When Liverpool were English champions 30 years ago, John Barnes was their brightest star.
To mark last week’s anniversary, Barnes spoke in depth about their beloved club, from King Kenny to Jurgen Klopp.
Besides long walks in the Wirral countryside to while away the hours of lockdown, John Barnes has used this time to reflect on an amazing career.
The most gifted player of his generation for Watford, Liverpool and England, his high profile made him an important figure in the fight against racism.
Post-retirement, he gained an even wider audience on TV shows Strictly Come Dancing and Who Do You Think You Are? and as a sports presenter.
For Barnes, who played 79 times for England, the day job reached its peak in 1990 when Liverpool were the last champions of England. He was their top scorer with 22 league goals, including the penalty against QPR that clinched the title, was voted Footballer of the Year and started every game for England at the World Cup before an injury in the quarter-final against Cameroon.
This month he has learned to use Zoom, which is how The Mail on Sunday columnist Danny Murphy reached him for a insightful chat about the glory days.
‘I used to travel to games at Anfield from Chester with my dad. My first hero was Kenny Dalglish. Skill, creativity, bending shots into the top corner,’ says Murphy. ‘But you were similar, John, in terms of being a match-winner and getting people off their seats. I could see why Peter Beardsley called you the best in the world. Definitely the shining light of that team.’
Barnes learned years ago to accept praise graciously. But it’s not false modesty that makes him argue that Liverpool’s triumphs have always been collective.
He says: ‘I received plenty of plaudits but Liverpool were champions because of the unsung heroes. Barry Venison, Ronnie Whelan, Stevie Nicol, Steve McMahon. Peter Beardsley was my favorite team-mate because he was so selfless.
That’s what makes champions. Liverpool in the Eighties were Sammy Lee and Terry McDermott as much as Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish. Everyone talks about today’s front three but it’s really about the Jordan Hendersons and Gini Wijnaldums.
‘When people ask me to compare my team and this team it depends on what rules we play. If we played 1980s rules with those referees we would beat them at least six. And if we were playing modern rules, they would beat us by six. Because they won’t be getting free kicks when they fall over. And if we played now, we would be down to six men.
‘We didn’t make a song and dance about winning it in 1990 but if we had known we wouldn’t be champions again, we would have savoured it more.’
There was little hint of an imminent decline when Liverpool lifted the trophy after their last home game under floodlights against Derby. They were beaten only once after November and finished nine points clear of runners-up Aston Villa.
On May 5, they finished the campaign with a 6-1 win at Coventry. Barnes grabbed a hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by Ian Rush and Ronnie Rosenthal (two).
The popular view is that decline set in once manager Kenny Dalglish quit with exhaustion the following February. Barnes’ view from inside the camp is that the retirement of captain Alan Hansen the following month due to injury was a double body blow.
‘Alan was so influential in the way we played. It was equally as important as Kenny leaving,’ says Barnes. ‘He was ahead of his time as a defender. He’d intercept, bring the ball out, begin counter-attacks. I’ve been watching videos of our old games. He started an amazing number of attacks that led to goals.
‘He wasn’t a ranter but at Liverpool, the senior players always made sure the youngsters did things right in training. The mantra from management was ‘work it out yourselves’. When the Bosman ruling came in, the power went to younger players, they were the assets. At Manchester United, Alex Ferguson provided the discipline. If Beckham and Giggs were left to their own devices, they would have been party boys.
‘But at Liverpool the attitude was wrong Monday to Friday. Stan Collymore said I was always arguing in training but I was frustrated. Players would come in late. It was never a surprise to me that we’d fall away towards the end of the season,’ says Barnes.
Dalglish’s successor Graeme Souness lasted less than three years. By the mid-Nineties, Manchester United was on the march and Liverpool had a new Spice Boys team based around Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp and Steve McManaman.
Two months after Liverpool lost the infamous ‘white suits’ FA Cup final of 1996, they played a pre-season game at Crewe, whose 19-year-old midfielder Murphy was delighted to share a pitch with his idol. ‘You probably don’t remember, John, but I played attacking midfield. After the whistle, you came over and said it wouldn’t be long until I was in the Premier League,’ recalls Murphy.
‘I never forgot that. One sentence from you meant more to me than anything I’d been told by a coach. Liverpool signed me a year later and on my first day training I was paired with you for pitch runs at Melwood. I’d mistakenly heard you were on your last legs but you were flying. I couldn’t keep up.
‘We then played together in a pre-season friendly at Bristol City. You passed to me and I passed to Michael Owen who scored. It’s probably a stronger memory for me than you!
‘Liverpool were trying to get rid of me by then and I joined Newcastle three weeks later,’ interjects Barnes.
‘I’d moved into midfield after a ruptured Achilles but Liverpool signed Paul Ince that summer [1997] and made it clear I wasn’t going to play. There was this idea that all Liverpool needed to win the league was a midfielder like Ince instead of me. It left a bitter taste.
