John Barnes cannot single out a particular highlight of a career which saw him make his name at Watford under Graham Taylor then move to Liverpool and win two league titles and an FA Cup, earning 79 England caps along the way.
“When I get asked that question, I’ve always said my whole career was a highlight because I think you really need to take your career in its entirety,” Barnes told The Sportsman.
“The first few seasons at Liverpool – the first year and the third year when we won the league for the last time – were fantastic.
“And of course my early days at Watford as well under Graham Taylor on that journey of finishing second in the league to Liverpool.
“Of course there were some bad times within that such as losing the league title to Arsenal in 1989 or Wimbledon in the FA Cup final the season before.
“As human beings, I suppose we always want the best of the best of the best – but that’s not painting an accurate picture of the reality of it.
“You look at the good and bad points of your whole career and they make you the person you are.”
It was the late, great Sir Tom Finney who once declared: “Players like John Barnes come along just once in a lifetime.”
And those gifts are celebrated in a new BT Sport documentary Barnes: Poetry in Motion.
It was aired on BT Sport 2 following last weekend’s FA Cup final and sees Barnes discussing the roles of Elton John and Taylor in his career.
A look at the story and career of one of the most influential players to ever play the game...
⚽️ John Barnes: Poetry In Motion
📺 BT Sport 2 HD
⏰ Saturday, 8pm
Not just a fine footballer, Barnes discusses proving racist fans wrong, the memorable mazy run against Brazil and exactly how ‘that’ rap came about alongside Keith Allen.
The Kop icon is a much loved figure both in and out of the game, and there are many contributions throughout the film from the likes of Robbie Fowler, Viv Anderson, John Aldridge and Michael Owen.
The new BT Sport documentary comes 28 years after the release of The John Barnes Story, a video chronicling his rise to stardom at Watford and Liverpool.
Barnes adds: “The John Barnes Story was just about football, whereas this latest documentary focuses on a lot more things in my life.
“Am I pleased with? Yes, absolutely, because I know what happens in the end!
“Like I say, I look at my whole career, the good and the bad, and really focus on that.
“I had six years at Watford and the grounding I had there – playing for England for four years as well – was fantastic for me before I went to the cauldron that is Anfield.
“You don’t know what would have happened had I gone straight to Liverpool. But I couldn’t have wished for a better schooling than Watford under Graham Taylor.”
During his 10-year stint at Anfield, Barnes played 407 games, scored 108 goals, was twice the Football Writers' player of the year and was voted the best player by his peers in 1988.
He remains iconic but medals, statistics and awards cannot convey the sheer joy Barnes brought to Liverpool supporters.
He was not always so popular with England fans despite that brilliant goal against Brazil in the Maracana Stadium in 1984, which Barnes once described as like having “an out-of-body experience”.
The 54-year-old said of England’s World Cup prospects: “There is a lot of pace, a lot of skill and a lot of energy but not a lot of experience.
“As we saw with inexperience in the last Euros, they play well and then they don’t play well.
“If they get to the quarter-finals, I’ll be happy but that’s not to say they can’t go further.”
