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By Vassili 

England and Liverpool football legend John Barnes who was born and raised in Jamaica, has been declared bankrupt after failing to meet tax obligations.

Barnes inspired a generation with his silky skills and was a top performer for both Liverpool and England. He was one of the leading black superstars of English football and amassed a small fortune.

But something went awry. How can a man who accomplished so much be declared bankrupt and fail to pay taxes?

According to press reports, he racked up debts of 1.5 million pounds with his company John Barnes Media Limited. The bankruptcy decision was taken by the High Court of Justice on September 23rd, 2025 and published in the London Gazette.

For years, Barnes had big debt obligations, receiving six separate bankruptcy petitions since 2010. He has been banned from being a director for three and a half years.

Between November 2018 and October 2020, his company John Barnes Media paid no taxes despite the company making a turnover of 441,798 pounds.

Liquidators’ reports show His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs department (HMRC) is owed 776,878  pounds in unpaid VAT, National Insurance and PAYE. There is also 461,849 pounds owed to unsecured creditors and a 226,000-pound director’s loan.

The Insolvency Service said Barnes’company did not pay 190,000  pounds in taxes with the former footballer as the only listed director of the company.

Why didn’t he pay his taxes, and how did he allow things to get so out of hand? All too often, you see entertainers and sports stars fail miserably at business and many crash and burn. The attributes that made them successful in their arena cannot be transferred to the business world.

“ I was making a lot of money. I was the first 10,000-pound-a-week footballer and benefited from that for a few years. Like a lot of elite sportspeople, I got burned because I trusted people. I got caught out a couple of times and ended up losing between 1 million and 1.5 million pounds over four years,” said John Barnes.

Today, he says he pays 10,000 pounds a month to HMRC to help repay what he owes.

At 61, how did John Barnes find himself in this predicament?

He divorced Suzy Bicknell after 20 years of marriage after she cited his serial infidelities. They had four children together.

Suzy said that Barnes’ affair with Jamaican beauty queen Nicole Haughton and him going on to have a child with another woman was the final straw.

In 2006, Barnes married his second wife Andrea and with her he has three children, making seven in all.

Divorce payments and supporting two families, even though some of the children have grown and are doing well must have taken its toll. This might have also taken away his focus on his business interests.

About his messy first marriage, Barnes said: “ I got very carried away with the whole thing about football, fame and girls. That was the one time I suppose ego caught the better of me. I was a young, stupid footballer and things happen.”

Over the years, Barnes has proven to be a very good football pundit and commentator. He could have concentrated on that and been well compensated for his services. Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, and Robbie Earle have all gone that route and done rather well. Why couldn’t John Barnes?

John Barnes today could have been a good football manager, and with his legendary status would have been a top draw. Many of today’s footballers would be disposed to work with him. Today, there is the Arab League, MLS, and clubs all over the world. He had options.

He was deflated when things did not work out at Celtic, with the Jamaica national team and Tranmere Rovers. He should have hung in there and stayed the course.

Running a media business takes a particular skill set and is a constant grind. Content is king and you have to be dedicated to it. John Barnes would be a far better football professional than a media boss.

His now deceased parents were very accomplished people who led decent lives and had a long marriage. His father, Colonel Ken Barnes was a high-ranking officer in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), who went on to be a diplomat and skilled sports administrator. His mother was a gifted attorney. John Barnes has said his father had very high moral standards and with the break-up of his first marriage and family, he felt he let him down.

Barnes is trying to make amends and is aware that many will look at this as yet another personality using the veil of limited liability to escape doing the right thing.

“I know how hard it is for people out there. I don’t want to say there are loopholes or that I can get away with this or that, or have people think I can be made bankrupt and keep my assets, because I have already sold everything. I don’t have any assets.

“But every time something new comes up, stories appear in the press saying negative things about how I am not paying my taxes, even though I’m going to court not to be made bankrupt, but to ask for permission to keep paying.

“Football is a working-class sport and I don’t want hard-working people thinking I’ve got all this money and I won’t pay tax. It would be easy to be made bankrupt because they can’t take anything else from me,” lamented Barnes. 

Former Cavalier FC administrator Wayne Whittingham said: “ This is a cautionary tale.  So many of us here in Jamaica looked up to Johnny Barnes, he was our hero. Gracious, well-spoken, a brilliant footballer, good parents, and successful. How could this happen to him? It is sad to get to this age in life and be declared bankrupt and struggling to survive with no assets. This is a big fall for Johnny. The woman thing is always a problem for these guys and they end up paying a big price for that juggling act. It’s hard to believe he owes so much money to the tax man and he is drowning in debt. I really hope he can overcome this .”

On his plight, John Barnes mused: “ I’ve had a few sleepless nights but it is not had a major impact because I look at the way the world is and there are lots of people struggling more than me.

“And as long as I can be able to work and to pay, I am just thankful. What have I got to complain about? But what does matter is that I reassure people and the reason I am speaking about this now is because the narrative around me is so negative. I have been so fortunate in my life to still be able to work and pay my bills and my kids have a roof over their head and food on the table.

“The only reason I’m doing this is because people have been saying things that are not true and I don’t want anyone thinking of me as John Barnes, ex-professional footballer, hiding all his money and not paying taxes.”