Football icon John Barnes has been declared bankrupt after his company accumulated debts of £1.5million. The bankruptcy notice was issued following a petition filed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in early August. It was officially issued in the High Court of Justice on September 23. HMRC revealed that John Barnes Media Limited, his now-liquidated firm, had accrued debts surpassing £1.5million. Liquidators’ reports indicate that HMRC is due £776,878 in unpaid VAT, National Insurance, and PAYE, along with £461,849 to unsecured creditors and a £226,000 director’s loan.
The ex-Liverpool and England winger, who earned 79 caps for England, has faced numerous bankruptcy petitions since 2010, including one in 2023 over a £238,000 personal tax bill that was settled at the eleventh hour. Barnes, a resident of Heswall, Wirral, was prohibited from being a company director for three and a half years in 2023 after an Insolvency Service investigation discovered his firm failed to pay more than £190,000 in corporation tax and VAT between 2018 and 2020, despite a turnover of £441,798.
Mike Smith, chief investigator at the service, stated that Barnes’s failure to ensure taxes were paid “should serve as a deterrent to other directors”. This bankruptcy declaration comes just a month after Barnes spoke about his tax problems, stating: “I’m paying what I owe.”
The footballer, who was the first to earn £10,000 a week, revealed he has been making payments to HMRC for the past eight years due to significant losses from ill-advised investments.
In an attempt to clarify what he claims are misleading reports about his financial situation, he spoke to the All Things Business podcast. Since 2017, Barnes stated he had repaid approximately £2.2 million and continues to pay £10,000 each month under arrangements agreed with the tax authority.
During the podcast, the England star confessed: “I was making a lot of money, I was the first £10,000 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 £1m and £1.5m over four years. In 2017, I began talking to HMRC about what I could do to repay what I owed.”
He explained that since then, whenever he has been served with petitions, he and his legal team have gone to court to make arrangements to pay as he does not want to be declared bankrupt.
Barnes further added: “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’ve 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.”
He revealed that damaging reports about his financial situation had affected a regular source of income, delivering talks on inclusion and diversity in business. Barnes explained that due to this, certain firms, especially those in banking and finance, had understandably ceased inviting him to speak.
He mentioned he was still generating income through professional commitments and refused to let his battle with HMRC influence his outlook on life.
Barnes added: “I’ve had a few sleepless nights, but it’s 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 am 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.”
Barnes has been contacted for comment.