no funds’ have been made available to pay unsecured creditors.
In 2023, due to being unable to pay off their hefty bill of ever-growing taxes, John Barnes Media Ltd went into liquidation, while in 2024 the winger was banned from being listed as his own company’s director for a three-and-a-half-year period as they failed to pay £190,000 in VAT and corporation tax.
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Then, an investigation – which began in September 2023 – by the Insolvency Service found Barnes’ company failed to pay £78,839 in corporation tax between August 2018 and January 2020, while £155,272 in VAT was also unpaid between 2019 and 2020.
In that time period, the company’s turnover was reportedly £441,798 and the company's filing returns outlined what VAT payments should have been made. Per The Mirror’s report, a statement from the Insolvency Service read:
“The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Barnes. His ban started on Wednesday 24 April.”
When approached by The Mirror at his home in Heswall on the Wirral, Barnes – commonly admired as one of Liverpool’s greatest players of all time – declined to comment on matters. Dating back to 2010, he has been the subject of six different bankruptcy petitions and, in 2009, Barnes said in an interview that he’s never been one to sort his tax:
“I don’t like dealing with taxes, of course. I just hate not having enough money. Apart from that, I don’t like dealing with bills and never have done. I let my wife with Andrea deal with them. I don’t even like opening them.”